LETTERS: Is more money the solution?
To the Editor:
In her letter to the editor in the April 30 issue, Jill Fenske's statement about the need for more money for teachers got me to thinking.
From my objective observation and seeing what has been happening over the years, it seems that no matter how much money we make or how much money the government doles out to fund this and that, in all honesty, our society is deteriorating, and it seems to me, it is picking up speed. Wouldn't it be logical that our leaders would face the reality and come to the conclusion that they are doing something wrong, hugely wrong?
I maintain that our leaders coerced the people into thinking, "Look, to live by the principles of conscience is too rigid, too limited. We can do better than that. Why don't we just put aside the principle of conscience, and give us the true liberty of our emotions and desires, and do whatever we find pleasurable in our own eyes. And we won't have to pay for it. We will have a great time!"
So, what did we expect?
I wonder how paying teachers more wages increases the quality of education. When I look at society, I see law enforcement doesn't have enough money, firemen don't have enough money, workers don't make enough money, health and service agencies don't have enough money, there isn't enough funding for environmental causes. Farmers aren't getting enough subsidies. If we could just get more, they think. Everybody is saying the same thing.
All of the programs out there of so-called "free" money have reached immeasurable dimensions. It's astounding how there's so much money that is available for all these different programs, all these different needs, all these agencies that have been created. The federal government runs a deficit, a huge amount of debt. I read someplace that it takes 2.2 billion dollars daily of influx of foreign capital to keep our country running. Still, we're raising taxes, all with the idea that, "if we have more money" we will solve this problem, we will solve that problem.
Maybe we lost something when we gave up the principle of conscience and self-discipline. For all the spending in the last 50 years (every year more than the last), why do we have lower-quality education, violence and drugs on the increase in schools and society, social dysfunction in families, hate, abuse and abandonment of children, social dependency, mental depression, and unnatural affection. There has been a tremendous increase in social needs, diseases, obesity, and prison populations.
We all know that the state is out of money. What was the first proposition made by the governor? Raise the pay of all state employees, those who work for the government. Well, does the government pay for that or are we paying for that? And what is the return? You know, going back to when I was young, we had so much pride and responsibility in terms of paying our own way. Sure, there were minority groups who were screaming and hollering for the society that we have today. But the majority of people had a sense of pride and the discipline that went with it. When somebody else would hire you, he would tell you what you were worth. And you would prove your worth every day. And when you came home, your pay check, or if you were privately employed, your return was what you had honestly earned.
It seems that history teaches us that money breeds a declining society. So can we say that more money will make things better?
Please, somebody prove to me I'm wrong, and show to me that by printing more money, giving out more money, our society can become better, and that the principle of self-discipline does not work.
Jerry Plett
Lincolnville
