Battle Enjoined

Go ahead and google "enjoin", you know you want to.

Sorry it's been so long. I recently traveled to California with my dad, who said, "You need to write a blog.  But not about taxes.  I'm tired of those."  It was then I realized that my last three posts were about taxes.  My opinion on the matter hasn't changed, but I realize that you all don't care.

So here's something new and interesting.  My house is under siege from wasps.  (Well, probably they're wasps.  I honestly don't know.  I haven't gotten close enough to ID them.)  On the corner of my house they've been trying to build a little paper nest thingy.  I first noticed them when I got back from said California trip.  Right there, under the corner of the house by the garage, where I keep my garbage cans. 

In contrast to my tax policies, I'm very lassez-faire when it comes to insects.  They can do what they want, as long as they do it outside and don't eat my food.  Stay outside, and I generally will not stomp, spray, swat or otherwise harass you.  (My policy for home teachers and solicitors also.)  These bugs, however, are intent on breaking the peace.  My first day back, I go to throw something away.  Right as I lift the lid, I notice the nest and a few dark specks dart towards me.  I immediately run backwards and do that crazy arm waving jig characteristic of suburban white guys and Justin Bieber fans. 

The sight of this flailing white monster must have frightened them, since one dove right in and stung me right on the arch of my eyebrow.  It immediately swelled and got stiff.  Fortunately, I have pretty bushy, almost Muppet-like eyebrows, so instead of having to explain a big red zit looking thing, I just walked around looking very perplexed for about a day.

It was that sting ended the peace.  I broke out my reserve of spray, doused the monsters from a good 10 feet, and watched with a certain grim glee as they perished.  I also went inside to research wasp killing techniques.  These mostly consisted of people using lighters and hairspray to flambe' the insects.  But, as much as I would have enjoyed making wasps foster, I also didn't want to burn down my house.  So, I left the spray to do it's work.  Kill the nest, and the wasps will flee, right?

The next day, though, the wasps were back.  This time it became apparent they were climbing under the siding -- doing who knows what under the skin of my house in a clear violation of our accord.  So, more spray.  And then a different spray.  And then a powder.   And then a high pressure water/soap spray.  It's been a few weeks, and the body count is steadily rising, but they don't seem to be giving up.  And, I have to do battle at night, since they're disturbingly active during the day.

Internet research hasn't been that helpful.  All it's really led me to the Japanese wasp, which is something like 3 inches long and attacks beehives.  EEK!  The only thing I really have going for me is that eventually it's going to freeze and they're going to turn into wasp-cicles.

Another thought on taxes...

The rallying cry of most conservatives these days is that we don't want to raise taxes on the "job creators".  I mean, that was the point of Bush tax cuts right?  But where are the jobs, then?

I actually think we have our logic wrong.  We assume that lowering taxes on the wealthy will spur economic development because the wealthy then have extra income to invest in the economy, either by buying goods and services, or by growing the businesses that made them wealthy in the first place.  But, everything that's happened in the last decade makes me think this doesn't actually work.

I don't know where the tax break money is going.  I suspect it's going to Wall Street -- my irritation with which is it's own post entirely.  What we can say, however, that the tax break money isn't building roads or paying soldier salaries.

So, let's consider the alternative for a moment, which is higher taxes on the wealthy; something more in line with what we had in the 80s and 90s.  If I'm wealthy, and I know that I'm going to lose a portion of my  income every year in taxes, how am I going to protect my wealth?  I'm probably going to do the typical things, like look for tax shelter and loopholes, but isn't one of the best ways to perpetuate my wealth to re-invest in my own company?  If my business is bigger next year than it was last year, isn't that the best way to ensure my continued wealth?  Re-investment is probably one of the biggest and most effective tax breaks of all.  Giving an actual tax break really just creates more disposable income.  Which, in the hands of someone who already has all their needs met, provides little ancillary benefit.

I don't know, maybe I'm out there.  Kinda makes sense to me though.  And I actually found out that there are groups of the wealthy that feel the same way:

"Our country faces a choice – we can pay our debts and build for the future, or we can shirk our financial responsibilities and cripple our nation’s potential.

Our country has been good to us. It provided a foundation through which we could succeed. Now, we want to do our part to keep that foundation strong so that others can succeed as we have.

Please do the right thing for our country. Raise our taxes."

http://patrioticmillionaires.org/

If I were in charge

If I were charge, I would raise taxes.  And yes, primarily on the wealthy.  The fact is that we enjoy an amazing amount of freedom in the US, and that simply doesn't come cheap.  The wealthier you are, the more you benefit from living here.  Don't get me wrong, I think we should also cut spending, but the reality is that both the marginal and actual tax rates are crazy low.  So low, in fact, that we're heading down the same path as countries like Spain, Portugal, and Greece.  If that's not a wake up call, I don't know what is. 

