No Help For You!

© KKTV.com

Among the many stories related to the recent (ongoing?) wildfires here in Colorado was a tragedy of neglect and misplaced priorities that graphically illustrates the failure of private enterprise to respond properly to a public crisis. This will continue happening as long as we allow corporations dictate public policy at all levels of government.

Colorado Springs, where I live, is full of military bases with airports. One of those bases is home to an enormous plane known as the "Global SuperTanker." It is a Boeing 747-400 jet modified to carry and drop nearly 20,000 pounds of fire retardant at a time. It can fly as fast as 600 miles per hour, so it can reach any given destination quickly....but only if you have a contract with Global SuperTanker Services, LLC.

There is the rub. The plane remained grounded during our worst conflagrations in part because the landowners affected by the blazes did not have a contract with the SuperTanker company. This attitude is akin to a childish actor whining "where's my motivation?" How about decency and humanity? How about that for motivation? What are you, the firefighting version of the "Soup Nazi?"

Wildfires do not respect geopolitical boundaries, but neither do publicly-employed (government) firefighting crews. Why should the Global SuperTanker be any different? It is different because it is a private corporation that has the freedom, if you can call it that, to do as it pleases and make decisions on where to respond based on who can pay, if not "who can pay more." What do you think will happen the next time, when there is more than one fire, in different states? The plane will be deployed to whoever can provide the greatest financial return. That is the gravitational pull of money in the private sector. It is a big "FU" to any jurisdiction that is too poor to pony up.

Meanwhile, corporate media did a magnificent job of portraying government red tape as the real villain in this scenario. If only there were fewer regulations, the story seems to go, then the plane would be airborne already. Don't you believe it.

Not every fire can be fought with the huge aircraft, and the U.S. Forest Service may be behind in its approval process for new tools in its firefighting arsenal, but to suggest that bureaucracy is the sole problem here is to refuse to address the broader issue of profit-above-safety and resource protection.The solution? We citizens should own the SuperTanker. It should be government property, not a private tool with profit ahead of public safety.

Government's biggest problem may be that it has terrible marketing. It fails to explain how many public benefits we enjoy, from schools to parks, to public roads to...emergency response. The other problem is that government as morphed into a quasi-business itself whereby our public officials are now looking out only for private big-business interests. Lawmakers are actively replacing government with corporate rule.

Some elected officials have done an amazing job of convincing us that government programs are a waste of taxpayer dollars; that we as citizens have no choices in anything but the "free market." The free market is of course rigged itself and government is poised to fail because our tax dollars are subsidizing private industries instead of the public good. The only people who benefit from this kind of corruption are the lawmakers (I use that term loosely) themselves, corporate executive officers, and shareholders, all of whom are already wealthy. They are not earning their money, they are siphoning from the gas tank of you and me. Taxpayers are viewed as the "supertankers" from which money needs to be sucked up and deposited into the coffers of the elite. Call it class warfare if you wish, but it is an unmitigated tragedy that will continue until consumers and the labor force decide they will no longer participate in the system.

Vote your sensible neighbor into public office. Run for office yourself. Shop local every day. Go off the grid as much as you can. Reward excellence and scaled-down business enterprises in your consumer choices. Your dollar-spending votes in the marketplace speak even louder than the ballot box.

How to Save the Economy - Government

One of my more recent posts focused on what you as an individual can do to change the U.S. economy for the better. Today I want to offer suggestions for what government can do. My emphasis is on local-level government because you have a greater degree of influence there; and local initiatives that prove successful often get adopted at state, regional, and national levels later.

© KTTN.com

Stop insisting that economic salvation must come from elsewhere. The traditional strategy for stimulating local economies is to offer tax breaks and other incentives to out-of-state, even multi-national, corporations that promise to provide jobs in your city or town. This is almost never sustainable in the long term. When some other city or state offers a better deal, the company flees to that place. Further, the "good jobs" that require technical skills receive applications from everywhere, or may even be outsourced to another country. Exactly who is winning here?

Provide help and incentives to local businesses. Take those tax breaks and incentives you offer out-of-state corporations and start applying them to local enterprises. This is key in building a stable, unique, and respected economy. Offset hikes in minimum wage, utilities, and other overhead expenses that big, established companies can withstand without any help, by giving local businesses tax credits and other help. Require banks to put local start-ups ahead of big business when it comes to loans and other investments. Employment opportunities must include the opportunity to make your own employment.

Raise the minimum wage. We have heard the same tired arguments for and against, but consider this: Many individuals earning minimum wage are holding two or three jobs, or several part-time jobs just to pay their bills. Raising the minimum wage would thus increase employment opportunities as these people are able to drop one or more jobs. The decrease in stress on these workers also relieves all of us of collective healthcare burdens, allows parents to spend more time with their families, recreate, and otherwise enhance their physical and emotional well-being. Productivity goes up as each worker is taxed less in the physical sense.

Stop criminalizing homelessness and poverty. Here in Colorado Springs, the City Council has written ordinances designed not to address the roots of homelessness and poverty, but to simply erase it from public view. I know this because no councilperson has voiced objection to the homeless camps in our stream corridors where the average businessperson or shopper never ventures. Making it a crime to panhandle, or even sit or lie down on the sidewalk in certain parts of town, is an effort to protect wealthy people from shame and guilt.

