THE ECONOMIC SIDE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT

At the risk of sounding like a rabid libertarian here, I'll say right up front that government has a big economic interest in making and enforcing regulatory laws.  They'd defend the fines, levies, taxes, excises, and fees as necessary to defray the expense incurred in the enforcement process, and there's some validity in that argument.  There's another way of looking at it, however, and that's this:  If you didn't pass the law requiring enforcement, you wouldn't have the expense.  Many of our drug laws, for instance, and unnecessary, and if we'd take the steps to do away with them, the government would save millions upon millions of dollars . . . and that would mean a lot of people who enforce them would be out of a job.  The economic factor in the war against drugs is two-sided at the least.  The makers and dealers of drugs make millions, and the government benefits from the need to have people to fight that.  Legalizing certain drugs, like marijuana, would go a long way toward cutting down on government expenditures in enforcing laws . . . and that would take a bite out of a lot of tax dollars, commerce in general, and the need to keep people employed.

Government isn't new in the regulatory business.  That's something that's been with us for a long, long time.  Forget taxes, that always fall back on source of revenue for the government, and consider how much they take in from fines, fees, levies, etc.  Almost any profession a person gets involved in will require licensing, and most of the time, those fees are reasonable.  But let's say, for instance, you want to get into the restaurant business, better yet one that sells alcoholic beverages.  Government at several levels already taxes the crap out of booze, but they get another chunk of change when a person applies for a liquor license or permit.  And one permit won't satisfy most states, since it's going to take several of them to get set up to sell booze.  You might well find, depending on the state where you set up business, that you've got thousands upon thousands of dollars invested in fees before you ever get started.

Don't mistake my statements here as being against regulation of the liquor business . . . 'cause I'm most certainly not.  What I question is the expense of it all, and I even understand the need for the high costs to some degree.  Bars are a pain in the ass when it comes to law enforcement.  Wherever and whenever people congregate to drink alcoholic beverages, you're going to have problems from time to time . . . and you might have problems all of the time with some establishments like your good old boy bars.  Police have to patrol those places, and they get frequent calls to take care of problems that arise at them.  That costs money, and you can't expect local government to do that without expecting some fee money to help offset costs.  It's the good guys, the ones who try to run responsible businesses that sell alcohol, who get screwed by the system of high costs.  Perhaps governments need to take a look at that.

Here's what I suggest in that regard:  If a business has shown that they can keep down disruption at their place of business, have a record of doing that, they should be cut some slack when it comes to fees required to stay in business.  If, on the other hand, an establishment has a lousy record, and I'm talking about a place where there's always trouble of some kind going on, they should pay more, and not just in the way of fines.  If they don't clean up their act, shut them down.  The same should be done with dirty companies, the ones who do little to stop polluting the air, dirtying our waters.  If they don't clean up, levy bigger fees against them, increase fines, and if need be, shut them down too.  Sounds reasonable, right?  If you do that, and it does happen occasionally, you'll lose the money from fines and fees.  Government at any level doesn't like to lose money.

I was in Austin some years back and saw something that shows a need for regulatory money.  My son was a bartender downtown in an area loaded down with bars, and I drove him there to start his shift.  A half dozen black busses pulled up and tough looking cops dressed like storm troopers piled off.  Down the street, a saw dozens of cops on horses, looking deadly serious.  "What's that about?" I asked, as I pulled up in front of the bar where he worked.  "They've got a big track meet in town tonight, and after a while, the street will fill up with people.  Thousands of spectators from that event will end up down here, and they usually cause trouble, and that's why the cops are here."

I guess the bottom line is that as long as you've got irresponsible people flocking to places like that, you're going to need lots of protection against the violence that will or might erupt.  And somebody has to pay for that.  Here's another idea for you.  On occasions like that, the city ought to require all bars to add another dollar to the cost of each drink, and that should go directly to the city.  Maybe more of a surcharge than that is necessary, but when it gets right down to it, the taxpayer often pays for cleaning up the messes they make.  All fees aren't bad, and that's a fact.

