Posted by Ritch on October 27, 2002, at 22:35:16
In reply to Re: gun control » Ritch, posted by Dinah on October 27, 2002, at 15:01:10
> Well, Ritch, if what Jay meant by war ravaged and very very poor was what you described, then I will admit to that being a possibility. I was imagining something far more catastrophic. The government might indeed find itself in debt once again.
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> I was always against the recent tax cut. When Reagan came into office the top tax rate was a rather unreasonable 70%. His tax cut brought it down to 50%. And I don't think that was altogther a bad thing. People were relatively disinclined to put in a lot of effort to take home 30 cents on the dollar. But the tax rate at the time of the latest cut was not, in my eyes, particularly onerous. And we really didn't have the money to return, especially after the events of 9/11. The tax cuts were a major reason for the deficit, along with a soft economy.
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> And I'm not a huge fan of being the world's police force either. It costs a lot and everyone ends up resenting you. But isolationism can cost a lot too, as we learned to our great cost in the past. As in most things, a road of moderation is probably wisest.
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> Now rebuilding I don't mind at all. History has shown it to be extremely cost effective. Just think how differently things might have turned out if help had been given to Germany after WWI, and so averted the calamitous economic conditions that led to the rise of Hitler. And although I realize that what I hear might be biased, it sounds as if women are able to go to school and to the doctor again in Afghanistan and the residents there are much better off than under the Taliban rule.
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> But at any rate, we're a resilient country. And I think it's a bit premature to be forecasting our demise. And perhaps politics is as divisive a subject as religion. :)
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Oh yes, everyone knows about the politics and religion thing :-)That's why I tried to limit my discussion to "economic" issues of potential war, as much as possible. I don't think we are on the brink of demise, that's a harsh word. A lot of folks think war makes for a good economy. That is really quite false. WWII brought us rapidly out of the depression because of tremendous government spending increases which brought the unemployment rate rapidly down. We aren't suffering major unemployment problems like we did then. The problem is the bulk of the baby-boomers are retiring (or trying to anyhow), and a huge proportion of the population is going to shift from being a tax-base to a tax-beneficiary. We will need to realistically assess that problem at some point. The failure to do so will not result in a demise, but a considerably dimmer future that we wouldn't ordinarily have to face.
poster:Ritch
thread:31596
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20021022/msgs/31726.html