8136

I was perusing Facebook on my lunch hour today and ran across a photo a friend of mine had taken of a high school weight room he was subbing at.  The facility was great; it looked like an LA Fitness but with the schools color scheme and logo.  His caption was “the difference between east side and west side is evident” referring to the affluence of the east side of the Phoenix area as opposed to the lower economic status of the west side.  I made a comment on it, but I think it is relevant enough to expand for today’s post.  Basically I said, it starts at home, and I think we can apply this thought to everything.  In the case of the school’s gym, I said it starts at home because schools get money based upon taxes.  The amount the schools get is based upon property taxes.  Property taxes are based upon the value of the homes in the area.  The value of the homes is based upon what the home owners put into their home.  Now I know we can’t all afford to upgrade everything to top of the line, but by simply taking some pride in our homes and doing the necessities to keep them well maintained and in proper functioning order, we can keep the property values from dropping.  I know I’m painting a picture with a very wide brush here, but think about it.  If we each do our own part, starting with where we live, it benefits the community as a whole.  If we keep up on our homes, we increase the property value, but one home alone doesn’t do it. You have to rely on your neighbors to do the same.  Suddenly, a neighborhood is desirable and thus the property values increase.  When the property values increase, the taxes on the homes increase and more money is sent to schools.  Schools can provide more to the students and the students in turn have more opportunities for growth and can maybe find something they enjoy learning about and can turn that into a career.  When you like what you are doing, you work harder at it and get better, and can then earn more money.  That in turn, allows you to buy a better home, or invest in a lower priced one, but you have more disposable income to fix it up, thus increasing the property value, and the cyclical process continues. Now we have desirable communities with better educated students and greater opportunities.  Businesses will want to be where the people are, thus increasing job opportunities.  Infrastructure will be improved due to demand, and increased tax revenue due to higher taxes based upon higher property values and higher incomes.  The cycle continues and spreads.  See, the point I’m making is everything starts at home.  This is a small example but can be applied on a global scale.  The thing we as citizens have to start doing is taking accountability for our situations, then start helping others.  The pride, wealth, and satisfaction then trickle upwards and outwards.  Now, if I can figure this out, how come much more educated and powerful people (cough, Washington, cough) can’t figure this out?  Why are we wasting billions of dollars over seas and on ludicrous pork projects when the answer is so simple?  My guess is because Washington knows that the more we can depend on ourselves, the less we need the government and all their special kickbacks will disappear. The people will no longer be sheep, and government control will vanish.  So see kids, maybe mom was onto something when she wanted you to keep your room clean