Dig A Little Deeper Please!

DIG FROM THE GROUND UP, A GARDNERS EDITORIAL

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29114103

Simply putting the swarming masses of uncomplicated creatures beneath one's feet like a living welcome mat being provided for those higher up on the food chain to wipe their dirty boots upon is STILL NOT the answer.

Although I enjoyed reading this article about the obviously mind bending paper pushing that is being done, it still makes me giggle to think that this parlay of potentially harvestable numbers keeps our governing bodies focused on the dangling carrot in front of them instead of the ground in which it needs to grow.

You cannot grow a productive garden in poor soil and you cannot feed your bottom line on stone soup. This new American dream needs the same effort the old American dream began with, hard work. It is time for those of us who still know the meaning of hard work to demand that our representatives throw off their self- imposed blinders and bridles and become servant leaders to those who REALLY SUPPORT them, the American people.

I believe it is time they go back into their communities with their overalls and work boots, prepared to the hilt to get their finger nails dirty in search of the real answers."How do I revive this small area of constituents?" "This is what the papers say, but this is what is really needed."

I suppose what I am saying is "averages" just aren't real! If the average wage in a community is 36,000 dollars and in reality that means a few millionaires ,a few high earning managers and the rest minimum wage earners, that is not a true average. You simply cannot measure the wealth of your community from the top and continue to provide assistance to only those who have the ability to go in a buy up the losses!

We need to go in a figure out "How do I give the small business' in my community the ability to survive and flourish?" And I mean SMALL business, locally owned who are floundering because they cannot compete with global manufacturing pricing? "How do I raise the standard of living enough in my small area so that the community that is needed to support this small business can do so?"

Dare I offer examples? A local grocery store that offers produce and meat and eggs purchased from a local farmer, a local bakery that bakes fresh daily. Giving the local dairy farm the ability to process and sell milk and cheese. Revive the local construction business by supporting renovation and clean up projects of what exists FIRST!

This all sound old and antiquated?  Fine, but stop and think bout it for more than a nano-second! We really have fallen prey to "bigger is better." Large chains that come in and momentarily spike development and job creation, ALMOST ALWAYS cause the failure of the smaller local business. As these small local business' close and farms cease to produce, more skilled trades people are left unemployed and seeking jobs "at" these chains for sometimes half the wages. Then as the large chain finds it's happy medium, competition closed, they then begin to lower the bar for local existence. Demanding more work in lesser amounts of time and reducing the quantity of people they employ. Then the local farmer/business not only cannot compete he cannot afford to keep his land/assets/standard of living. Then for some reason we turn to outside developers to come in and purchase these bad assets and create new and unaffordable homes and business forever turning our communities into the feudal landlord based existence the American people once fought hard to oust.

As I said I offer only an opinionated example, but these are the very people we are throwing our tax dollars at, and the ones who the banks will even consider loaning money to. Again, there is no solution in this trickle down theory. IT DOESN"T WORK anywhere but on paper and in the pocket change of the decisively wealthy.

You simply cannot grow a plant from the flower down. You must grow it from the roots up and until you provide realistic fertile soil for the American people to plant their "seed of dream" it is no more than a false movie set or Sims game on you computer leading you to desire what you cannot have without the hard work that it takes to get it.

It is time to "dig a bit deeper" I say!