Posted by One of Great Laws of the Iroquois Confederacy stated, “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions upon the next seven generations.”
It’s worth allowing that the Iroquois were, from a practical standpoint, probably never that far-sighted. Such a statement is mainly aspirational for any human being to say nothing of any group which must have had many competing opinions.
Thus am I reminded of the debate surrounding what to do about reducing carbon emissions. As I understand it, the natural processes that regulate carbon content in the Earth’s atmosphere are inexorably slow. Yet any attempts to check man-made emissions have higher short-term costs. So we are left with the fundamental problem articulated by the Iroquois.
It also reminds me of American problems regarding the federal budget. In principle, I’m in favor of closing tax loopholes that cost the government revenue. That is, until I am reminded that one of the largest such loopholes is the mortgage interest deduction. I just filed my taxes and I’m due a fat refund because of that deduction. Admittedly, I’ll be putting all of that money (as well as my annual salary bonus) towards this year’s property taxes. Without it, I wouldn’t be able to afford my house and would be forced to put it up for sale.
While one may reasonably argue that Allegheny County and Gateway School District’s property tax rates are more to blame, I suspect that level of reform would be more difficult to achieve than federal budget deficit concerns. And so I am forced to take the narrow view.
Don’t cut my mortgage interest deduction but please find a way to reduce the deficit anyway.
Fix the carbon emissions issues but please don’t make the reforms hurt either.
