Listening to Morning Edition this yesterday morning, I heard an economics piece on what states are trying to do meet their budget requirements. Most states, unlike the federal government, are required to have balanced budgets year-in and year-out.
The report focused on states that are in the process of selling off their physical assets in order to need budget demands – they need the money NOW, as the reporter emphasized as he spoke of the Illinois plan to sell off its state lottery to private investors.
Several months ago, I heard similar reports about Indiana’s, Michigan’s, Illinois’, and Ohio’s plans to sell of such things as state toll-roads, turnpikes, and bridges – mostly large physical infrastructures. Now, I can understand that there are times when this may truly be advantages and prudent. I don’t think in these cases that we are in such times.
The reporter this yesterday morning said that the opposition in Illinois claims that a private group will do nothing but market the lottery more strongly and the end result will be greater harm for poor folk and those who are addicted to such things. (For some strange reason, I cannot use the “g” word with my host provider. Whenever I use the word for what people do in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, I am given an error message and can’t post. How strange is that? It has taken me a whole day to figure why I couldn’t submit this post.) This kind of have may not result from the sell last year of Chicago’s Skyline bridge-highway system, but it does set up situations where either tolls will be charged or increased or maintenance will suffer because private firms are all about making a profit and not serving the public good. Okay, that’s fine, but when we talk about public works originally paid for by tax funds, there is an obligation of government to manage those projects well.
Selling off state assess because the legislature cannot discipline itself to arrange state budges to meet the basic needs, rather than pork-barrel projects or even niceties when the coffers are flush with money, has become the new M.O. in many states. This is obviously very shortsighted. But, when people are desperate and unwilling to make hard decisions, then what do we expect?
Decisions have to be made: Will the people hold government officials accountable so that they are wise and diligent in the allocation and spending of the people’s money? Will the people be willing to live with less and be inconvenienced more for a little more money in their pockets? Will the people and government be willing to take the long-term view of things? Will people be willing to allow for the further stratification of society – the rich becoming richer and able to afford whatever they want while the middle-class and poor continue to live with less and less? Will the people and government go back to believing in the public general welfare and be less obsessed with their own greed? Will the political parties stop crassly promising the world at no individual cost in order to win elections to gain more and more power for themselves? Will special interests be brought to account? Will people begin to act more altruistically and less selfishly? Will our elected officials make the hard and perhaps unpopular decisions for the benefit of future generations?
To be honest, I think we are at a point in this country where we will act positively to any of the above. It is easier to think in the short term and desperately sell off public assets rather than to answer in a positive direction to any of the above questions.
I’m not a pessimist, but I am becoming much more of a realists as time goes on. The Religious Right talks a lot about morals. They focus on sex and keeping for themselves what they feel is theirs. What about the issues of morality surrounding the Golden Rule, loving our neighbor as ourselves, even loving our enemy, and looking out for the welfare of the least of these? The Church looked far different as portrayed in the Acts of the Apostles by Luke (the Book of Acts in the Bible) concerning the welfare of its members than it does now. They all sold everything they had and laid it at the apostles’ feet so that it could be distributed to all who had need! Personal greed and the fulfillment of personal want have replaced concern for the welfare of the least of these – the very people Jesus said will be the greatest.