Raising the Gas Tax

The Iowa Legislature is considering applying an additional 4 cents on the state's gas tax. The reason for this is to raise additional funds for road projects. Predictably this has angered people and brought out the usual outraged responses such as this tax: 1) gouges consumers in the same manner as oil companies do; 2) hurts the lower socio-economic classes and 3) t won't stop global warming anyway.

Taxes generally outrage people almost as a matter of principle. The citizenery of this country (or any country really) expect, demand even, a lot of services from their government and somehow think this should be accomplished with as little monetrary contribution from them as possible. I am not going to argue the fact that governments can and do waste resources and that includes tax dollars, but many big businesses have the same problem when there are so many divisions and people that even the most vigilant system cannot always keep track of the left and the right hand's actions at the same time. Governments are imperfect because they are run by imperfect people who not coincidently are elected by imperfect people. But that is a debate for another day. Today we have people mad because they don't want to pay another 4 cents per gallon of gas despite the fact that gas here is cheaper than nearly anywhere else on the planet and per person, we use more than our worldly fair share. Americans are spoiled.

But let's look at the arguments I have seen against raising the tax. The first one was that the oil companies gouge us and then the state joins the party. My husband has spent many hours explaining the ins and outs of gasoline prices to me. He spent time in the oil business at the refinery end, so he has a fairly good grasp of supply/demand and market theory. Basically gas prices based on supply and demand. In the U.S., or any car dependent society, cars are not luxuries for the majority of people. Our penchant for sprawling communities and cities means that few of us live, work and shop within walking distance of our homes. Even with the limited mass transit systems that most people are accustomed to outside of the very large cites (which might have better and more adequate systems), we still need individual vehicles to get to the places we need to go. So, there is always demand which ebbs and flows based on seasons and holidays and on our ability to buy. When prices get too high, people cut back and prices come down again. And yes, I know this doesn't effect the tax which remains the same. The tax is a separate issue. Gas taxes are used to maitain and build new roads primarily. I wonder if anyone else sees the irony in Iowa raising more money for more roads? The state has an abundance of roads including a veritable surplus of 4 lane highways that are near empty and go nowhere the majority of the state's inhabitants need to go. Where I live in western Canada, people talk about the new bypass (the only one actually) that scoots by the Alberta capital of Edmonton, as though it were some fabulous breakthrough in travel. They number highways up here in the single digits and even though they live in the heart of oil country (much of which gets sent to the U.S.), they pay prices at the pump which make a 4 cent state tax look laughable.

But what about the poor? Well, what about them? They are hit hard by every use tax there is and no one seems to mind unless we are talking about gasoline. When that happens the poor become wonderful arguments in our war to not have to find ways to reduce our own comsumption. The poor are handy like that.

And finally, the idea that global warming can't be stopped by the reductions in comsumption. I agree with that but only because global warming can't be stopped now at all. We are no longer in the "cause" phase of global warming but the "effect" stage where the best we can hope for is to manage as many of the awful things that are here and are coming. I don't agree with idea that reduce our consumption is a waste of time or that the upper classes are such hedonists that rising prices don't cause them to change their driving habits at some point.

The Chevy Malibu I owned before leaving Iowa held about 14 gallons of gas, according to my husband, and an additional 4 cents per gallon is about 56 cents. I watched my students at Hoover High School spend ten times that much money in the snack machines alone on a daily basis. I spent more than that at the Starbuck's on my way to work and most people throw away far more money on their junk food habits or weekend Target fixes. What's interesting to me is that we readily dispose of our cash on the non-essentials without so much as first thought, but when it comes to gas for the car, we cry foul whenever the price goes up a few pennies or the government requires more payment for services.

Just Say No to Immigration Raids?

Apparently the city council of Des Moines, Iowa is considering issuing an order to the city's police force that will allow them to not cooperate with federal immigrations authorities during raids the latter might stage in the city to snare illegals. An interesting approach that ultimately does nothing to solve the current dilemma being caused by people who are, and in some cases have been for a long while, living in the United States without the proper Visa or permanent residency papers. Obstructing justice will not bring any sanity to an already insane issue.

Justice, you ask? Where is the justice in rounding up people, many of whom are hard-working citizens, good neighbors and family members and shipping them back to their countries of legal origin? Well, simply put, they broke the rules and when that happens, and you are caught, consequences ensue. It's not about fair, but if that is the going to be the argument on which leniency or even clemency is going to be granted then think about it another way. What about all those people who are patiently waiting for entrance to this country, spouses and children, who filled out the mountain of paperwork, paid the fees, submitted to the police checks and medical exams, essentially did everything the rules asked? What about them? How is it fair that they did the right thing and have to wait their turn but those who did it illegally are now the recipients of calls for rule changes?

