Editor's note

Why would anyone with experience of our public schools run for the local school board? Yet, there she is, Gayle Cosby, doing just that in Indianapolis. Hear what she tells us on Who Gets What? at mortonjohn.libsyn.com
Americans are going to the polls and will elect as President either a man well-known for his despicable character or a woman little known until a few months ago.

That should be shameful enough to embarrass us before the world. But behind this election is the massive ignorance of, and indifference to, how we govern ourselves. We know little of our discredited actions going back several centuries, and even less of how to act like grownups today..

Let’s start with something nobody really cares about…. the federal debt. Debt is the accumulation of deficits. Deficits are recorded when a person, family, business or government spends more in a given period of time than the income received in that same period of time.

At the end of this past September, the federal government deficit was either $28.3 trillion or $35.5 trillion, depending on whether you want the high or low definition of the public debt. It either case it’s an unimaginable magnitude. But it doesn’t matter because no one cares.

One reason we don’t care is that our American federal debt has been a convenient investment for us and our foreign trading partners. But beyond that lies our lack of desire to cut spending on Medicare/Medicaid, education, fighting forest fires, war by proxy, Social Security, housing, hurricanes and Halloween.

Yes, Halloween, America’s premier retail event. Last year, we spent $12.2 billion for Halloween necessities ($4.1 billion for costumes, $3.9 billion for decorations, $3.6 billion for candy, and $0.5 billion for greeting cards).

Just look around at the ever-growing displays of skeletons and spooks in front yards all across America. Marvel at the costumes worn by revelers. Enjoy the phantasmagoria of computer-controlled haunted houses.

Now, contrast those numbers with our funding of research on Lupus. If you don’t know, Lupus is an auto-immune disease estimated to impair or end the lives of 1.5 million Americans. Ninety percent of those afflicted are women and particularly young women of color.

The Congress passed a budget with $22 million for Lupus research, a major achievement, but one that may or may not have been realized given the congressional shenanigans with budget bills. Nonetheless, that would be half of one percent (0.5%) of what we spent on Halloween last year.

However, if we attempted to raise taxes on Halloween spending to support Lupus research or any other good cause, we would be flirting with rebellion. Americans believe in “consumer sovereignty” and do not want to hear that the consumer/voter is a major villain in our national story.

We find it easier to call out the citizens and corporations that don’t pay their “fair share,” than to look in our own closets to discover grotesque inequities. Particularly, none should criticize your opulence nor deny your rights to fun, frivolity and self-indulgence.
Morton J. Marcus is an economist formerly with the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. His column appears in Indiana newspapers, and his views can be followed his podcast.

© 2024 Morton J. Marcus

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