Can We Be Trusted?

There has been a theme that has crept into several popular thriller shows in the last few years.  It involves taking family members as hostage to coerce a mom or dad to perform acts, possibly assassination, possibly robbery, in place of the actual criminals.  Consider that without such duress it is likely that mom and dad can be trusted not to rob or kill.  However, with their family's safety in jeopardy, it is likely that mom or dad could be coerced to do nearly anything. 

Some people don't need that kind of coercion.  Sometimes the incentive of a windfall could motivate them to rob a bank or a convenience store.  Sometimes the incentive of receiving extra funds from campaign contributors can motivate a politician to spend it on junkets, cars or houses. Some leaders will lie for personal gain.

Sometimes the common human trait of desiring to control others can make a husband abusive or a law enforcement officer use excessive force or lie about their activities.

"Plomo o Plata".  A expression sometimes heard in movies about latin crime syndicates meaning silver or lead.  Can someone be motivated by personal financial gain or by threat against their life or the lives of their loved ones?  

The fact is that none of us is completely trustworthy.  Trust extends only so far as our

interests align.  As long as we are after the same goals we can be trusted not because of loyalty to others but because we see the goal as in our own self interest.  We may develop affection in friendship or family based on common interests.  Consider what happens if Mom or Dad become abusive.  No longer are the interests of Mom and Dad aligned and the abuser can no longer be trusted.

For several decades employees "trusted" their companies.  Some families even had multiple generations that worked for the company.  They trusted the company with their future, with their insurance and their retirement.  When the economy had to lay off people and downsize that trust was proven to be unfounded.  That doesn't make the company bad or evil.  It shows that the absolute trust should have been qualified.  Ultimately,  the interests of the employees and the company diverged.  The employees should never have trusted so thoroughly in the company realizing that eventually their interests would not longer be aligned.

Parents want to trust those who teach their children but we are faced often with those among teachers who have different interests about these children.

Americans have repeatedly trusted in political leaders only to find that their interests and the interests of the leader don't align for long.   We want to believe that our leaders are virtuous only to be disappointed once again.  Is that the fault of the leader or those who trust them?

People want to trust their religious leaders but we have received reports that even that trust can be misplaced as the leader's interest diverged from their mission.

Americans want to believe that law enforcement personnel are trustworthy especially since they carry lethal force.  However, repeatedly we have reports that some have abused and destroyed that trust.

The problem is not with the LEO or Leader or Parent or Teacher or Pastor.  The problem is with all of us.  We refuse to admit the truth that none of us is trustworthy.  We refuse to admit that every human being is corruptible including us.  The only question is what the currency will be.  Will it be money?  Will it be power? Will it be sex? Will it be the safety of our families?

Given this, how can we allow some human beings, corruptible as we all are, to have authority over others without extreme accountability and oversight?  How can we allow our gov't to operate in secret and then prosecute those who expose the secrets?  How can we allow the proverbial "blue wall" code of silence among law enforcement officers?  How can we allow a gov't so large and so invasive to have so much control over the people that the people fear the gov't rather than the gov't fearing the people?  How can we remain passive in trusting any political or community leader?  No one is trustworthy. None.  Not you.  Not me.

What can we say then?  How can we live like this?  Honesty and wisdom requires that we must recognize this truth.  The obvious answer is that we must discover the motivations for every role and we must hold the spotlight of accountability on every role.  There can be no more dark places.  No more secrets.  Corruption seeks the darkness, seeks to remain undiscovered.  Truth and trust requires exposure.  And it requires that we all pay attention.  The tendency to corruption is constant.  So must the light of exposure be.

No one is trustworthy. None.  Not you.  Not me.

"I hate numbers".

I heard this from a friend recently followed up with the reason why he and I are opposites in regard to public

policy.  I'm always asking how much things cost or what the cost / benefit of an idea might be.  He and others have great ideas about helping people but hate the numbers.  Those of us obsessed with numbers are portrayed as mean or heartless or lacking in compassion even if we may donate generously to others from what we can afford personally.

Ant and the Grasshopper.

Is there anyone who has not heard or read this story many times perhaps with many variations.  The fundamental idea is that the ants are industriously working and storing away food and resources ahead of winter while the grasshopper plays in the sun.  We all know what happens when Winter comes.

It may be said that ants are about numbers and grasshoppers are about fun.  Who could be opposed to fun, really?  Although, the assumption here is that ants never have fun.  Isn't it likely that they are able to have fun in peace after their work is done?   They can be at peace because they looked into the future and saw that Winter was coming. They prepared for it by looking at the number of days til then, the number of mouths to feed, the number of square area necessary to accommodate all the community, the number of available workers.

