People Too Ignorant To Vote

Every year I go to vote. I feel everyone should register to vote and go to the polls. I take the ballot. I only vote what I know about, not what I read on the ballot, or see next to some party or other affiliation. I don't like to vote in ignorance. I leave much of my ballot blank as a result. Ignorance is not something to wield in a vote.

I'm Just a Generation-X Engineer, Traditionally Educated and Experienced

Unfortunately, I am increasingly in the minority. In fact, I'm in the minority on a lot of things.

First off, I'm a degreed, traditional engineer. We are rare now. There is a great number of not even engineering technologists (who are often much more skilled than us engineers), but a huge number of service technicians who consider themselves engineers. I am constantly faced with dumb stares when I start talking risk analysis, sigma statistics, elementary issues with feasibility and countless microeconomics concepts.

Secondly, I am a staunch American Libertarian Capitalist. I believe the concept of the social contract is very compatible with capitalism. I believe individual choice to assemble towards the greater good is about the individual's right to do or not to do so. I do not believe in group rights and forcing people to do things against their will. Because at some point, group rights become about what a majority wants, not the individual.

Lastly, I am a generation-X male entering the prime income earning years of my life. I have decided to marry early, and have an outstanding marriage now into the double digit years. As a member of generation-X, I have accepted the stigma that we are clueless, faceless and don't know where we stand. But we stand a very small generation between the larger boomers, and the even larger Generation-Y.

The former generation fought for their rights, and are being rewarded with a busted Social Security system. That's why I plan on helping take care of my parents, as any other self-sufficient Generation-X member should. The latter generation has grown up largely envious of what Paris Hilton has, and as more and more of them vote, they believe successful, self-made (although largely thanx to my parents insisting I go to and paying for college) middle class person "makes too much."

Ignorance: Tax Cuts For Millionaires

More and more Generation-Y members assume higher income taxes mean better taxing people like Paris Hilton. They don't understand the first thing about the difference between earning income, having discretionary income and turning that into investments, which create private sector jobs which help them accrue wealth they didn't have prior -- versus those who already have wealth, and don't pay income taxes, people like Paris Hilton.

They don't understand how in a progressive tax system how high income earners get at least the same tax cut as lower income earners, if not (and quite often) more, even if only the rate is cut for the lower bracket. No matter how many times I try to explain it to them, the simple math, they call it "Voodoo Math" and that people like me are easily debunked. They say the same thing about discretionary income versus existing wealth. And trying to get them to read even just the cliff notes of a book like The Millionaire Next Door (90% of millionaires are self-made, have a 4 bedroom or less house and drive a non-luxury sedan) is right wing rhetoric (Just when am I right winger? Oh, that's right, for the same reasons a right winger calls me a left winger -- because I don't agree with either!).

Probably the funniest thing is when they make fun of the beat-up pickup that I drive. They associate people who pay the highest income tax rate with Paris Hilton, and there is no way you can break them of that. They are dumbfounded when they see the pickup I drive, and wonder why I'm defending not raising income taxes -- all while they make fun of me as well.

Ignorance: The Return of the 90% Tax Bracket

Some are even more dangerous, and they have read about the former 90% tax bracket in years past. I have seen a great number of Generation-Y folk talk about how $100,000 is enough for anyone to live on, and that anyone making more than $100,000 should pay 90%. And stupid me, I try to educate them on that too -- especially since the marriage penalty takes effect for anyone who makes around $70,000 total. I.e., married couples who make more than $70,000 start paying significantly more tax than those "shacking up" who make only $35,000 each upward.

Let's see here, if anyone who made over $100,000 had to pay 90%, guess what? I wouldn't work! I wouldn't travel. I wouldn't leave my wife. I'd let her work, or I'd take some part-time work and she could stay home. And we'd be far more happy and not worrying about our future anymore -- that future where we have enough money so we are not a burden on society, let alone I can help take care of my parents because Social Security isn't going to be there. I'll let other people worry about that.

Now what does that "cost" us -- and the country -- for me not to work? Yep, this is where I smack the heck out of their ignorance!

Ignorance: We Collect Those Higher Taxes, More Than Before

You see, you now do not get all those taxes you raised. Not only that, you don't even get the former taxes I was paying at the bracket. No one gets anything anymore -- not even the taxes I made before! And if I can figure this out, you can be sure any other successful, American Libertarian Capitalist can. They stop working to, or reduce their amount of work, and income, which also means less tax.

And you still don't tax those who already have wealth a dime! But it gets better!

