You heard it here first, folks….”The Frying Pan Revolution”.  Apparently the Europeans feel the same as I do about the world’s bankers:

All kidding aside, we’re someday going to see some serious civil unrest in this country, too.  And I don’t mean the silly little geriatric Tea Party-type marches, either.

S

I recently saw in USA Today this chart showing the tax burden (from all sources) on the citizens of various developed countries:

Denmark           48.3%

Sweden              47.1%

Belgium             44.3%

Italy                   43.2%

France                43.1%

Austria               42.9%

Finland               42.8%

Germany             36.4%

UK                       35.7%

Canada                32.2%

United States   26.9%

Here’s our conundrum:  We want many of the same social programs and safety nets those countries offer their citizens, but we don’t want to pay the taxes they do in order afford those services.  We can’t have it both ways.

Prior to the LBJ years (1964-68) we really didn’t have much of a public welfare system, and our entire national debt was around $311B.  In the 40+ years since we’ve continuously expanded our social safety net, and now we’re looking at some version of universal health care, too.  Not surprisingly, our national debt is now around $11.7T.  That’s TRILLION dollars!  Of course some of that is due to inflation, and it isn’t quite as bad as it sounds due to our now dramatically more robust economy, but still, we’re writing some mighty hot checks.

I’m not saying more taxes in exchange for more services is necessarily a bad thing.  Many of those high-tax countries regularly rate at the very top of the “happy citizen” surveys.  Their citizens have made the conscious decision to trade some of their personal up-side economic potential for more social services/peace of mind.  Fair enough.

So where are we (the US) headed?  I can’t imagine how any politician can look us in the eye and honestly say we can have universal health care, AND a stable Social Security system, AND Medicare for our seniors, etc. WITHOUT raising taxes.

I personally think dramatically higher taxes is where we’re eventually going.  Over the past few years we’ve seen the results of unbridled capitalism where big corporations, special interests, the financial services guys, etc. have shown us that they’re going to get richer, and we’re not.  (Think mega-bonuses FOR them when things go right, and taxpayer bail-outs TO them when things don’t.)  And if “the common man” sees that his upside economic potential is being increasingly restricted, then he’ll probably some day just throw in the towel and go for the social safety net.  Not ALL will, but enough to tip the political scale.

We either must raise our tax burden or give up some of the social programs we have now, and no politician is going to take away the goodies he’s already given us.  That would be political suicide.

You agree, or am I all wet?

S

This morning on the news I heard that at the University of Colorado they’re going to limit the length of showers the inmates….er….students can take in the dorms.  This will save money and help conserve water resources.  Then K proceeded to jump on my case (in a nice way) about how I waste water taking long showers, and how I should cut back and conserve precious water resources, too.

Just how will saving water in Dallas, Texas put more water in the well at a village in dusty Africa, or in drought stricken Outback, Australia?  If I take a long shower, or pee, or wash clothes, the waste water goes into the sewer line to the water treatment plant, where it is cleaned up and returned to the lake where it came from in the first place.  The water that isn’t returned due to lawn watering or car washing is replenished by rain, thanks to God, the ultimate water delivery Guy.  If our lakes are overflowing like they are now, the excess water is just released downstream where it eventually winds up in the Gulf of Mexico.

Lucy, ’splain to me how me taking a shorter shower in Dallas is gonna save Niagara Falls?  There isn’t a shortage of water in the world, but an unequal distribution problem.  Methinks this is all just a huge environmental stampede.

S

…..Or to be a bit more word-efficient, today is our (K and my) anniversary.  It was three years ago today, in a small chapel in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, that my wonderful wife Kelly and I were married.  We spent the day afterwards at Pebble Beach, had a wonderful dinner out, and finally returned to our temporary residence at the Tickle Pink Inn.  (I know….sounds cheesy, but it was actually spectacular, with a gorgeous room on a high cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  See for yourself here.)

We had already been there for a few days, traveling up and down the California coast, exploring Big Sur, visiting San Simeon, and just enjoying the ambiance of quaint Carmel.  Of course being the architecture nut that I am, I enjoyed seeing street-after-street of this:

It was a magical day that’s only gotten better every day since.  I wake up every morning and see my wonderful wife and realize what a blessed guy I am.  Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart.

S

Hey everyone……not to worry, all is well with K and me.  It’s just the old “so much to do, so little time” thing, and KCL got put on the back burner.  Hope y’all are doing well and are surviving our global-warming-induced cold weather.  *Haha…I crack myself up sometimes*

Merry Christmas!  

S & K