Life: X,Y and C

As I was doing my morning review of online news items, I read an article about Americans overwhelmingly opposing a dollar coin.  The estimate is such a move would save over 150 billion dollars a year but people don't like the idea because it is too hard to change plus, God Forbid, they do it in Canada.  That is a deal breaker right there.  Really?

Everybody now agrees we need to cut spending and get our national financial house in order.  I'd like to see what all these "little" cuts that only require small adjustments to our daily habits and daily lives would add up to at the end of the day.   Nine more 150 billion dollar budget trims would be a 1.5 trillion dollar savings each year.

The major complaints are that a dollar coin is too hard to use. If using a big gold coin to buy your Coke out of the vending machine in the hall is your biggest hardship in life, congratulations.   What is even more ridiculous are the people who complain because the Canadians do it so it is just another attempt to turn our country into a "socialist" nation like they are.

The factual reality is Canada went through a wholesale restructuring of its economy within the last 30 years.  Government spending was slashed, they launched a national sales tax that was used solely to pay down the huge national debt.  They passed a balanced budget law. Privatized their post office.  All while maintaining a national health care system, education system and rebuilding their economy.  As a result, they have the most stable banking system in the world and were recently named the best country in the world to do business in.  Business, ya know, capitalism?  Jobs and stuff?

But if it works in another country, and we didn't think of it, that makes it un-American and somehow bad.

I live just an hour south of the Canadian capital on the US side of the border in NY.  I have used 1 and 2 dollar coins for years up there.  It takes some getting used to but it works fine.

The rank and file people who benefit from new people using dollar coins are bartenders and other wait staff.  When you walk into a bar and order a beer, it is very natural to leave the "change" on the bar.  I remember walking out of a bar after ordering one drink and a bar snack, leaving the coins on the bar, that I reacted to like quarters but, I basically left a 10 dollar tip!

The next phase of using dollar coins is the joy of realizing, as you are ending your day with just a pocket full of change, you are actually richer than you think because they may feel like quarters but are worth so much more.

It takes some getting used to, you make some dumb transactions at first, but you get the hang of it and it works.

Common sense will tell you we, as a country, are in a period of great change and re-alignment, along with the rest of the world.  I am frustrated at the amount of pre-school type whining that seems to be the norm these days: if I stomp my feet and yell the loudest I won't have to do what I don't want to do, someone else will do it and then I will blame him for it.

The window of opportunity for us to pull up our socks and act like real Americans and take the lead is closing fast.  The myopic view that allows people to sit in echo chambers telling themselves what they want to hear while the rest of the world moves on, saddens and scares me.

My hope is we'll start taking some baby steps in the right direction again, common sense steps, simple steps and pick up the pace from there.

But these days, I am not holding my breath waiting.