Improve urban planning. In many municipalities, one could simply ask for urban planning period. Annexation to boost tax revenue may be appealing, but the cost of providing utilities, public transportation, and other amenities quickly overruns those gains. Having lived in Portland, Oregon for a fair portion of my life, I can attest to the viability of a semi-flexible "urban growth boundary" that creates a unique urban-rural interface, and allows growth to pay for itself. "Density" is not a dirty word, and walkable neighborhoods are highly sought-after by the new generation of business professionals who put a premium on reduced commutes and vibrant communities. Urban planning attracts desirable..."elements."

Broaden educational opportunities. Learning is a life-long commitment, but few cities or towns make continuing education a priority. Sure, there are online alternatives, but workshops, conferences, and traditional classrooms are still important. Opportunities for informal education through museums, libraries, and parks are not always publicized enough, and are certainly under-funded. Boost monetary allocations to reflect an interest in keeping citizens ahead of the curve and able to transition to newly-created occupations.

Promote multicultural festivals and events. Diversity is a strength of all communities, but too often we do not even know our neighbor. We may not even speak the same language. Festivals and events give citizens a chance to learn about other cultures by reaching beyond stereotypes and assumptions, and actively engaging with others in-person.

Prioritize public health and safety. This goes beyond law enforcement and an adequate number of hospitals. We have had enormous failures across the country in providing safe drinking water, healthy air quality, and safe transport of hazardous materials. We cannot tolerate privatization of water resources, or relax regulations designed to protect us from abuse by corporations trying to skirt the law when it comes to flammable, toxic substances. We need to tighten regulations, if anything.

Become innovative with taxation. Increases in sales taxes have been repeatedly used to fund what should be standard budget items like infrastructure maintenance. Such regressive applications hit the poorest citizens the hardest, and cost overruns often exceed the revenues generated anyway. Get creative. Why not a parking tax to encourage use of public transit, the revenue actually going to improved public transit? I am in no way an expert on taxation, but it is clear to me that we need to apply some serious brainpower to creating alternatives to the traditional, outdated code.

Empower citizens whenever possible. Finally, it should be an overriding priority of local governments to reward public initiatives that allow individuals to pursue projects that benefit the community as a whole. Some regulations actually do need relaxing. Ordinances that prevent homeowners from growing their own vegetable gardens, or erecting their own modest wind or solar devices, should be modified or repealed. Innovative ideas should be rewarded whenever possible, and seldom, if ever, punished. A citizen who feels motivated to create something, or share something, be it an idea or something more tangible, is the most valuable citizen of all. Oh, that means everyone is valuable, by the way, and not just as a consumer of goods and services.

Drunk Driving

I rarely post content here that is not my own, but one of my friends on social media narrowly avoided a tragic automobile accident recently, and her account of the ordeal is so powerful that it demands more widespread circulation. Please take this message to heart, "share" it, and intervene whenever there is potential for an intoxicated human being to get behind a wheel.

The aftermath of the accident © Laura Lillie Saenz

"First - everyone involved is ok. Normally I wouldn't share something like this, but my reasoning is important. I can't convey how close we were; I'm not sure how we were not involved, but for the hand of God. The kids and I watched all this unfold. We watched the driver crawl out the window, and his passenger stumbled out to the ground.

My son was getting out of the car before I even stopped; and went to her and he sat with her while the driver ran. I checked on the elderly gentleman in the truck, while calling 911. The girls patiently sat in the truck for hours. As we sat with the young lady whose face was cosmetically damaged, [with] at least 2 teeth out, she told us she was sorry.

You see, they were drunk. Really drunk! It was 6 PM and they were coming back from a Mexican restaurant in town; she said she had 9 beers (she barely weighed 100 pounds), that they were drunk, but she let him drive her car. He left her laying on the side of a ditch, for strangers to care for her. I asked her to talk to us until paramedics got there, and she laid there talking to me about her 4-year-old daughter and her mom. I just kept looking at my son and my truck that safely held my babies and thanking God for our safety.

But, as we waited and watched first responders do their jobs, I couldn't help but be angry too. There is NO excuse for anyone to ever get in a vehicle and drive after drinking. If you have a habit of drinking - even one or two beers - and getting in your car, you need to get a picture of your kids, your wife, your mom, and put them on your dash. You need to know your story may not end as well as this one. This young momma could have very easily been taken from her daughter tonight. That elderly man, was probably a grand-daddy, a husband, and loved.

I have zero patience for intoxicated drivers. You are endangering the lives of other people around you, and could forever ruin the lives of so, so many people, robbing all future generations of a chance to know a loved one. Parents, please, tell your teenagers that if they are ever in a situation where they have been drinking, or a friend has been drinking, tell them you will come get them no questions asked (until the morning anyway). Tell them repeatedly. Tell them in their 20's that if they are out partying you'll pay for a cab ride home. Let them know they can come to you in that moment. Be mad at them later, but be thankful they're alive.

If you have a friend out drinking, maybe right now, call them, tell them you'll come get them, offer to be a designated driver or pitch in for a cab. But, don't let them, or yourself, get in a car if you have had anything to drink.

I am happy to say that just after they told us we could leave, one of the first officers on the scene came and thanked us and told us they got the guy. I am thankful that these people involved will be able to go home and hug their loved ones again." - Laura Lillie Saenz

We drink to celebrate, we drink to drown our sorrows. We are given far too many excuses to drink and not nearly enough reasons not to. Drinking alcohol is never, ever an acceptable coping skill. One could argue convincingly that we should not drive a vehicle during any emotional highs or lows, let alone under the influence of substances that exacerbate those emotions. The NFL playoffs finish today. The Super Bowl is in a couple more weeks. Do not let fanaticism end up in fatality.