Ignorance: Will Still Have Discretionary Income To Invest

We no longer have discretionary income. What's discretionary income? If you ask such a Generation-Y'er, it's that "bling bling" we spend all our money on. Wrong! It's all those investments we make for our future, investments that create private sector jobs. Now those are gone. I'm not working, making that money, paying those taxes -- even less than before -- and I'm not investing most of that money into new jobs for others -- not luxuries, new jobs.

Remember, I'm the guy you're making fun of for driving that beat-up pickup! And yet it still gets better!

Ignorance: My Productivity Still Exists And Adds to the GDP

Unless people force the government go to all the houses of people like me, hold a gun to my head and force me to leave my wife and work, I don't produce. I don't add to the GDP. I reduce our country's output. But that doesn't matter, right? Because I'm like Paris Hilton, I'm off doing "the simple life."

I'm not off designing telecommunications equipment so the Coast Guard can save lives during Katrina. I'm not off designing that Tivo so you can record your Paris Hilton shows and yell at the TV when watching it for the 10th time. I'm not designing anything you can use. I'm an engineer, that evil person who destroys the environment with the creations that I force you to use.

So who cares if I work. Heck, we've already shipped off our non-service technical jobs like manufacturing to China anyway. So why not just gut our engineering intelligence too by taxing engineers to the point they don't want to work, and will just let their spouses work. It's enough to live on for us, and since I can't make any more money for discretionary investments and actually outputting to our economy -- the limited technology we have left -- I won't bother working and you won't get the new tax, much less not even the tax I was paying before.

Brilliant!

Now that's just taxes. We can hit on other things.

Ignorance: I'll Power My Car With Hydrogen

There is no end to people who say they are going to buy a hydrogen car and get a home, electrolysis hydrogen generation kit. Of course I have to ask, "and what does the kit run on?" And there is no end of people who will argue with this engineer -- an electrical engineer -- on how "efficient" it is at generating hydrogen from the elctricity that comes out of their wall. They will miss quote "efficiency" of motors and the electrolysis process not thinking of where and, more importantly, how that electricity is generated!

Ignorance: We're All Going Solar Power

Let me introduce you to the first father of the Solar Panel, Albert Einstein. Yes, the guy you heard about that theorized relativity did not win the Nobel Prize for relativity (and it was generally disregarded by many at the time), but the photoelectric effect. What is the photoelectric effect?

Well, it talks about that whole direct photon to electricity conversion. And when you start talking about the materials, area and all those other goodies, there is actually a limit to how much energy you can get from a solar panel. "Oh, but we have breakthroughs all-the-time!" Sigh, what do I know about this, I'm just a "dumb" electrical engineer who has had modern physics and other study, let alone practical applications.

Heck, I'm still arguing with people over ...

Ignorance: The Moon Landings Were Faked!

After all ...

- The flag Neil Armstrong planted couldn't "wave" because there is no air on the moon.
- Alan Shepard's golf ball couldn't "wobble" because there is no air, and ...
- How could they film Apollo 17 when it lifted off because no one was left?

Ah no, Neil just planted it too close to the lander and its upper assent engine! You know, the whole action-reaction of particles being sent one direction so it causes the other direction to move (and those particles do strike other things, like the ground, the flag, etc...?).

I talk about the "Angular Momentum" on Neil's ball and they call it "Voodoo Engineering Talk." Sigh, what did I go to college for?

Well, duh, remote control. In fact, it takes 2 seconds for the signal to travel, and we didn't have control systems technology back then like we do today, so that's why we do not have good video of earlier Apollo lunar ascents -- we got lucky after several tries by Apollo 17.

Ignorance: Well, We Only Need To Focus On "Renewable Energies," I'm Against Anything That Is Not

So we have environmentalists that make it a living, lawyer hell for any engineer who wants to build newer, cleaner refineries, newer, cleaner fossil fuel plants and countless other things. So what do we get? California. No new plants for 10 years = Rolling Blackouts.

You know, people like yourself want to power your TV and TiVo to catch and re-watch those Paris Hilton shows for the 10th time -- only to have the power cut out because there is insufficient supply. And now you're complaining about the cost of gas to power that $40,000 SUV daddy and mommy bought you after fighting to prevent any new refineries being built. I mean, if we stop engineers from building those evil things greedy oil companies want that "Captain Planet warned me about," then they will have to use those plentiful, "renewable resources" that engineers just refuse to use, right?

Brilliant!

