Bitter Tea

Elections are coming up and I've been hearing a lot about the Tea Party. On the one hand, I understand their frustration with government and the deficit and having to rescue the economy from the disaster created by years of abuse from Wall Street and the big banks. But when they start on a tirade against all government and any taxes they lose my interest. In times like these it's easy to want to lash out at government as the source of our problems, but shutting down the infrastructure that makes this generally successful and enormous society function isn't the way to effect positive change. I know this because I've seen the effects of letting a country's infrastructure fall apart.

Last month in the Dominican Republic I wondered why a region with abundant natural resources and rampant unemployment has such horrible roads. Why don't they put their people and resources to use to improve the roads, which would improve trade and stimulate the economy, providing better roads and jobs at the same time and, eventually, generating revenue to repay the cost of building the roads in the first place? Certainly the private sector isn't going to pave the public roads there unless there's some immediate, tangible benefit for the corporation involved. Indeed, historically, the private sector has been willing to fund improvements to roads and housing for their workers as long as there would eventually be a profit in it for them. But what about the major thoroughfares from one town to another? Can any single business or even a conglomerate be expected to pay the high cost of establishing and maintaining these roads? Clearly not, but if not business then whom? The only entity who can generate that much funding is also the entity that should be responsible for general public improvements, and that is the government. But how does the government generate enough money to pay for these improvements? Well taxes, of course, and that leads to the tedious discussion of who should be taxed more and who should be taxed less, and that's the more traditional conservative vs liberal argument. This discussion of government being the problem and ending taxes the solution is really the illogical conclusion of the discussion Reagan began in the 80s. It's easy to wish for a simpler time when there was less regulation and people (and businesses) were "free" to trade without restrictions. But let's face it, we don't live in that simplistic society any longer. The high degree of complexity and the infrastructure required to generate an environment capable of creating our technological marvels- skyscrapers, computers, medicines, cell phones, cable television, satellites, space shuttles and our interstate and highway system- won't simply fall into place through the will of a self-serving free market system. It requires strategic planning, coordination, regulation and yes, taxes. That's not socialism, it's just common sense.