Meanderings

Return to a New Kind of Economy: Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank Powell has warned America that our economy may be improving and rebuilding. But it may never return to what it had been. In fact, an entirely new economy is building in place of the old. Working from home is one reality. Lower demand for office space and furniture, equipment and fixtures are yet other realities. Commuting and transportation elements will not return to the old ways, either. Work will be more cerebral, digital and techno communicative. We will learn how to relate to one another in new and exciting ways. Use of time and materials will be more efficient, too. Simplifying work routines will likely increase individual initiative to rethink business problems and solve them in creative, less costly ways. Invention and minimization of resources may cause our social context to be revolutionary and innovative.

Amazon has changed retail commerce forever. Dining out will continue to morph into new practices that define a new industry. Education will become more accessible, cheaper and innovative through digital means.

Not all of these changes are bad; on the contrary, they portend a gulp of fresh air!

Work From Home Tax? For years I had to commute to work. It was expensive, at least $130 per month for the train ticket alone. To save on bus fares downtown Chicago, I walked 1.5 miles each way to my office and train station. I also walked another mile in my suburb between the station and my home. The wear and tear on my shoes and clothing in all types of weather added to commuting costs. Later, when I drove the commute, I sustained auto expense (depreciation, maintenance, repair, gas and oil) as well as parking. I also suffered from the 4-hour daily commute time.

Working from home saves all of that. In addition, it saves the environment from massive pollution from commuting transportation. Lesser auto traffic lessens road maintenance to say nothing of the lower demand for transportation and roadway networks. Most of those networks are paid for by taxpayers or heavily subsidized as such.

No need to tax people who work from home. They are already showering many benefits on society, including gigantic improvements in productivity and better family life among spouses and children. We all benefit from that!

Minimalist Lifestyle: COVID has caused us to simplify lifestyles to eke out immediate responses to the pandemic. These adjustments have demonstrated that simple need not be cheap, tawdry or spell deprivation. Lesser wardrobe attention may help us all dress less fussily and freely. Appearances may lose their appeal in favor of content of conversation and written communication. Relationships will grow in importance, especially within individual households. Family will take center stage once again.

These changes will also favor more life spent in the outdoors and backyards. They will de-emphasize automobiles and the fad of luxury as a class distinction. In fact, class-ism may suffer a mortal setback!

House size is another alteration to lifestyle. We do not need large homes but rather efficient homes that help us make the most of what we have. That requires creativity and innovation, both of which expand human abilities that enhance personality. 

Learning Life Values from COVID: Pretty much everything mentioned in this blog posting demonstrates fresh values learned from our COVID experiences. Turning attention on home and family is a good thing and a once prized American value. We have strayed from the value for a long time. The old value system was weakened by both spouses working, flooding the household with new income streams, more expensive living costs, luxury additions, and class distinctions. The latter was cosmetic only. Consumption shouldn't define class hierarchy in any meaningful way.

Education is not a badge to place on one’s life-uniform. Education should be an expansion of mind and potential to enhance living quality for self and others. That means value elements unrelated to consumption. We need to move away from consumption models of success. Please. Value is content, not thing.

Religious Freedom – Alito: Supreme Court Justice Alito recently gave a speech before conservative lawyers. His claim is Christianity is subject to discrimination. He points to court rulings protecting abortion and gay rights from Christian attacks. Strange take on his part. Christians are free to discriminate any way they desire and have for centuries. If Abortion and Gay Rights issues are religious issues, then they are protected from attack by the Constitution. If a citizen chooses to have an abortion, no religious entity should deny that citizen from that choice. It is her body and no religion, by constitutional provision, has the right to interfere. So, please Justice Alito, be consistent and protect Abortion from Christian legal attack. Same for Gay Rights. A gay is a gay; not by choice but by happenstance of birth. He/she has equal rights under the constitution. No religion should have the right to deny such rights under the law.

November 16, 2020