Page 22 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • November 6, 2013 Is voting relevant? The temptation not to go out and vote is always with us. One fall, when a school district had a referendum, the staff members were delighted because a raw, rainy Novem- ber day conjured up the hope that senior voters would stay home while parents with school-age children would brave the weather and approve the bonding so the kids could enjoy a private-quality education at public expense. There is, of course, a flip side. People who care enough about their kids to support a first-rate school system are generally educated people with money, which can mean a modicum of intelligence and self-control. The kids are kept busy enough with homework, sports, and clubs so they have minimal time to loiter and get into trouble. There actually is a fringe benefit for older folks to having quality schools that transcends the fantasy that good teachers and lots of technology can expand IQs. The schools around here work, in most cases really well, because of the kind of people they attract. Barring school violence or drug abuse, most of these kids would do well in any school, but just any school would not attract the kind of parents who care. In most towns, the school budget vote no longer belongs to the voters. The state now allows districts that move their school board elections to the date of the general election in November to skip a budget vote as long as the spend- ing plan remains within the state-mandated cap, which is currently two percent. Residents are stuck with last year’s budget plus two percent unless the school board wants to take a wild fling and cater to the fantasy that computers can improve IQs as reliably as a sensible diet, weight lifting, and running develop strong, healthy bodies. IQ is intrinsic and there are no vitamins or exercises that improve it. If parents want to believe IQ can be improved by great teaching and state-of-the-art computers, some of them may vote for a 10 percent school tax increase or approve more bonding and hope for a storm that keeps older people home, but does not short-circuit the electricity to the voting machines. The fact that most towns no longer have a shot at voting on a school budget is one more reason to roll over and go back to sleep or to go straight to and from work on Election Day. Dare we take that option? If people get out of the habit of voting because the single most important fiscal vote is no longer under their control, will they get out of the habit of voting in elections where they might change something for the better? They might, but the chances of having a choice are slim. Most Americans no longer smoke. Most people who do not smoke want cigarette production curtailed because the clear evidence that smoking causes cancer and contributes to heart disease means every smoker is a liability to the insurance portfolio of the entire community. People who take care of themselves may ask why they should pay for health care for people who smoke, drink excessively, eat red meat at every meal, or neglect any exercise. Many people desperately want gun control to the point of abrogating the Second Amendment. Many others want to be able to buy a handgun in a hardware store by flash- ing a driver’s license. Neither of these options makes sense. People who live in isolated areas or engage in high-risk jobs need firearms for their protection. However, a free flow of firearms to headstrong youngsters and obvious psychotics is a genuine menace to public health, though perhaps not vaguely comparable to drunk driving, habitual speeding, or cigarette smoking. That issue has also been taken out of the voters’ hands. The sort of money that manufacturers pay to the government for the right to manufacture guns, like the excise taxes paid on cigarettes, renders the gun manufacturers and the cigarette manufacturers politically bullet-proof. Do you still support the war in Afghanistan? Did you support the war in Iraq? I am not talking about showing respect for the Americans who were brave enough to serve, or wanting to make sure that those were wounded or psy- chologically disrupted receive the care they need. I mean do you believe we should still have troops there? I think most Americans do not. I think the troops are still there. This shows the power that public opinion has in the United States. Even the veterans’ groups disagreed with bombing Syria. They were right. If a candidate who promised to pull our forces back to the countries where they are actually wanted -- and gradu- ally back to the continental United States -- were to run for office, he or she would probably carry a majority vote of those people who are not heavily invested overseas. If the United States still had a draft, which I never want to see again, that peaceful candidate would probably capture the youth vote with ease. A couple of people I knew from col- lege volunteered, some accepted being drafted, and many pulled every string they could to get out of serving at all. However, such a candidate will never get the kind of fund- ing now needed to carry a national election because the people with strong commitments to priorities most other Americans do not share are very often the biggest cam- paign contributors. Does anybody fail to understand that the