Thoughts I Want to Put Down (But I'm Not Sure They Make Sense)

So in the night I woke up and couldn't sleep for a bit.  Random thoughts happen then, so reader beware.  By random, I mean potentially boring for you.  But the thoughts seemed so well formed and normal at that point.  I'm going to try to recreate them here and see just how, ahem, normal they seem now.

First, the reader should be aware of how much opinion news/politics shows I watch.  I TiVO Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann every day and get to actually watch them most days.  I also have been listening to a podcast when I run long runs called "Best of the Left".

So last night I was thinking about tax cuts.  Huh?,  you say.  Right, I say.  Middle of the night.  Tax cuts.

Anyway, I was thinking about the philosophy of tax cuts for the wealthy as a way to improve the economy via "trickle down" economics.  And I was thinking of our consumer-generated economy.  How the American Pursuit of Stuff underpins the entire global economy (am I making Americans too important here- ah, fodder for another post).  But I digress.  Back to the topic.  So Americans are counted on to buy stuff, and then throw it into the landfill when done and then buy more stuff.  At least, that's my current opinion on the matter.

But then I got to thinking about Christopher's and my habits, and the cultural mores around buying "new" (I think that thrift shop shopping and craigslist buying is a growing trend, correct me if I'm wrong) and I think we are on dangerous ground if we give tax cuts to the wealthy.  Now, Christopher and I do not fit the definition of "wealthy" according to the tax cutoff (over $250,000) but we are comfortable.  And we are in the market for baby stuff.  And we are so happy and excited when we find something that is gently used so we don't have to buy new.  Our decision is not based on our income (because we have the income to buy new).  But we care about the landfills getting too big and overflowing.  And we care about the pollution that factories making "new" stuff are generating.  And we know our use of this baby stuff will be relatively short in the grand scheme of things so we don't want to get to saddled with "stuff" we will shortly have to get rid of in order to reduce clutter.

And so, my middle of the night meanderings led me to this conclusion.  We need to discuss the efficacy of  "trickle down" economics in the context of our current cultural paradigm.  And I would love it if that's what the Republicans/Libertarians/Tea Party Folks would explain and defend.  But I know that will never happen. :(  It seems painfully obvious, *really obvious*, that a trend towards "less regulation" and "smaller government" brings us exactly back to the late 1800's and early 1900's.   At that time, there was unfettered wealth held by a few, small government and little regulation.  The wealth did not "trickle down" but rather led to the hugest plummet of American quality of life ever in the history of this country (IMHO)- the Great Depression.

Why are so many middle class Americans fighting for pre-depression conditions in this country?  Because the field of psychology in the area of marketing is so advanced.  And the wealthy know how to find the experts who will convince the average American that tax cuts for the wealthy are good for them too.  Oh sad.  So sad.