Grasshoppers cannot be concerned with numbers. They hate numbers.  Numbers aren't fun.  In fact numbers rain on the fun.  Numbers are for ants.  Ants don't know how to have fun.

Not everyone can be good at numbers, though many who claim not to be were just poorly taught by deficient teachers but others choose to avoid things that can be hard.  Sadly some who were daunted by Algebra, Calculus, and Geometry also abandoned Addition and Subtraction at the same time.  These people often find themselves with more month than money.   They are often baffled at how this can happen and when it goes on long enough become bitter that others seem to be better off than they are and come to think that its not fair.  These are ones that blame banks that told them that they could afford that payment when simple addition and subtraction would have told them otherwise.

Mathematicians and Musicians have special gifts and we are all grateful for them.  But even those of us without those gifts can still use their tools.  Who hasn't tried to learn an instrument and even had some modest accolades?  Who hasn't used a calculator?  No one needs to be gifted to add and subtract, even multiply with a calculator?  No one must be gifted to add up their spending and find that there isn't enough income and make adjustments voluntarily before those adjustments are forced on them with the loss of a house or a bankruptcy.

But here is the wisdom of the Ants:  Winter is coming.  So many folks have exactly the money to cover each month.  There aren't many things in life that are "unexpected", only "unplanned".  The fact is cars break down.  People get sick.  Businesses change and reduce their need for labor.  Natural disasters happen. (CA residents, will you be surprised when the big one comes?  You've been told your whole life that it's coming.)  These are not unexpected.  Only unplanned for.   They are as certain as Winter.

Lastly, a subject for a more detailed post later.  There are annual expected events like Winter for which we have consistent experience.   The global economic crisis is not a regular occurrence but the fact is that global events do effect us.  Sometimes immediately.  Sometimes later.  Sometimes only slightly. Other times in huge ways. If Winter comes each year, and we prepare accordingly, what shall we do to prepare for the national and global crises to come?   Will we heed the Wisdom of the Ants or play in the Sun like the Grasshopper?

What Can You Live Without?

Budgets happen. Some people actively monitor their budget. Some plan their budgets and stick to them. Others spend and look back and call that a budget. Either way everyone has a budget.

One of the purposes of advance budgeting is to consider whether current spending patterns are sustainable into the future. We may figure this out for ourselves or someone may come along and decide for us that our spending is not sustainable and force us to give up a house or a car or a credit card.  If we  consider our own patterns in advance we may have some choice about what to change or give up to make the remaining spending pattern sustainable.

The same thing is true for our gov't spending pattern.  The real question is whether it is sustainable into the future or if some countries holding our debt will come to foreclose.  I know, you believe that it can't happen to America.  Why not?

Currently we have the Dept of Housing and Urban development with the mandate to make housing affordable for the majority of Americans at the cost to a few Americans. They had 10,600 employees in 2004. Current number not easily available but imagine 6 years of growth. Budget $43.7 billion in 2010.

We have the Health and Human Services dept intended to take care of our health and well being. They have 67,000 employees and a budget of $872 billion in 2010.

We have the Education Dept with the mandate of "no child left behind" basically creating a federal standard of measurement of education that is applied to all states, all counties, all cities and towns and all citizens across the nation. They have 5000 employees with an annual budget of $69billion and a special funding from the ARRA (bailout act 2009) of $96 billion.

We have the Defense Dept tasked with protecting us from external threats. 700,000 civilian employees, 2,300, 000 military (2004), $782 billion budget (2009)

We have the Justice Dept tasked with protecting us from internal threats. 112,500 employees and $46.2 billion budget (2008).

Discretionary spending of $437 billion. What the heck is that? A slush fund for ice cream for constituents?

Social Security ($678 billion), Medicare & Medicaid ($676 billion), Interest on the existing Federal debt ($187 billion).

Total federal budget 2009 ($3.518 trillion). Total Federal Income 2009 $2.1 trillion. Overspent $1.4 trillion. (tthat's without the proposed healthcare reform.) Where did that extra money come from? It was borrowed from places like China, Russia, Japan, et al.

There are a large number of people in the country and in the gov't who believe that on top of all the Depts and programs already in place we must add another one, potentially dwarfing all of the others, gov't run healthcare.

How about it? What programs could you live without? Don't stop with saying no to healthcare. We should have said no a long time ago to these other programs. Which one will you be willing to live without in order to cut the Federal budget? Maybe you feel that the defense dept should get all the funds it needs in spite of the waste. What will you live without to keep the Defense dept well funded?