TASTE IS OFTEN EXPENSIVE . . . AND STUPID

We all live in a pampered, spoiled rotten society of people who want it just the way the like it . . . and are willing to pay more money to have it that way.  Everyone in the selling business knows this and takes advantage of our various tastes in things, all the way from our favorite drink to expensive houses.  This blog is mostly about houses and where individual taste in homes costs fussy people lots of money, and for no good reason.  How demanding you are about this determines the cost of your house and may not gain you much when you sell the home.  If you do careful research about home sales, you'll find out what people have been conditioned to expect in a home  . . .  and by conditioned, I mean propagandized.  Folks watch a lot of home network television, or other shows about house hunting or remodeling, and they often get sold a bill of goods on what a house should have.

If you have the money, and if nothing else makes you happy, then you're a bird's nest on the ground for builders and remodelers.  Want those granite counter tops in kitchens and baths?  Get ready to shuck out the big bucks 'cause they don't give it away.  Just got to have the finest when it comes to fancy wood floors?  More big bucks.  Want that swanky tile on the floors?  More big bucks.  And just some seemingly moderate cost things in a house can be foolish investments . . . unless you just can't live without it.

My home has ten ceiling fans, an extravagance, and they're not cheap fans.  We love ceiling fans, want them going most of the time . . . and so we have them.  Dumb?  Yeah, probably, but we save money other places.  You won't find marble or granite in my house, and you won't find  bamboo floors or anything like that.  Nice fixtures for sinks, bathtubs, etc?  Yup, got them.  Really nice window treatments?  Yep, got that too.  Extra expenditures on the yard?  Yep.  So, we've got lots of things we don't need, and that's a matter of taste.  Not an enormous house, about 3,000 sq. ft.  We talking small town here, and that means a house this nice would sit for a long time before it sold.  Hardly anybody here can afford over two hundred grand for a house.

My neighbor up the street has done a wonderful job of remodeling their home, about the same size of mine.  Their yard alone offers a wow factor, and inside there's lots of upgrades. Yeah, all that granite and nice fixtures . . .  yeah, all that stuff you see on television that everyone wants in a house.  And now they need to move and can't sell the house.  They offered it for close to a quarter million bucks, got no takers.  The price is down to $215,000 now, and still no offers.  Not even many lookers.  That same house just down the road in Austin would cost half million, but not here.  What I'm saying is that you can over build or over remodel . . . which is what I've done and what my neighbor has done.

I don't really care because I'm not inclined to move anywhere.  I'm also not inclined to put any more big money into this house.  My daughter has just bought an old house in this town with the intention of remodeling it.  She's got big plans for turning it into the kind of home they can enjoy.  They bought the house cheap because it needs lots of work, but it could be a showplace.  They want to do most of the work themselves, and they're willing to lean how.  I'm the teacher.  So far, she's using her head when talking about remodeling, and I've been trying to teach her some things I've never been able to get my wife to accept.  Like all women, my daughter wants to completely change the kitchen, but she's reasonable about how to do that, and she willing to make concessions.  All the bedrooms need new floor coverings, and there's lots of woodwork to be done, lots of painting, things like that.  Bathrooms need work too, as does the living room and den area.

I bought an old house ten years ago and put in a floor over there, and I did it with wood bought from a local lumberyard.  I bought pine 1 by 12 lumber, and then screwed it down.  I didn't do anything to it, no stain or varnish . . . nothing.  And after ten years, it looks good . . . has that weathered, rustic look, and it's still solid.  She saw that, asked about it, and I said, "It can be done for much less than hardwood floors, and it can be made to look gorgeous."  She's now wanting that done in her house, just smaller boards.  She's given up wanting tile, and she doesn't want granite.  I showed her what kitchen countertops could look like made of wood.  I made them from 2 by 6 lumber, glued them together to where you can hardly see the separation between them, and they look great.  Do they scuff up?  Sure, but since they're 2 inches thick, you just re-sand and reseal them.  No big deal, and doing that is dirt cheap.  And it looks damn good.