I will not argue in favor of the current system. The wait times are ridiculous and it does not take into account that the U.S. does need unskilled labor (though some would argue that this is the current job of our education system). I do think that the solutions have to be applied farther up the food chain then the current hunting down and deporting of illegals and can only conclude that the current system continues in its broken state because it benefits someone.

My First Public Reading as a Writer

The Fort Saskatchewan writing group I belong to, the Paragraffers, held a public reading for it’s members Sunday at Shell Theatre located at the Dow Centennial Center. Any member who wished to was able to participate and our leader, Kathie, even invited the nearby Strathcona group to participate if they were inclined. I decided early on that I would be reading from the novel I am working on and chose a shorter chapter that I shared not only with the Fort group but with my writing group, WOW back in Des Moines. It was one of the first scenes I wrote for the novel and it might not survive to the final draft, but I like the flow and the way it advances character and plot and I love the dialogue.

I admit to a little bit of nervousness when I was introduced by Dick Easton, one of the Fort members who is also the editor of the group’s newsletter, but as soon as I began speaking, and then reading, I felt right at home. It was a feeling almost akin to the one I had when I did my practicum for teaching, which is the first class they have prospective education majors take to give them a bit of a taste of what it is like in a real classroom with real kids. The first time I stepped foot in a seventh grade language arts class, I knew I was right where I belonged. That I could do this. Teach. Manage large groups of kids. And that I could do it really well. Reading my piece today in front of an audience, that was small - between 15 and 20 - I knew I could do this part of the writing. The author thing. I love writing, and oddly, for me, I love reading my stuff to people and talking about the process. I say oddly because I am a very shy person. I don’t like the spotlight. But, when it comes to writing, as with teaching, that shy part of me evaporates as though it was never there.

Rob and Katy came to hear me and the others. Rob shot a digital video of my segment and took pictures of the other participants as there was no one else there taking photos. I am going to write up a short piece for the local paper and send it along with a few of Rob’s photos (he is kinda thrilled about the prospect of having one of his photos in the paper with a credit).

All in all, a perfectly lovely afternoon. I still feel wonderful about how it went and my performance. Another step on the road to writing for a living.

Beowulf

I neglected blogging yesterday in favor of working out, a writing workshop with a local author at the public library and a date with my husband. We discovered a charming Greek place for dinner complete with belly dancer and smashing plates and then took in the late showing in the new Beowulf movie at what passes for a movie theater in the Fort. And I guess you could call it a movie though the characters and setting were completely CGI it wasn't exactly Shrek or any of the animated DVD selections that my daughter watches. The characters were not only voiced by real actors but their characters were created to look like the actor in question as well - with enhancements, of course.

I had to read an old English version of Beowulf during my senior year of high school back at Walhert High School in Dubuque, Iowa. The teacher was young. A wrestling coach with a Neandrathal forehead and a really thick neck and a surprising passion for English literature. I can't recall anything about that particular foray into Beowulf beyond an LP (yes, I am that old) Mr.Wojan played for us of some reading a passage from the story in an even older version of what would someday be the language my friends and I slaughtered on a daily basis. The first time I really looked at the story of Beowulf was when I discovered a set of the Robert Nye version. I was teaching 7th grade and Nye's version was visually stimulating with all sorts of gruesome and quite disgusting images that I was certain 12 and 13 year olds would love. It was a monster story in poem form, and my students plowed through it with gusto. As an added bonus I threw in some Norse Mythology and a bit of Viking history. Beowulf ranks right up there with Greek Mythology, folk tales and Hamlet as my most successful teaching units. So, I was curious to see the Robert Zemeckis version, and I was disappointed. The story is well-told if not exactly the way I remember it.

Beowulf is the story of a hero by that same name who travels from Geat to the kingdom of Hrothgar to kill a monster who is plaguing the King and his people. The monster, Grendel, is suitably grotesque and a somewhat sympathetic character. When Beowulf finally dispatches it by pounding a hole in its head and ripping and arm from its body so that it slowly bleeds to death as it makes its way back to the lair of its mother, you almost feel sorry for it. Grendel's mother is a sea demon who it turns out had seduced King Hrothgar because she wanted a son, Grendel, and in return gave Hrothgar power, riches and personal invincibility. When Beowulf goes to the lair to kill her, after she has attacked Beowulf's men seeking justice, she offers Beowulf the same deal and he takes it. A bit of a twist on the "selling your soul to the devil" and "doing the right thing" message that is interesting because the film makes it clear that Christianity was still in its infancy in the part of the world where the story is set. I like the old epics and myths that remind us that the world was not just a pagan free-for-all until Christianity came along to save us.

Visually, the CGI is faintly reminiscent of a video game, albeit a really good one, but that doesn't detract from action or the story though I wonder a bit how much more interesting it might have been to watch had the actors been live.