The Invisible Hand

This blogpost is in response to the issue discused in the article Bumper-sticker policy no way to fight poverty.

In my opinion the author of the editorial seems to have a good grasp of reality. The historical context of his argument also increased the persuasiveness of his argument. I believe his intended audience is primarily those who are probably not in poverty or suffering financially but anyone in the position to do anything about the topic of his editorial which is how poverty in Austin is increasing and has become a major issue.

He is imploring the policy makers to re-think how they are dealing with the issue of poverty in the area, not just give it "lip service". The Evidence he presents is very strong in making his case that something needs to be done. Just the fact that Austin has more people living in poverty than anywhere else in Texas is outrageous. His logic behind the claim is also sound he does not say that we will be able to completely eradicate poverty. He concedes that is very likely never going to happen entirely. He simply argues for a more proactive approach to the growing problem in our city, state and country as a whole…. My thoughts on the subject follow.

Upon reading this editorial I could not feel it rings more true. I am not at all shocked at the level of poverty in the area; I have never lived anywhere where the gap between the rich and poor is as visible as it is here in Austin. There can literally be a homeless person pan-handling outside the gate to a multi-million estate.

It just seems un-real to me. The statistic about how it actually cost a family of 4 around $56,000 a year to live in the area when adjusted for inflation seems to be a whole lot closer to accurate than what the government would lead you to believe. They say $22,000 for a family of 4 is the poverty line, this is nearly outrageous, this amount may have been adequate in 1980 but I am certain it is no longer able to take care of a family of four. It does not take a math major to tell you if milk is $4.00 a gallon and gas is $3.50 that most of what people working a minimum wage job make goes directly to food and transportation, now factor in a place to live and God forbid and emergency health issue or the family auto breaking down and you have real destitution on your hands.

It is this very reason many people find themselves out on the street, they are struggling each and every day just to put hand to mouth and then when something unexpected happens they are completely helpless. If you happen to be one of the people living hands to mouth (I am most of the time) it does not take much to figure out that our society could really care less about you. Most of the “charitable institutions” are much more concerned with feeding the hungry in Africa than looking out their own windows and seeing that there are millions of starving people right here in the “Good ol' U.S.A”.

I just feel that those people in society who are in a financially secure position should be much more willing to spread the wealth. This is not my original thought either, there is a man named Adam Smith who just so happens to be the founder of modern Economics and he had a little theory called "the invisible hand of wealth" it says basically that people having great wealth is good for society because it acts as an "invisible hand" to help the less fortunate. Well all I have to say is I think the hand is not just invisible it is becoming non-existent. If those who have all the money are un-willing to spend it to create good paying jobs or education scholarships then they should not have it at all. Greed is an evil which has corrupted the very fabric of our nation and it must be locked up and thrown back in its cage.

El Paso cancer patient gets medication stolen by thugs.

*Warning you might find my statements controversial.



Right now as we speak there is a very ill cancer patient who is fighting for more than just his survival. Bob Crause of El Paso Texas is in court facing charges that could send him to prison for quite some time. You ask what did he do? Well that's just it. In my opinion he didn't do anything except what his doctor said was his greatest chance to cure his cancer. That is use medical marijuana. Now I know there is no shortage of controversy surrounding this topic. Medical marijuana is legal and regulated in 15 states; it is not legal here in Texas however. So I guess here in Texas we don't care about helping peoples suffering unless the drugs they take are opium based highly addictive and made by pharmaceutical companies, then it's completely fine to take drugs. It does not make any since to me why we allow people to drink alcohol which is a leading cause of death in America not to mention many, many other serious societal issues. If we can say this is fine, why not allow sick people to use cannabis, why not let everyone use cannabis? There has never been a single fatality associated with using marijuana; in fact it is one of the least toxic substances we know of to the human body, this is because the human body naturally produces canabanoids which help to regulate your body’s natural functions. The proper use of Cannabis only promotes a healthier functioning body. Enough with the medical lesson though, I will make my point and that is this. We do not need to go around spending our dwindling tax revenue stealing some sick mans medicine from him and then throwing him in jail. The bottom line is that as a people we need to wake up already, the fact that cannabis can even be included on the controlled substance list ( let alone as a Schedule 1 drug which means it is classified among the most dangerous like Meth and Heroin) is completely ignorant. The statute says it is controlled because it has no “legitimate medical value” and it has a “high propensity for abuse”. I would say this is obviously not the case since so many medical professionals have came forward and supported cannabis as a treatment for everything from minstrel cramps to leukemia. I would definitely say that it has a "Legitimate Medical Purpose" in fact it has a great many purposes. So being armed with this knowledge why would we allow ourselves to continue to be subjected to archaic drug control policies, policies that were created in the 1980's as a way to wage a war on the poor. Yes I said wage a war on the poor! Just look at incarceration rates of the lowest income levels in our society since the 80’s; they have skyrocketed creating the world’s largest prison population. At any rate I just believe we need to reprioritize our drug policies so that we are proactive and not reactive about drugs. In my opinion education and treatment are probably going to be the best ways to deal with drugs and addiction in the long run in our country instead of spending billions of tax dollars every year on an un-winnable war. If you have read this I ask that you please look into your heart and find the common sense answer you know is there and that is we should just legalize cannabis already. Please follow this link to read the article and maybe see for yourself how absurd our “Justice system” is. http://coloradoindependent.com/96111/seriously-ill-cancer-patient-may-face-jail-time-for-medical-marijuana. Peace.

morning thoughts

Proverbs 24:10 (KJV):
10 If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.