So, we're off to a start with remodeling, turning an old house (it's a Spanish Bungalow) into a really nice place . . . and with one big thing in mind.  Made it look good, do structural repairs to make it last, and don't get stupid and spend too much money.  Yeah, stupid because it's easy to run the costs on a home past what you can sell it for.  Be cognizant of the community, the neighborhood, the town.  Make it nice and comfortable, and make it into something you don't get stuck with.

A SMART BIRD BUILDS A SAFE NEST

A smart bird builds a safe nest, but apparently all birds aren't smart.  You'd think a tall tree would be a safe bet, but cats climb trees and so do snakes and other predators.  Want your eggs kept safe?  Put 'em where the predators can't find them, and that's not easy to do.  If safe nests were in the order of things, the world would be overrun with birds . . . but it isn't.  Most of them aren't endangered, but some birds have already vanished.  Too many predators they couldn't stay clear of.  Makes you wonder if they weren't just dumb birds, but that's probably not the case.  Maybe they were highly sought after by predators because they tasted better than most birds, laid bigger eggs, or were for some reason considered a prize.   Perhaps you can see where I'm going with this analogy, but in many ways people are in the same boat with them.

Like birds, people seem to have a nesting instinct.  We want security, and most of our energies are spent trying to create safe homes.  We can't do that without money, and we can't get that without finding some way of making it.  Jobs, professions, a craft . . . that's what I'm talking about.  Earning money is all about being able to build our nests and settle in, and that's not easy to do.  Too many predators out there, too many people trying to find ways to get in our pockets.  That threatens our security, makes it hard for us to build strong nests.  Some of us overcome the obstacles and manage to prosper, but many of us don't.  Some people, like birds, just aren't as smart as others.  Some people, like birds, are more of a prize than others.

Nobody really prepares us for what will happen when we grow up and start building our own nests.  Our parents warn us about predators, and schools and other social institutions point out some of the pitfalls in life.  The problem here is that the predators are often considered the good guys in our society.  They don't look or act like predators, but they often are.  Take government for instance (you had to know I was going to get around to this).  We look to government to help us build strong nests by securing our basic freedoms.  And they do a pretty good job of this, better than most countries.  But to do that government is placed in the same position as a person.  To be secure and build a strong nest of its own, they need money.  You are the source of that money, and government doesn't miss chances at taking it away from you.  If you end up being a decent wage earner, say something like $75,000 a year, you'll end up giving somewhere around a fourth of that to government.  Depending on where you live, that might be more.  Some states and communities are tax friendly while others are tax predatory.  What this all means is that where you build  your nest can be important.

When it comes to finding good nesting ground it takes some research, and an inclination to build there should you find the right place.  Most people pay far too much to keep from having to move.  "I have roots here," I'm often told.  "I was born here, my family and friends are here, and I feel secure here."  I can buy into that, but there's no need in being stupid about it.  if your home gets unfriendly (in ways you might not notice right off), it's time for a change.  If the state and community where you live saps your income to the breaking point (high housing, utilities, taxes, etc.), you'd be wise to start looking for another nest.  Wisdom, though, sometimes comes after you've reached the breaking point.  I don't understand the tolerance of those who continue to be victimized by bad situations, and just because they're reluctant to leave a particular place.  There are lots of ifs here - if you can find a good job somewhere else, if you can accept moving as an adventure, if you're bold enough, and so on.

On the other hand (and this is important), there are lots of ifs to consider when a chance to move comes along.  Get a better job offer somewhere else?  Opportunities seem better somewhere else?  My advice is:  DO THE RESEARCH.  Check out every conceivable factor in the move.  You need to know housing costs (what kind of home can you afford there), schools, crime rate, taxes, utilities, insurance costs, etc.).  Don't jump into a move too quickly, especially if you're content where you are now.  It's good to be bold, just don't let it overrule your better judgment.  And if the move looks good, don't let home attachments hold you back.  Nest building is hard to do, and to do it right, it takes some practice.  Sometimes, it takes a little luck.