Are there any of these depts and programs that should be stopped or funded and operated at the state level? Why should the standards of education be the same for MA as TX or NY and NM? Why should there even be a Federal Housing Authority or a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to make buying housing easier for people?  The current real estate crisis is proof that it never should be easy to buy a house. Do we really need a Federal dept to be concerned for our health? Do we need a nanny? Aren't we adults able to care for our own health? Sure people still do stupid things. They smoke. They eat badly. They drink too much. They climb. They ski. They race. But is there anyone engaged in these things that doesn't know that they are hazardous?

I know, I know. Your own budget is as much as you can manage. You feel that you must trust others, assumed to be much smarter than you, to handle the budget matters of such a huge organization as the gov't. But frankly haven't we tried that? We have some of the most educated people on the planet running the gov't and they have overspent and overpromised. They have mortgaged the futures of your children so that they will see income tax rates topping 70%. That is likely even in our generation.

Bottom line, ALL of these programs are going away someday if some are not cut now. Like the family who lost their house because they were not willing to get rid of a car and cut down their dining out spending or clothing expenses or whatever else. The House of America is heading for bankruptcy. Someone else will own it and occupy it.

Bias and Naivete

Right up front, I admit my bias.  Many know this already but in the interest of integrity I admit to values consistent with limited gov't, personal responsibility, freedom for all, handouts for none, much of the Libertarian party platform, and the Bible.  Ok.  Your turn.

Some people will stop reading now because they take exception to my bias and values.  No problem.  Freedom means not reading what doesn't suit you.  The real issue here is that too many people won't own up to the FACT that they have biases at all.  If you prefer chocolate over vanilla ice cream, you have a bias.  If you prefer higher taxes for some or all, that is a  bias too.   If you believe that the gov't is more trustworthy than business then you have a bias.  If you believe that Wall street caused the financial crisis then you have a bias.  If you don't agree then PLEASE stop reading.  We have a factual disconnect that cannot be overcome.

Pollyanna lives

Have you ever been in financial trouble?  It's hard to imagine anyone who hasn't.  Whether poor or rich, financial trouble seems to find it's way into everyone's life.  

In cases like that do we respond like Pollyanna, who believes that all things will turn out well as we go on about our lives as we always have?  Or are we like a ship in a storm where the crew begins to dump cargo overboard?    In the latter case, the crew believed that this cargo was important or they would not have brought the items on board at all.  They continue to dispose of the cargo until the ship is no longer in danger.  

In times of financial stress you may decide that you need only 1 car instead of 2. You start to think creatively on how to manage that realizing that it will be inconvenient, even painful at times.  You may also decide that you can ditch your cable TV service.  You may have thought that that was essential before.   But If you have lost your job and you see a looming mortgage payment coming soon, would you cut back to 1 car or ditch your cable or allow your house to be warmer in Summer and cooler in Winter if it meant that you could keep your house?

Pollyanna, would continue as before believing that all items are essential until finally someone comes along to evict her from her house and take her car away in repossession.  Pollyanna trusts that others will be kind to her and others will make a way for her so that really nothing terrible can happen.  Pollyanna does not look down the road and see disaster coming.  She does not change today's behavior to avoid the future disaster. 

Anyone who has experienced financial trouble knows about these choices and wishes that they had started sooner making changes in what they believed were essential before they were lost all together. 

Right now our Gov't is in financial trouble.  But too many politicians responding to their constituents are not being allowed to make the cuts necessary to save our country.  Our spending is now $1.5 trillion greater each  year than our income and is not sustainable.  A debate rages in Washington about whether Congress will vote to raise the limit so that the gov't can borrow more.  But too many in Congress will not cut spending to bring our budget into balance.  We must stop borrowing to fund our lifestyles. 

The fact is that if we do not voluntarily cut our spending now we will be forced by outside forces to cut them in the future because no one will lend us money.  Remember also that when the gov't borrows money to operate, they are lying to the country about what gov't costs to operate.  If you will not own up to cutting and cutting big then you are a Pollyanna believing that the future is bright and rosy and that somehow the gov't has a pot of money somewhere that will make everything alright.  That does not happen in real life.  Lots of people have lost their homes as a result of too much Pollyanna thinking.

If we don't voluntarily get our house in order, others will do it for us, just like a bank foreclosing on our house.

So here are some items that were once considered essential but should be considered essential no longer : Dept of Education, Dept of Energy, Dept of Transportation, Dept of Health and Human Services,  Nat'l Endowment for the Arts. There are undoubtedly parts of the defense budget that we can live without as well.  What else can you name?