Politicians, Spirituality, And Flat Tax

Is there any place for spirituality in political leaders? Absolutely! Consider this, without a spiritual sensibility the framers of our American Constitution would never have made the freedoms of religion and speech so important. They knew this to be the foundation of what humankind wanted and needed, and it is one hundred percent spiritual.

Even though religion has taken much of the word for themselves what spirituality means is "an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; the deepest values and meanings by which people live." We are spiritual beings; we need the freedom to explore and discuss the deeper meaning of our existence. The freedom given to us by the politicians that started our country does that, and the primary purpose of our political structure is to protect this. Our greatest leaders know this, and threats to this freedom have always united people to the common goal of protecting these fundamental rights.

Sometimes we, and our press, wonder whether our politicians are dimwits, but these are very bright and caring people (for the most part). They just get busy with special interests; even the seemingly larger issues of global warming, environment, and the wars we fight, are all special interests. These special interests do not stimulate most Americans. Consequently, most Americans do not pay much attention to what is going on politically. No one has taken or threatened our freedoms, and we have become complacent. This is quite dangerous.

But we should pay attention. Politics involves complex and diverse interests, and none of us should presume to know the challenges our politicians face. These are courageous people, and they are doing it, some at tremendous expense. However, there is one poor conduct they should immediately grow beyond, and that is the distraction of fighting amongst themselves.

Some important things can and need to get done now, and we can not get those things done with a bunch of selfish and emotional leaders. We are in a crisis that extends far beyond our financial situation; we need leadership, we need examples of good behavior, compassion, united concern, and solutions. This will take much more compromise than we see in Washington, along with some political soul searching. The entire capital needs a healthy dose of humility and a reminder to provide their services for the greater good of humanity.

Let's start by admitting we have overindulged, so what, none of us is innocent. Let's accept it and then work very hard to repair the damage. Why isn't a 20% flat tax on every penny of income over $35,000 per year a viable solution? With no loopholes.

Let's take away all the expense and stress of our taxation process, we all know it does not work properly. A flat tax rate is fair and easy to enforce. Instead of excuses about the poor or the rich or corporations or anything else, just make every bit of income over a reasonable base taxable at 20%, or whatever it needs to be, so we get through this. We are all in it together.

We are intelligent, we should be able to take care of these challenges quickly, and then move on to the more important aspects of becoming better human beings. Worldwide.

Oh, sure there will be people distracting everyone from simple solutions by trying to complicate them with questions and endless concerns. Let's stuff those individuals in the comment box and put people in charge that can take our concerns and come up with solutions that are clear and simple.

No matter how complicated our wars and other spending priorities may be, our survival and quality of life are more important. We need to make some tough choices. Please, leaders, make them. Responsibly and with the awareness that your conduct and decisions define who we are.