tax day!
Ok, I'm sure there is some way to reflect theologically on tax day: a theology of emptiness? I still think it's probably the best way to redistribute wealth, but the burden always seems to fall on the middle class, not the wealthy. But the middle class in the US is wealthy in a global perspective, and so I don't want to complain too much. At least I didn't, until I saw this. Go ahead. Take a look. I dare you:Where your tax dollars go in the US.2 things strike me.
1. Our militarization. I mean, for a country "concerned for peace and democracy," that's a lot of bullets. I know it's expensive, but c'mon. I also know that the technologies funded have other vital applications. I just think that poor folk are vital applications too...
2. Interest owed. I mean, interest and military accounts for over 1/2 of the money! Turns out the government is as bad managing their bank accounts as most 18yr olds. At least the government really represents its people in this way. An interesting question that I have no answer to: does Madison Ave. and the Corporate world bear some of the responsibility for the pressure to consume, or should everyone just kind of know better? Oh and link to my blog to for success! All the cool people are doing it. You don't want to be a loser do you? You could be this happy too...all it takes is one link....
1) I can't talk too badly about defense spending because it has kept my dad gainfully employed from before the Regan era. But yeah, I looked over the government budget a few years ago, and it was shocking how disproportionate defense spending is to the rest of the government programs.
ReplyDelete2) I think the way the government structure is set up lends itself to irresponsible spending. I think politicians are over tasked and gridlocked by partisan politics to objectively figure out what works and what doesn't. Too many times we hear of zany budget lines, added at the last second, adding cost to and reducing the effectiveness of a otherwise useful bill.
3)Madison Ave vs Us - We bear the brunt of the responsibility for our consumerism. Until Madison Ave puts a gun to my head or threatens bodily harm, I am ultimately responsible for my bank account. That is not to say, Corporate America can be persuasive in getting us to open our check books. I think too many people put themselves on cruise control and fall into the trap of style over substance. For example, last year I went to a Marketing/Sales seminar put on by Entrepreneur Magazine. One of the sales tips was to "listen to your customer" which is always a good idea. The speaker went further saying that after listening you will find out their subconscious "needs" (better described as "wants") generally fall into 7 categories. And if you can pick out which category your customers fall into, you can be a really good salesperson. The categories he was referring to were the 7 deadly sins. Are we so weak that it's that easy?