The Hard Choices

The problem is, no one will make the hard choices.

I was thinking about this in relation to the electic company and the news yesterday that instead of a 25 percent increase for Appalachian Power, one SCC member is recommending a 3.9 percent increase.

This SCC member has looked at the greater good (and thousands of letters from an irate public) and determined that big business doesn't need to be massively profitable.

Government can step in and control things. It could take away the excessive monies CEOs make, for instance. But government has chosen instead to take monies from those who make less and give it to the wealthy because they then make jobs. Supposedly this trickle-down economics works, but there is a growing disparity between the rich and poor in the United States.

This is not new news; the gap has been increasing marginally for years but has grown since the new millinum. I can't find where I read it, but an article I read earlier this week indicates the disparity has now reached 1920s levels and is close to what it was before the Great Depression.

In the 1940s, we had a great war. Roosevelt made some hard choices. People today, except the old folks who are nearly gone, have no idea what went on during World War II. People rationed and sacrified.

To give you an idea of how much they sacrificed and worked, I will tell you several things. Most of this comes from my husband's grandmother, who is now deceased. Some of it I looked up (in books, remember those?).

They had a hog farm here in Botetourt and during the war, the farm was mobilized for food production for the army. This was mandated and ordered by the government, not a choice. They had to produce food and the government bought it. All of their hams and corn and everything else went to feed the soldiers.

The government also stopped production of retail vehicles, etc., and the companies turned to making whatever the army needed. Soldiers were not going without the proper armor for lack of trying.

At this time, there wasn't synthetic rubber, so tires and other rubber products were severely rationed. Only medical personnel or other specific industries could get tires. The average person could not get a tire, and if a tire became slick, the car owner went before a board to ask for a retreading.

Could you imagine that happening today?

There was also a rubber drive and on average, every American donated about 7 pounds of rubber back to the government.

The government began rationing gas on the eastern seaboard on 15 May 1942. Drivers generally were granted five gallons of gas a week, unless they were doctors making rounds or something like that.

There were also ration books. A family got 48 points a month to spend on any combination of goods, including food and clothing. The president urged everyone to plant a Victory garden, and most people did.

The price of food and other necessary goods was kept in check by strict governmental controls. Price gouging was not allowed.

My husband's grandmother toiled along with the rest of the family to produce food for the soldiers. She was Rosie the Riveteer except on the farm. They were compensated for it at rates set by the government. Food prices were among those specifically stabilized by the government.

Roosevelt raised taxes and set limits on personal wealth. No individual could make more than $25,000 (which was a lot of money back then). Corporations could make so much and then the government took everything else. The tax rate on some people and corporations went as high as 95 percent.

I am not saying I want to go back to those days. I'm just pointing out that no one in government at this time, regardless of party, is prepared to come right out and ask anyone - or any corporation - to sacrifice. Not like that.

The truth is some sacrifice has been forced via stealth upon the lower and middle class while the upper classes continue to thrive. But it is not to support the war, it is to support the large corporations and the upper class. That's why there is such an income disparity.

Political leaders, regardless of party, aren't going to make hard choices. They're a bunch of wimps who would allow the vast majority to suffer because they don't want to give up their fancy dinners in Las Vegas.

The greater good is a concept so far removed from them that it may as well not exist. For that reason, I applaud the SCC hearing examiner who had the courage to stand up to a big corporation and say, essentially, you don't need to be making so much money. Now we'll see if the rest of the SCC board has courage, too.