To Anonymous
Oh, I might be setting myself up in the line of fire for this, but I really hope it's read with the right intention in mind because it is meant to help. That said, here goes... [donning flame-retardant suit]
I welcome everyone's opinions, I really do, because I'm a philosopher at heart and I enjoy debating things as long as it's done with respect. So it was great to have a few weigh in on the last post. I especially like it when people have the courage to own their opinions.
And then there are those who, for whatever reason, will not own their opinion, possibly for fear of being attacked over it. Understandable. However, I would hope that anyone who reads my blog would feel safe enough to express it. I'm really quite harmless. :-)
But sometimes I see or hear things that trouble me and cry out for a response. This is one of those times.
My dear Anonymous, whomever you are... you wrote:
I just hope this change doesn't cause my husband to have to close his business when the tax increases start hitting.
Well, I hope your husband doesn't have to close his business, either. I really hope he continues to be successful. I'd be surprised, however, if a business fails solely on the basis of an increase in taxes. Failure is never attributable to one factor; it usually takes a multiple of factors to contribute to something as monumental as a complete business shutdown.
So I really wouldn't worry about it that much. The man going into the White House in 75 days is smart enough to take into account the other components of the economic equation. The 30% uniform tax being proposed would only be an issue
if all other components remain the same as they are right now. Yes. That would be a problem. If wages remain low, joblessness continues, prices for common things like milk and gas skyrocket again—yes. But as previously stated, Obama is smart. He has wise counsel. If taxes are adjusted AND more jobs are available AND the cost of living improves AND wages improve, we really won't notice the 30% that much. It's a fair trade off for an overall enormous improvement across the board.
And no, I'm NOT currently a member of the wealthy untouchables (were I...). I've actually been having a pretty rotten year financially speaking, but it's finally on the upswing, and I see HOPE for the first time in two years.
I am also a firm believer, with first-hand evidence, that what we focus on is what we get—so I'm sorry to say it would not surprise me if you did come back with reports of the business failing. Not because Obama is in the House, not because of tax increases—if it fails it is based on mindset.
I'm sure you'll find this offensive, for which I apologize, as that is not my intent. My intent is to teach a principle I've learned myself this past year that could really help prevent the very experience you fear. Having been in the hot seat myself, I know it's difficult to face the truth when you learn that you and you alone are responsible for your state of affairs. YOU are wholly responsible for what you experience. NOBODY ELSE is to blame, and nothing else is to blame. Not taxes, not the government, not your job, your spouse, your kids, your mother-in-law, your drinking problem, your hangnails, your dog, your school system, the weather, the neighbors up the road, the auto manufacturers, global warming—YOU.
What you think, you get. What you believe, you'll manifest. To me, it sounds as if you have already
decided that your husband's business will fail, and you've
chosen a possible future event as the culprit to blame it on. If that is what you choose to carry in your thoughts and envision as the end result of the election, then I'm so sorry. Not that Obama won, but that you opted to make that particular thought choice when it would have been just as easy to say,
"OK... some folks think this Obama tax increase is going to kill their business... too bad for them. I'm opting out."
It's like what
Jack Canfield (author, Chicken Soup series and the Success Principles) says. "I hear there's a recession but I've decided not to participate".
I'll pray for you and your husband, and pray that your business thrives regardless of the changes afoot. I'm sorry I had to put this out in public, but I don't know who you are... you had a choice, you could have left your name, but you chose to remain Anonymous.
Labels: election08, musings
Palpable Relief
Obama is the President-Elect.
This morning, I woke up with the most profound sense of peace and hope. Throughout the day, I've chatted with friends and perused many blogs, and I find it astounding that:
- this election has people in an ecstatic tizzy worldwide
- I am not the only one who woke up feeling like "everything's gonna be all right now"
His speech last night was so inspiring that it gave me goosebumps and THAT does not happen very often. I get the feeling that this man will lead the nation with an attitude of justice and fairness that we haven't seen in a long time. He listens. He thinks for himself. And I feel that he will truly listen to the American public and make decisions for the common, greater good—that for the first time, a President will make a habit of setting aside personal biases to do what is best for ALL.
