Upheaval Dome, Canyonlands

We are in a difficult economic time in the US. There are many economic indicators telling us we have a big crater. Like the Upheaval Dome (see photo) in Canyonlands National Park in Utah, various experts have various opinions on how the hole came to be. Some opinions are taken more seriously than others, and perhaps one opinion will prevail.

We agree that there is a hole, but we don’t agree on how to get out. Some say all debt is bad, and others say it’s OK to have debt because we’ll have some economic boon from some technological achievement that will make the debt go away. I think the middle road is good for this decision.

There are reasonable expenditures to go into debt over like a reasonable mortgage and reasonable infrastructure development. There have been unreasonable decisions made about the debt for the past 10 years in America. Yes, we will need to raise the debt ceiling temporarily, and people that have the most to lose will need to contribute the most to reducing the debt. Hopefully some better spending patterns can be established, and hopefully people will begin behaving better so that we can spend more on produce and less on security.

The US and the world is full of intellectual ability and compassion to develop better systems and technology to get out of the hole. Of course we need to be fair and inclusive in sharing the load. Can we have our more successful people work hard at problem solving, or will they choose to squabble beyond reason?

Daniel A. Jones, July 17, 2011
arthbuus@gmail.com