Ecology, Economics & Goverment Guidance (Solving the World's Problems)
by Don R. Hender
" . . . in the long run, we are all dead." ~ John Maynard Keynes
Today we are facing a number of
ecological and economic challenges world wide. And while I am an advocate of
the Free Interprise System, the Keynesian idiom seems more appropriate now
than ever it was. Certainly all men must one day die, but I for one would, as
a general perspective, like to see that day extended especially on a world
wide basis. Today we seem to be faced with a number of ecological
realities that if we ignore them, they will hasten the day of the death of
man and of the earth as a whole.
When I was attending college and taking my economics classes, I was taught
that the fastest and best way of government directional design for a nation
was the use of the nation's tax system. That is, if an item seems to be
detremental to the nation, tax it out of existance. And if something is of
benefit to the nation, then give tax incentives and tax breaks to hasten its
coming about.
For example all world wide indications are that we are indeed currently
suffering the effects of 'global warming' and that the great industrial
nations are contributing to that problem. And though the United States is
but one, we are the leading one. The earth is losing its ice caps and
glaciers, the water shed of the world. And as seemingly daily unnoticable as
the effects may seem, the more our 'water sheds' melt away and the
temperature continues to rise, we not only will have fresh water shortages,
mostly due to population increases, but we will also begin to
lose the use of our highly populated costal regions due to the rising sea
level. You got room for New Orleans in your backyard?
Eventual World Sea Levels?
Exaggerated eventual water levels and 'Water World'? Perhaps-Perhaps not.
Things are moving faster than once thought. The world's glaciers are
disappearing, global temperatures are rising and certain low level costal
areas are beginning to be threatened.
What can we do? Well I for one would love to have a 'town-about' electric
car and to have a 'home water collection and distribution system' not even
to mention a 'home solar energy system' installed. Both the 'town-about'
electric car and the 'home solar energy system' would vastly reduce
CO2 emisions to slow global warming and the 'home water collection
and distribution system' would more effectively and efficiently utilize our
diminishing fresh water supply by not merely letting it disapear down the
gutter.
But I can not afford these things. An electric 'town-about' car such as the
Chevy Volt is over $40,000 not to mention a 'solar carport' for eco-friendly
recharging of the car's battery. And both the water collection system and the
home solar energy system, though of longterm savings benefit, in the short
term they are cost prohibitive and just too expensive for the private citizen
such as myself to install. Cerainly
such items would go a long way in solving both ecological problems as well as
certain economic problems such as the high price of gas and its overall effect
on the world's economies.
So what is the solution? Well, if we merely allow the 'Free Interprise
System' to work, by the time that it does, we might all just be dead. Or at
least we may be locked into the long term effects of global warming. The
immediate solution seems to be such things as a 'town-about' electric car in
every garage (a solar collecting shelter for recharging), a 'home water
collection and redistribution system' at every 'house', and an energy efficient
solar energy system upon every house's roof. And these things must not only
be 'affordable' but to intice the less modivated and interested than myself,
they must been made to be of an immediate short term monitary value.
How? Use the Federal and State Tax systems to impliment them. Give the
motor car industry direct tax write offs for every 'town-about' family size
electric car it not only produces but sales at a price of less than $20,000.
Give the solar industry direct tax write offs for every home solar system
that it produces and sales to the public at an affordable price and the home
owner the a direct tax write off incentive for installing it. Do the same
with the home water collection system.
Many families are multiple vehicle owners. A 'town-about'
electric car that avoids high gasoline costs would be a welcome addition or
even a replacement vehicle. I have just the place for
the car's solar shelter in my side yard for battery charging.
After all, it is 'city emissions' which not only contributes to global warming
but to city air polution. Why do we keep building increasingly larger
air poluting refineries which cost us more not only in money but in terms of
our health?
Our 'capital hill' goverments need to really begin to think in such terms as
to using the 'tax system', state and federal, to implement such change and
not merely as revenue production. They need to think in terms of human benefit
and ecological and economic design and benefits to society and the world also.
In solving society's problems, our elected officials are doing a very poor
job. Such as a 'town-about' electric car, 'home solar energy systems' and
'home water collection and redistribution systems' are but scratching at
the surface. Certainly smarter heads than mine ought to be able to come up
many more and even better solutions than mine and I don't mean
by reducing the surplus population. They could require new home builders to
included in their construction such ecological and economic features and to
give tax breaks and insentives if they do. And they need to
'do it now', for 'in the long run' we will all be
dead,' especially if we wait on the 'Free Interprise System' to act on its
own and then that pending doom of the 'long run' may actually be shorter than
we might think.
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