SoCo Magazine - May 2008 - (Page 20) leftpage public funding y two children have different interests. One likes art and music; the other is into robots, lock-pick sets, and laser pointing pens. While my own interests lie closer to right-brained activities (that is, the creative arts), I willingly encourage my child whose interests differ from my own. I buy him robotics kits and tools, take him to visit science museums, and enroll him in technology classes. As a parent, I have a responsibility to make opportunities available to my children whether their interests coincide with mine or not. As a parent, it is my responsibility to ensure that my children grow up to be positive contributors to society. To do that, they need to learn a variety of skills. They need to develop in the direction of their God-given talents and interests so as to become happy and fulfilled adults, capable of supporting and caring for themselves and their own families, and capable of becoming positive contributors to American society. I am thankful for the wide range of services that support our varied interests and needs—good primary, secondary, and tertiary schools; art, music, and cultural associations; museums; historical and cultural venues and activities; and a slew of special interest organizations whose missions might not inspire me personally but whose services might be needed or enjoyed by someone in my family someday. My appreciation for diverse community services and social programs, whether offered by special interest groups or nonprofit agencies, extends to the needs of my neighbors. Why do I care about my neighbors? First, my neighbors are like an extended family, and I sincerely care about their health and wellbeing. Second, when my neighbors’ unique needs are recognized and supported—leading to 20 | s o comagazi ne . i nfo | M ay 2 0 0 8 by claire pavlik purgus M their unique definitions of happiness and fulfillment—our neighborhood as a whole is more prosperous and peaceful. It’s a safer and happier place for me and my family. Special interest group services and infrastructure are often funded (but only in part) through grants—money that comes out of local, state, and federal funds and is awarded based on an application process. Our government chooses to contribute financially to these programs because doing so helps broaden the base of services for our diverse communities, fleshing out the bones of primary needs. Special interest groups are often associated with politics. Some are also known as Political Action Committees or PACs. These PACs lobby politicians, pouring money into campaigns and promising voter support in return for future favors. Lobbying is a major issue of contention in this year’s presidential campaigns. The special interest groups I am discussing in this article are not the powerful PACs, many of which are corporate in nature, making formidable donations to politicians’ campaigns. The special interest groups I am discussing are organizations, for example, that support art, music, cultural programs, special education, environmental and historical preservation, and human services to marginalized sectors of the population. The services of these special interest groups often target small segments of the populace and are similar, except for focus, to large-scale services and infrastructure— roads, clean water, sewer, science and medical establishments, communications networks, the Internet—that benefit the wider population. Large-scale services and infrastructure also find their funding from local, state, and federal funds. Ultimately, of course, the source of funding is taxpayer dollars. The services and infrastructure we enjoy today, whether on the large or small scale, were paid for yesterday by our parents’ and grandparents’ tax dollars. They wisely invested in American infrastructure, an investment they made to further the prosperity of all Americans, an investment we benefit from today in myriad ways. Some question the wisdom of spending finite tax dollars on special interest groups, as though doing so squeezes funds for general education at a time when schools are crumbling for lack of finances. Certainly, the funds that keep the country running are finite and shouldn’t be squandered. Spending American tax dollars in ways that don’t support our nation’s general wellbeing and prosperity is a betrayal of trust; we expect our hard work and tax dollars to be used in ways that will provide the services we need and increase our overall prosperity. We put into the coffers at every level and we have every right to benefit from these funds. But the undeniable truth is, we don’t. A look at the federal FY07 budget doesn’t show excessive spending for the special interest groups or nonprofits we’re discussing here. What it shows is $429.6 billion spent for defense, a figure that is more than half of all discretionary spending and that is exploding to $481 billion for FY08. Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz estimates that by 2017 the Iraq and Afghan wars will have cost Americans between $1.7 trillion and $2.7 trillion or more. The amount of money we are hemorrhaging to defense and war spending is mind-blowing. Imagine if our hardearned tax money was pumped back into American services and infrastructure— how strong we would be! The little money that is made available Continued on page 45 http://socomagazine.info
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