Uncommon Sense: Les misérables

Written by Jeff Morris
Thursday, 04 March 2010 00:00

The good news is that there are some positive things going on around us, even in the midst of (or in spite of) the continuing economic downturn.

Part of the good news comes from, of all places, the Katonah-Lewisboro School District, which has been approved for a $500,000 grant from NYSERDA (the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) for two 50kw solar arrays, one at the high school and one at the middle school. In addition to programs that offer information, technical assistance, and financial incentives to K-12 school districts throughout the state “to make schools healthier and more productive learning environments for children and staff,” NYSERDA has a number of funding programs, including a Solar Electric Incentive Program that provides cash incentives for the installation of new solar electric or photovoltaic systems by eligible installers.

Though it’s a relative drop in the bucket, this is a great start toward not only utilizing alternative energy sources, but showing students that it can be done — especially important as a way of proving that the district’s sustainability education initiative isn’t just talk. However (and there’s always a however) it doesn’t come at a particularly auspicious time.

What with the impending layoffs of dozens of teachers and the elimination of numerous classes and programs, one might well ask whether an alternative electricity source is really needed at a time when it might be more realistic to ask the last one out the door to turn out the lights.

I was warned quite a while ago that the financial crisis the country was facing was going to be much worse and longer-lived than anybody wanted to admit. And I didn’t want to admit that warning might be right, but it’s led to some pretty ugly scenes. What we’re experiencing now is the kind of fighting over scraps that occurs when what little there is gets filtered down — trickled down, if you will — from the top. So we see district taxpayers blaming teachers (who are also taxpayers) for their high taxes, while budget cuts hit every part of the state as revenues shrink. After a while, it becomes hard to feel particularly empathetic toward any one of the multiple appeals to “Call the Governor! Call the Legislature! Don’t let them cut funding for (fill in the blank)!” Yes, it’s outrageous that funding has to be cut for education, or hospitals, or public works, or environmental protection, or zoos, or snowmobile trails (they’re raising quite an outcry about that upstate) but where is the money supposed to come from?

One place it could come from is the repeal of tax cuts for the wealthy and loopholes for corporations, which have remained largely untouchable since the Reagan administration. One would think, logically, that such a move would be welcomed by those who are in an uproar over the ballooning deficit. And I would like to think that the majority of Tea Partiers are genuinely upset about the future debt we’re leaving for our kids. But oddly, their focus isn’t on getting those who are continuing to profit the most to pay their fair share. While there is outrage over huge bonuses paid out by firms that received bailout money, there’s a lack of similar outrage over incredible amounts paid out by firms that didn’t. Instead, ire is directed at “the government” for taxing everyone.

“The people” seem to continue to believe that if simply left to its own devices without any interference, an unfettered free-market economy will regulate itself — despite overwhelming evidence that it was a lack of government oversight that led to the current mess. Despite long-term statistical trends showing that the growth of the middle class and periods of prosperity for all were spurred by the rise of unions and actually hurt by upper-echelon tax cuts, “the people” show growing antipathy toward unions and believe that wealth will come their way if only greedy working folks will give up their rights. Despite the fact that the reason healthcare is one-sixth of our economy (the figure they give as an “outrageous” portion for a “government takeover”) is because we are tied to adding a layer of profit to every healthcare cost, they continue to believe heavily financed insurance industry propaganda against anything that might cut into those profits.

And of course, while deficit spending is supposedly the source of anger, the billions and trillions that continue to be poured into the military are considered a necessary, virtually holy expense. Meanwhile, the money that will finance our schools’ solar panels — promoting energy independence and new industry for the future — comes, of course, from one of those “bloated” government programs that use our tax dollars. My failure to understand any of this is evidence that I am out of touch.

So here we are. The outrage is palpable, the finger pointing is constant, and we’re all busy fighting over the scraps.

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