What is the mantra of political conservatives? The government is too big! We need to cut it down to size! Cut. Cut. Cut.
And what is one of the results of all this incessant cutting? Piled up snow.
Over the past week, many parts of New York City have been paralyzed by streets made impassible by unplowed snow. As David Sirota writes,
While there is no question that government can become bloated (e.g., US armed forces or the prison-industrial complex), there are many basic services that all of us -- regardless of economic standing -- rely on. Cut too much and you paralyze the organism...to EVERYONE'S peril.
And what is one of the results of all this incessant cutting? Piled up snow.
Over the past week, many parts of New York City have been paralyzed by streets made impassible by unplowed snow. As David Sirota writes,
Like so many wealth-worshiping politicians across the land, [Mayor] Bloomberg spent the last few years focused on two priorities: He campaigned against proposals to replenish depleted public coffers via slightly higher taxes on Wall Streeters, all while citing those depleted coffers as a rationale for massive municipal layoffs. Those job cuts, which were particularly acute at New York’s snow-removing sanitation department, have now predictably translated into an immobilized metropolis...Too much snow without enough workers and equipment to clear it created another problem -- trash and garbage piled up!
The Department of Sanitation announced it would resume garbage pickups on Monday for the first time since the Christmas weekend storm dumped 20 inches of snow on city streets. Trash collection was suspended while crews struggled to plow streets, Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty said...You see, when we engage in this orgy of slashing the "size of government," too often what gets cut are all those basic services that makes modern society hum. While snow removal and trash pick-up may not be glamorous services, try going about your daily routine without them. Try navigating streets and bridges that aren't properly maintained or calling for the fire department that doesn't arrive until your property has burned down.
While there is no question that government can become bloated (e.g., US armed forces or the prison-industrial complex), there are many basic services that all of us -- regardless of economic standing -- rely on. Cut too much and you paralyze the organism...to EVERYONE'S peril.
So proud of its head it cuts off its bottom and backs up with shit.
ReplyDelete“The most important moral of all is that excellence is where you find it. I would extend this generalization to cover not just higher education but all education from vocational high school to graduate school. We must learn to honor excellence, indeed to demand it in every socially accepted human activity, however humble that activity, and to scorn shoddiness, however exalted the activity. An excellent plumber is infinitely more admirable than an incompetent philosopher. The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because philosophy is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.” -- John William Gardner
ReplyDelete--sgl