(no subject)

[johnny9fingers]

That last post of mine was so naive, I mean I wrote:

And doing something means investing. Which means taxes. And paying teachers a wage commensurate with their responsibility to the next generation.

Of course, our only responsibilty to the next generation is to saddle them with as much debt as we can manage by indulging in our desires for luxuries and fripperies. Collectively, we seem to emulate the least intelligent, sensible, and able of the Bennett sisters, talking about spending money on things they don't need, nor really want: like badly-made hats and ribbons to put on 'em.

Yeah. We don't invest anymore. The 'short now' (as Jasper fforde would have it) weighs against investment. Collectively we don't think much of our kids, and we consider our Grandchildren even less.

The Anglo-Saxon cultures have no proper concept of long-term, which is good as we don't appear to have a long-term future.

Comments

[alicetheowl.livejournal.com]

I had to ponder a while whether "we" meant the UK or the US. I'm still not entirely sure, but I figure it's safe to assume you're talking about where you live.

While I doubt many Americans would look kindly on my calling the US Military a "frippery," we do the same thing here, and we get VERY belligerent about the idea of raising taxes to pay for it.

And Social Security has been raided for generations to make up for it, meaning that the thousands I've paid into that fund, and been taxed on, my generation will likely never see.

[johnny9fingers.livejournal.com]

In terms of social policy, especially regarding education, the US and UK are fairly similar: the main differences being Medicine and, to a lesser extent, Social Security (Unemployment Benefits, etc).
But it's not just society, or even only the miltary/industrial complex: as individuals, we all contribute to the wastage, and regard such as out free and democratic right. The combination of all the factors is why we're doomed.
I've got no kids, and therefore have no incentive to live small, apart from a sense that I should be doing something.

[alicetheowl.livejournal.com]

True, though I try to cut down on my own waste wherever I can. While I do own many things I don't NEED, I do also carpool with my husband where I can, I opt for stuff that involves less packaging where I can, I reuse plastic bags, and I take what steps that are within my budget to do. I could probably cut down even more by biking more often and shopping at the Farmer's Market, but there are budgetary constraints on both of those. I may never understand why bananas flown in from Honduras cost less than apples grown practically in my back yard, but I guess the farmers have to make ends meet somehow, and milking those with a "Yankee" accent may just be how they manage.