I’m pleased that the French and the Greeks voted against the austerity measures enacted by the European Union. I think the assumption is wrong that austerity and cutbacks in social programs rescue failing economies. Our governor tells people who are on welfare to get off their duffs and get jobs, but jobs are scarce. It seems downright cruel.

When people get financial help with their needs, they go to the grocery store and buy food. They buy clothing for themselves and their children. Maybe they’ll even take the kids to a movie.

If that money is cut off from them, then the grocery store, the clothing store and the movie theater all suffer losses. Then maybe they have to lay off workers. It has a snowball effect. The economy goes downhill.

When the banks got us into this mess, we had giant bailouts to rescue them. If that money had been given to the indebted homeowners, then they would have been able to pay the banks and keep their homes. That would have rescued the banks and kept a lot of people off welfare.

My view is that the money given to those at the bottom of the “food chain” enters the economy and strengthens it at all levels. The money given to those at the top seems to get stuck at the top. It doesn’t, in fact, trickle down.

As for the national debt, it would help if we stopped fighting wars on credit. If we had been taxed for the true expenses of the wars we’ve fought for oil, we might have thought twice about fighting them.

We might want to invest our money into a search for alternative energy. Also, we might pay taxes enough to cover our human needs. It’s pretty simple.

Abby Shahn

Solon

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