Discuss: The Big Green Lie

I really enjoyed reading this article.  It was part of an assignment for class.  I found the article and the statements that he made about the “green fad” interesting.  A lot of companies try to make us feel that they are totally green and that they are helping the environment but in actuality they are not able to do it alone and everyone needs to step in and help make changes.  A lot of the companies are not able to make some necessary changes to help the environment because of monetary issues and the fact that they will not be able to profit out of the changes.  I think that they government does need to realize that we understand that their are things that need to be done but this is something that a few companies or a couple citizens cannot do on their own.

It is hard to believe that Wal-Mart spent $500 million dollars on the whole ‘go green’ thing and their emissions of CO2 still increased. From what I have been taught in an Environmental Biology class, our worldly emissions have decreased in the past 10 years, so you can expect that I was shocked when reading this article. I know going green is expensive at first, but I would think that after so many years, it would eventually be worth it. If we want to get something done, before it is too late, these big businesses are just going to have to spend some big money. Solving this problem is apparently not as easy as I thought is was. If the companies that make things such as solar products made those items much more cost efficient, I am sure they would sale more. Maybe then, we would start seeing more positive changes in our climate. Our actions need to be intensified before anything can be accomplished. I think this would be a good article schools should require students to read, so that they become more aware of what is going on. I love the honesty in this article.

How Do We Fix This Mess? 

Corporate taxes and taxes in general need to be simplified and a lot of corruption can be stopped in the process. And a great deal of expense can be avoided.  First let’s all agree that a progressive tax is required.  All other democratic nations have adopted this.  It is a fact that without the little guys there would be no big guys.  They make much of their money on the backs of working Americans, enough said.
      Corporations need to be taxed on profit.  Dividends ought to be an expense.  Those receiving them ought to count them as ordinary income.  Same for interest.  Medicare and social security would be charged on dividends and interest until the individuals pass the threshold limit for social security.  Otherwise, those living on inheritance and never working never pay into the system.     
  Capital gains must be taxed as ordinary income too.  There should be a significant tax increase on any very short term gains.  We are supposed to be investing not gambling on wall street.  All the computer trading that in done, is at the expense of the long term investor and does nothing to improve any aspect of the investment.  Trades with ownership of less than a day 60%,  less than a week 50%.  The idea is not to create some exorbitant amount of income. It is to create a deterrent for market corruption.  These changes will bring a lot of integrity to the system and restore fundamental principles of investing.
  Deductions:  First let’s understand that the tax system must be an income producing activity for government…...not a tool to create incentives.  If you want create an incentive for some thing, do just like a business does.  “Do this and I’ll pay you this after it is done.”  If it is a legitimate cause, the private sector will be happy to finance it, not always the government.  The main purpose for this is that currently no one knows how much we are paying for what or even who is getting it, nor do we have any means of accounting for the spending of our money!  This will save an unimaginable amount of money and make the appropriate accounting of expenditures possible.  Forget ear marks.  Nothing breeds corrupting quite like they do.
    The basic and only deduction should be equal to the poverty level for all workers and their dependents and adjusted annually for inflation.  Same with the brackets.  Keep IRA and Roth systems as they are.  Have simple progressive steps after that basic deduction.  The rationale is that if you can’t support yourself above the poverty level, you surely can’t support anything else.  Secondly, those making far more than they need, must support the system with a greater contribution.  After all, it is the morally right thing to do and the only way the system will ever work.  Income above 2 million a year (more then Average Joe makes in a lifetime) ought to be at 45%, 1-2 million 40%,  100K-1 million 33%,  25K-100 K 25%,  15K-25K 18%  and less than 15K 10%  with no deductions for anything besides the basic deduction.  This will provide more than enough revenue.  What most don’t realize is that the wealthy have so many loopholes that the net percent they pay is far less than Average Joe does.  This will make the system simple enough that nearly everyone can do their own taxes.  This will simplify and improve state income taxes too.
    Want responsible accountable government?  Easy, require a balanced budget.  Here is how.  The government and everyone else’s fiscal year must be from July 1 to June 30.  At the end of the fiscal year, Uncle Sam will report how the budget went for the year.  If it is over spent X% than everyone, corporations included, will be required to add X% to their tax liability for the year.  If it under spent X% than we all get to deduct X% from our tax obligation. Taxes will be due October 15 and the election will be 3 weeks later.  That should be all the incentive we need to hold our representatives accountable and they will know it! 
    If you want to deal with corporate greed and help social security become more solvent, try this.  All income above 2 million annually should have to pay social security, medicaid,  and be matched by the employer.  Share the greed!
  In regard to inheritance tax.  First let’s keep in mind this is income for the living, not taxes on the dead.  Nothing is done to dead people aside from burying them.  There are deductions in place and that can be debated, but in the end the monies received should be taxed as ordinary income.  I don’t think we need to increase the incentive for so many to never have to try and be productive citizens.
  One final note, quality of life is mostly based on the quality of our infrastructure and secondly by personal wealth.  So let’s get together and start working on the infrastructure of the future.  We all know what is needed, so let’s get started.  Our children are our future.  Let’s educate them well and leave them with a future they can improve on, not one they will fear.

I have always cared about our environment but became more concerned about cutting down on my carbon emission as an individual last semester in my Human Ecology class.  We were studying about human impact on the environment and the planet.  We did an experiment where we had to calculate our ecological footprint (something I have never done before).  I was shocked at my results and decided to make some effort to cut down on my footprint.
    I am somehow not surprised about this article but more concern.  It is not easy for one to cut down on his/her footprint as many factors come into play and can understand why bigger companies are having difficulties as well.  But as individuals, we can collectively make a big different and a change.  We obviously do not have wait on congress.

Monopolies and Oligopolies of every and any kind are the self-serving unreasonable forces driving unchecked pollution.

A monopoly/oligopoly can be a political party, a labor union, or a commercial supplier of a natural resource (oil) or service (news information), (shipping), etc.

Natural selection is a proven method of weeding out life’s failures from successes.  Natural selection is competition at its best!

Monopolies & Oligopolies violate nature by preventing competition.

Look around: Oil, Pharmaceuticals, Insurance, Food, Shipping, News, Stock Trading, Entertainment, Education, Journals, Movies, TV Shows, Magazine Articles are rapidly being consolidated into oligopolies!  Since all 80 news sources in the USA were taken over and consolidated into an oligopoly run by 4 movie companies in the early 1990’s, the threats to the survival of the human species have multiplied exponentially.

Any species that violates nature is quickly made extinct by the laws of Nature!