The one thing the charts below don't show is that some 50% of Americans don't pay any taxes.  At all.  I also think that's unacceptable.  Everyone should have to pay something, even if it's just a little tiny bit -- a symbolic amount.

 

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/06/low_tax.html

If I were in charge...

If I were in charge, I would end farm and ethanol production subsidies in the US.  They upset the price of goods the world over.  It's not a big deal in the US, where we tend to spend little of our income on food.  (If the price of a loaf of bread goes up a nickel, we can probably handle it.)  But if you live in a poor part of the world, even a small increase in the price of rice, corn, or wheat may mean the difference between life and death.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/may/31/global-food-crisis-guatemala-system-failure

www.oxfam.org

Skeptics, Scientists, and Christmas

"Why are you such a skeptic?" Was the question I was asked, and not without a little consternation. As if skepticism was an illness, or at least a dirty word. I didn't have a good answer. I'd never really thought about it. "Why aren't we all skeptics?" seemed like the better question. The benefits of practicing healthy skepticism seem to outweigh the problems a hundred to one. (Never tempted to buy something from an infomercial? Check. Not wasting money on the lottery? Check. Saving time and sanity not listening to Rush Limbaugh/Sean Hannity/Glen Beck? Check.)

When did skepticism become such a bad thing? Without skepticism, would we still be doing lobotomies and letting blood? Would we have any of the advances of modern science? It's been hundreds of years since Galileo was branded a heretic; why are we still fighting the same battles?

But I digress. The answer to the original question is that I am a skeptic because I've seen the evidence and I don't know how else to be. Based on evidence, I believe in tachyons, mesons, and gluons. I believe that the universe is 13.75 billion years old and earth is about 4.74 billion years old. Based on the lack of evidence, I don't believe in intelligent design, ghosts, horoscopes, aliens, crop circles, homeopathic medicine, or chiropractics.

If you believe in one or more of those things, I don't think you're an idiot. One of the realities of being a healthy skeptic (at least one with any friends), is to accept that people might have beliefs that run counter to your conclusions, even if you've seen the same evidence. Even ardent skeptics may allow powerful non-skeptic elements into their lives. This is healthy; this is normal. This is how we survive a violent, harsh world, and have done so for as long as we have existed.

Chiropractics is a good example. I have a lot of friends and co-workers that swear by their chiropractors and their every so often back adjustments. For those most part though, I don't think these friends buy into the core chiropractic tenet that all health problems can be traced problems with the spine. At the same time, as a skeptic, I can see, rationally, how spinal massage by a trained specialist could, if not improve health outright, positively affect a person's perception of their own health to the point that they do in fact feel better. I'm not going to begrudge anyone a belief that improves their overall quality of life.

Besides medicine, the other area that tends to get skeptics in trouble is faith. Skeptics who are tentative about belief are ridiculed for having too little faith, while skeptics who are faithful are mocked by the hardcore skeptics who reject the "opiate of the masses." It's sad on both accounts. Believers should remember that their faith was probably founded by a skeptic -- someone who challenged the traditions and status quo of their culture and their time. Similarly, The ardent skeptic should remember that the world is scary place, and those that look for comfort in a spiritual place aren't doing so out of delusion, but because human wisdom is finite and progresses at a finite pace, leaving many questions unanswered. While some people believe out of tradition (and could benefit from a bit of skepticism themselves), most of the faithful believe because of the balance it brings their lives.

Think of the Christmas holiday, for example. This is a skeptics favorite holiday, because it abounds with logical discontinuities. Christ wasn't born in December, He was born in the spring. There weren't three wise men, and it took them years to reach the Christ child. Christmas is mostly likely a pagan holiday re-purposed by early Christian churches. Many Santa Claus traditions are scary and somewhat racist. And on, and on, and on. But you know, what? Who cares? What's wrong with giving gifts to those you love? What's wrong with a little celebration during what are some of the darkest and coldest days of the year? What's wrong with reflecting on the previous year and looking forward to the next? Even if you're a skeptic and wholly reject the premise, you'd be hard pressed to say that we'd be better off without Christmas.

Overall, the reality is that faith and skepticism can readily coexist, despite those on both sides that angrily suggest otherwise. The two really can't be compared. My own faith is led by individuals of very significant intelligence, who no doubt approach practical matters with healthy skepticism -- and yet I know they have no doubts with respect to their religion convictions. As for me personally, my own skepticism has led me to enjoy the beauty and the mastery of the world through science. Knowing why a sunset produces such brilliant red hues does nothing to diminish its beauty.

If one looks over the millenia of recorded history, it may seem that science has answered the bulk of the important questions. I imagine that skeptics and scientists in every enlightened age have felt some sense of triumph of reaching the pinnacle of understanding. If there's anything we have learned, though, is that there is so much that we do not know, and may never know. This is perhaps the greatest challenge of skepticism, to accept that what you know today may not be true tomorrow. Science gives us the means to survive the world, but it is by faith that we persevere.


(comics linked from xkcd.org)