by Dave Roberts » Sun Oct 03, 2010 9:23 am
Ed, even the most oil-sated stockholder admits there are finite limits to the planet's store of fossil fuels. It is short-sighted not to look for new sources and types of energy. Yes, I have the perfect right to drive a Hummer and use more than my share. However, as a Christian, I am part of the larger group of those responsible for the care of the earth. The scriptures make it plain that this world is not mine--"The earth is the Lord's..." I am a caretaker of this world--the role given Adam in the garden of Eden. I am answerable to God for how I use the resources He has entrusted to me. Therefore, I choose not to drive a guzzler, heat or air-condition my surroundings to the levels I might be able to afford to show I can. I am committed to look for renewable ways to sustain the planet until the Lord comes, whose return, btw, is not an excuse to rape the planet or to hoard its resources so that others do not have a chance to build a better life for themselves.
My problem with globalism is not that we buy goods made elsewhere for less than they can be made in the US. My problem has been that our country has given tax-credits and benefits to businesses to ship jobs overseas without providing meaningful work for those who were left without jobs or providing retraining opportunities for those who spent their lives in industry and now have no marketable skills in the new economy. I live in Southside VA, an area that once was the center of textile and furniture manufacturing. There are mills throughout our region that are ghosts of what was once a thriving part of the economy. Because of favorable tax structures, businesses automated their overseas facilities while spending nothing for a generation of their US facilities. Most of the young people who get an education are leaving the areas, and those who remain work most often in correctional facilities, the government answer to providing jobs for this area. The short-sightedness of these approaches has made this area a constantly depressed area. I can find dozens of areas just like this scattered all across the country, mostly in small towns, rural areas, and medium sized cities. Before you say something about union wages driving these jobs away, this area has been heavily non-union, so that has not had any effect here. Is the government policy that made this so just the tough luck of the workers?