minimum wage is an absurdity? They should try living on it. Yet one party is heavily funded by people who think Americans can live on $7.25 an hour. We are now producing more college graduates than we are ever likely to need, and enormous government subsidies to education beyond high school are producing a future demographic superabundance of nominally edu- cated people who will be faced with trying to subsist on the minimum wage. The other party, or large elements therein, cannot be budged from the idea that making every Ameri- can a college graduate will somehow make us a stronger, happier nation. Lastly, the ultimate fantasy is that we can somehow vote our way back to the kind of prosperity we enjoyed from the 1950s through the first decade of the present century. Our prosperity in those days had a brutally simple explanation: Two of the world’s great manufacturing powers, Japan and Germany, had been bombed into rubble; two of the others, Britain and France, were in an end-cycle as major powers that began with their catastrophic losses and huge indebt- edness from World War I and continued through World War II. The last two players, Russia and China, were stuck with an economic system where brutal governments and foolish economic theories discouraged sensible politics and economics. That slate was wiped clean a decade before the century ended when the Soviet Union mercifully collapsed and China verged away from communism. The United States now has competitors all over the globe who make most of the stuff we make, but they do it better or cheaper. We will not vote them out of existence at will. While some people in these countries focus on conspicu- ous consumption as Americans did in the 1950s and 1960s, more of them focus on cultivating a viable lifestyle for their citizens that does not involve multiple cars per family, daily consumption of red meat, air conditioning outside hospi- tals, or college for people who do not belong there. China is so much bigger than we are that China’s Number Two status was inevitable. Japan has about a third of our population with an aging work force and is still Number Three. Germany, which has a smaller population than Japan and an aging work force, is Number Four in export goods. South Korea, incidentally, now has a higher per capita income and a higher standard of living than the United States. We will not vote ourselves back to an exclusive control of the world’s heavy manufac- turing. Why vote at all? Voting is a good habit to maintain. At the local level, you can still send the elected officials a message about your concerns. On the national level, you can investigate which politicians were responsible for the shutdown absurdity, and show them what you think -- and that you are still capable of thinking. I think they need to know that. Letters to the Editor Grateful for community’s support Dear Editor: The Friends of the Midland Park Memorial Library would like to thank the following businesses and individu- als for supporting the Friends of the Midland Park Memo- rial Library Open House on Oct. 26: Fred Moadab, The Wild Bird Emporium; Elizabeth Badaracco, Columbia Savings Bank; Danny at Dunkin Donuts; Leo at Dunkin Donuts; Dave Tippner at Team Baker; Steve at Peter’s Fish Market; Sandra, floral department at King’s Supermarket; Ben at Pizzaiolo by Brothers; Adam at Westwood Sleep Centers; Amy at Ethos Fitness Center & Spa; Johanna at Edible Arrangements; Kathy at Chandel Jewelers; Emmy at Family Hair Care; Robert at Hudson City Savings Bank; Sue at the Midland Park Memorial Library; Tim at Whole- sale Photo; Neil at Marty’s Shoes; Elizabeth at Native by Nature 2; Carol at the Hotdog Caboose; Judy at Worten- dyke Studio; Oggi at Rosario’s Trattoria; Mr. Murphy, principal of Godwin School; Beth Kasbarian at Godwin School; Sharon, Godwin School Crossing Guard; Marla, customer at Family Hair Care; Edward at Anything Com- puters of Midland Park; Ian at Nelund & Minton; Warren at Midland Park Auto Body; Sarah at V&S Flooring; Andy’s Community Lunch; Terri at Custom Cut Salon; Kristin at Custom Cut Salon; Malek at Z’s Barbershop; Nicole at The Sharp Shop; Adrien at Allstate Insurance; Mari at Winnie & Belle; Penny at H. Rubin Opticians; Bill at Bill’s Shoe Repair; Ciro at Tony’s Italian Pizza Kitchen; Jaime at Atlantic Stewardship Bank; Pauline at Rock Your Hair; Bob at State Farm Insurance; Ralph at Sal Lauretta for Men; Fran at Creations by Fran, Flowers & More; Ms. Orrico at Godwin School; Carol Berninger at Godwin School; Ms. Carr, Highland School’s librarian; Ms. Bache, principal of Highland School; Rich, Highland School crossing guard; and Liz at borough hall. How wonderful it is to live in a town full of readers will- ing to share a favorite book and give of their time to pro- mote our library. Their pictures can be seen in a display at the library labeled Midland Park Reads! The Friends would also like to thank graphic designer Dan Weaver for his time and talent in creating the fall fund and membership drive door-hangers, and Boy Scout Daniel Guciardo, who organized 48 man-hours of Midland Park Troop 157 to distribute the door-hangers. Thank you Midland Park residents for helping keep the library at the heart of our community. Jennifer Triolo, President Friends of the Midland Park Memorial Library Midland Park