Profit vs. benefit

Bill Maher recently wrote an insightful post arguing that not everything has to make a profit in order to be a good idea. It's actually quite sad he even had to write that, it's a testament to how twisted some of our thinking has become.

Am not sure where this started. But one movement we can certainly point to as part of the problem is those who believe that paying any amount of taxes is bad, and that the government's responsibility is to keep as much of our money in our own pockets as possible.

Don't get me wrong, I like keeping as much after-tax income as I can. What gets missed though is the trade-off. The other side of the coin. And when Ilook I sure don't like what I see: Fast deteriorating public education. Non existent public health. Massive national debt.

Bill Maher is right. Profit is not the right measure for many things. Benefit is. We should look at how our public dollars are invested not based on financial efficiency, but on value generated. What is the benefit of adequately funded public education? What is the benefit of universal access to quality health care? What is the benefit of sustainable farming? What is the benefit of reducing dependence on fossil fuels? When asked that way, the question gets re-framed and the answer starts informing the choices we need to make.

I'll be the first to say that not all tax dollars are used wisely. And the ''pork'' that gets attached to most appropriations bills in Congress (or in State legislatures) is disgusting. Anti-tax militants love to highlight all those earmarks and amendments that spend huge amounts of public funds on obscure programs aimed at benefiting a small elite with usually no lasting value.

What is desperately needed is a bottoms-up budgeting effort to reset what we should expect from our government and what we're willing to pay for it. Next to each line item should be some kind of benefit statement, i.e. why is this here.

And I mean everything. Let's carve up the hundreds of billions of agriculture subsidies and understand where this money is going and what it's buying us. Are these subsidies encouraging responsible land use? Sustainable farming practices? A healthy food supply for the nation? The brilliant movie Food, Inc. argued the system is actually encouraging the opposite.

How about the hundreds of billions spent on defense? Where is that money going? How much of it is actually used to secure the nation's borders vs. funding offensive efforts away from our shores? What is the benefit statement, short and long term, for these investments?

In the end, what I'd love to see is a 'Bill of Rights'-like charter, maybe even a constitutional amendment, outlining the primary responsibilities of the government to the people of this country. Imagine seeing things in there like insuring a healthy food and water supply, access to clean and renewable energy, healthcare for all regardless of ability to pay, etc...

We take some things for granted. Like everyone expects the fire department to show up if their house is on fire, whether poor or rich. We all accept that the nation's roads and highways are for everyone. We all hope for (this one becomes questionable) equal treatment in the justice system.

Yet we've come to accept some blatant inequalities as fact of life. Ability to pay defines the type of healthcare you have access to, the quality and reliability of the food you eat and water you drink, even the air you breathe to some extent.

Al Gore, in his award-winning documentary, states that all research, data, facts about climate change point to an 'inconvenient truth'. This can be said for other things as well.

The US has led the world in many areas over the course of its history. It has never failed at anything when it pursued clearly defined objectives and applied the necessary amount of resources, time and focus to it.

Let's challenge our leaders to set their sights on ambitious, challenging and most importantly noble goals that will show the world we can muster our ingenuity and resources to produce the kind of free and equal society all should aspire to. Now there's something to get excited about!