Sunday, December 12, 2010

Our Government at Work

26 degrees and a dusting of snow. I hear the sounds of technology and not the quiet of a cave. It is warm and very comfortable where I am, no shivers for my body. We have come a long way as a society. Being born and not learning or respecting how we have come to this state of being is a matter for our schools and parenting. Being thrown out with the laundry as most our children do makes understanding a chore in our world of hand held magic.
I hear our TV in the back bedroom, a fan that blows warm air under our home, a fish tank pump and bubbler and the hum of currant moving through our homes wiring system. Most of our lights do not make a sound and my computer from time to time spines under this silver cover. The stainless steel tea pot with a copper bottom just whistled. We take all these things for granted. I made none of it. I did at one time help make fans, sand wooden floors, help thread pipe, cut and weld pipe, bend steel, drill holes, raise and lower a dam, thread 1000 feet of cable onto a steel drum, raise and lower water in a lock, splice rope, help lay carpet, help lay linoleum, put up cabinets, carry heavy objects, hook wickets. I got paid by society to do all these things and in turn society used what I labored to do.
During all these times I payed the government money for the road in front of my home the satellite in the sky for my TV, the submarine that prowl the ocean protecting our shores, the air force that flies overhead, the radar and sonar that sweep clean our skies and oceans of invading armies, the persons that sends my retirement funds to my bank, the insurance company that protects my money.
During all these times I payed the government money for my retirement in three ways, social security, medicare and retirement benefits. Now that my body will not perform the heavy tasks I use the money that I saved, medicare and my retirement.
During all these times I payed the government taxes to do all of the tasked mentioned above plus many more.
We have come a long way as a society. Being born and not learning or respecting how we have come to this state of being is a matter for our schools and parenting. Being thrown out with the laundry as most our children do makes understanding a chore in our world of hand held magic.

Are the laborers above in the photo working as hard as slaves who built the pyramids. Those folks are government employees and that is what your taxes pay for. The lock and dams that move oil to Pennsylvania via the Ohio river move through Federal lock and dams that the private sector cannot control (they tried but there was too much cheating). The government holds water in reservoirs for all the cities in the United States and federal employees maintain them. That is where your taxes go.
Labor pays for what we do and what we earn pays for the road in front of our home. There is no magic or presidential smile that will make that go away. Greed has made Scrooge the man he is.


1 comment:

  1. George is a handsome man, reminds me of Jim Hatcher. I'd love to meet him. I bet he's nice.

    ReplyDelete