If I can see this, why can't others? I received a disturbing email rant from someone I've known for a very long time. Apparently, she's now a Republican—I never would have guessed. She is as Caucasian as they come. Her husband is Hispanic, and she has in-laws that comprise the ethnic rainbow. I guess I find it perplexing that Obama didn't get her vote. But what troubles me most is the vicious level of venom and fear that is being flung by the "losing" side. As much as we are celebrating, they are not just disappointed, they are downright freaked out. Big time. I also sadly unsubscribed from one blog because of a particularly venomous rant that accused Americans (the blogger is overseas) of hanging themselves with this choice of President, and referred to the American public (of which I am a member) as having become over the last nine years "fatter, dumber, more violent, and lately, poorer".
OK, whoa there. That's me and my friends you're talking about.
I don't know much about politics, just enough to be dangerous. But from what I know, Republicans seem to be more conservative in nature. They adhere to the tried-and-true, following well-established "protocol" in all things. They're more conservative in their religious and moral beliefs. Democrats appear to be the opposite. More liberal, more open-minded, more capable of considering alternate perspectives and ideologies. They are willing to take a few risks to make things better.
People, it doesn't matter to me what side you choose. But the people have spoken, and the majority of us want Obama in the White House. Can we at least respect the outcome and the people involved? The mudslinging should have ended with the campaign's end.
When we were getting "fatter, dumber, more violent, and lately, poorer", who was in charge?
A Republican. For eight years.
Look. We tried out Bush for four years. Then the shinola hit the fan. Then election time came around again in 2004, and we had a choice to make. I'll admit I was wavering. One newsman said that in times of economic uncertainty, voters tend to lean towards more conservative candidates. Hence, Bush won again over Kerry. I'll admit I was a bit afraid of Kerry, because he was proposing big changes, doing things differently than they'd ever been done before, and taking risks. I, like many other nervous Americans, didn't feel safe allowing risks to be taken so soon after 9-11. I leaned conservative, as did the majority. (Yes. Blame me. I'm responsible for this mess, LOL!)
Personally, I think we learned our lesson.
A wise man often says, "if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got". We re-elected Bush in '04. And what did we get? More of what we'd already gotten, and look where it's gotten us. There used to be three classes: wealthy, middle, and poor. In eight years, we've lost the middle class; it has been absorbed mostly into poor.
This needs to change. The middle classes, from lower to upper, need to be re-established so that there is a graduated hierarchy of success again, so that there is a ladder to climb. Once upon a time, the middle class had three options: stay comfortably in the middle; take action to move up; or, though most wouldn't consciously choose this, move down a rung or two. It was possible to ascend level by level to as high as one wished to go. Back then, having a college degree practically guaranteed protection from insufferable things such as foreclosures, layoffs, not being able to fill the gas tank, having no retirement funds. Cold comfort to the engineer with the PhD who is ringing up tires at Sears after his company folded.
Right now, there are the wealthy on one side, and the rest of us on the other, with an enormous unbridgeable gap between us caused by the economic crisis, the housing market disaster, the jobless rate. Those who are not wealthy have nowhere to go. There is no gradual "up" anymore. Redistribution has to happen to rebuild the gradient class scale.
If McPalin had won, what would we have gotten? Even more of the same. Possibly worse.
It was time for something completely different. I don't care what flavor you are, if you think you can run this country a better way by taking risks and thinking outside the box, then PLEASE. Do so.
This country NEEDS change, needs to be shaken up a little, and new philosophies need to take hold. To anyone who thinks we're Effed
because Obama won, all I can say is, how could we be? We are already Effed. We couldn't possibly be more Effed as a country. And
we got that way by continuing to do things exactly as they'd been done before! Hello! McFly?
I'm not really sure what the problem is. Radical change makes perfect sense to me. In fact, it seems to be our last resort—
Help us, Obama Wan Kenobi, you're our only hope.If it wasn't working as it was, why keep doing it that way?
Yesterday, I voted for change. And change won.
Labels: election08