Ignorance: Nuclear Power? One Word: Chernobyl

And how many graphite nuclear reactors does the US operate? What is the "worst case scenario" for a US nuclear power plant? Why does France (a country I typically make fun of) have such a clean power grid? Why are nine (9) other countries -- including the US -- causing a major resurgence of French engineering leadership? Why did the 2005 Energy Act put $4B into nuclear power research? And why did the co-founder of Greenpeace -- an organization entirely founded after the Three Mile Island nuclear incident -- change his mind?

Because other than Wind Power -- which senators like Ted Kennedy is fighting against "not in my back yard, it's an eyesore!" -- the only other, feasible alternative to fossil fuels for mass power generation is nuclear fission.

Yeah, I know, "feasible" it's one of those "trick engineering terms" that we use to fool smarter people like yourself. It's one of those terms the Army Corps of Engineers tried to use to explain why they couldn't prevent the flooding of New Orleans in 2005 any more than they couldn't in the '60s or '20s before that, or for many other cities like Houston, etc.. as well.

After all, we put men on the moon, right? We can do anything? We can stop a massive hurricane with tens of thousands of times the Newtons of force in a second than the mighty Saturn V was capable of in the few minutes! Doh! That's right, we faked those too -- yeah, we engineers just go around faking everything to pay our big salaries so we can lobby government to keep our taxes low.

Ignorance: Well, the US Imports Far More Oil From the Middle East than Anyone!

Well, depends on "who" you are talking about. If you mean individual countries, yes, guilty as charged! Now add up population, GDP and other things until you get an "equivalent." By God, look at the European Union (EU)! Unlike the US, that actually has extensive coal reserves and even trades with countries that have "All Pro-Chavez TV, All-the-Time, You're Watching the New State-Run-Only Media Country" for its oil, it's not so surprising why the US has 42 allies supporting us in Iraq. ;)

That's not saying I agree with the Iraq war. But if you think the US is the only country securing petroleum reserves for ourselves ... ha ... ha ha ha ... ha ha ha! In fact, there's far more at stake for the EU with Russia than the US, because it wants to tap those resources to ease it's greater dependence on the middle east, like the US has with Chavez and other nations in South America, Africa, etc...

Select Generation-Y'ers, and You Should Know By Now Who You Are ...

At some point you have to ask yourself ... are you too ignorant to vote on many things?

No child left behind? I think Generation-Y is a perfect example of why some people need to be left behind! They will not listen to logic or reason, do not want to bother with learning the physics or microeconomics that goes against their political alignments. After all, they can find nearly all TV newspeople and analysts, all completely removed from an engineering education, to agree with them! And if not, they can always find a blogger or two as well.

In all honesty and self-realization, my generation -- Generation-X -- wasn't exactly the shining star compared to my parents in education either. But one thing we didn't do was hold kids behind and focus on standardized tests well below their capability. We let kids excel if they could and we realized what some were and were not capable of. This "everyone is special" non-sense didn't exist as a government -- i.e., forced community (socialist) -- institution. Why? Because they were our future, even if only a subset of them.

And most of all, in Generation-X, we didn't expect ... well, we just didn't "expect." Today, "entitlement, entitlement, entitlement" is all I hear from Generation-Y'ers. If you're a Generation-Y'er, and you don't believe so, you have my sincerest appreciation and my sincerest apologies. But too many are otherwise, and they believe the ignorance above. They moan about the rich having all the cars they want. They believe socialized medicine will result in everyone being able to have the latest million-dollar medical procedures or the latest drug research has to offer (let alone can't comprehend why drugs cost a lot of money -- duh, R&D costs? Even if other countries don't want to respect that and pay as well?).

Heck, for years we at least let in foreign nationals to pick up the slack in our ever shrinking engineering student body. We let them have Green Cards and become American citizens with American families for generations to come. Now we don't even have that with indentured survitude programs like H1B, with a sponsoring employer who can deport them if they don't like the "terms" of their employment, let alone take a cut of their pay, which is already low because they they can't leave their "sponsor" and go to another employer and demand the same wages as Americans (no, we can't have that -- that would -- gasp -- basically be to just like hiring Americans in the first place at full pay!). People who actually come in the country legally and want to speak English (if they don't already) because they recognize the importance of communicating with the majority of the people already here.

The ideal immigrant is the one we do our best to deny -- especially when they often have educations in engineering. Not the IT H1Bs -- that's to keep IT costs low, even though we have plenty of Americans in IT (which is not engineering, although some can be engineering technology, but not in the overwhelming cases of H1Bs justified for IT) -- but the real engineers who actually studied concepts like engineering mechanics, microeconomics, etc... At least the ones that would agree with me. As much as I'll make fun of the average Frenchmen and their hypocritical history (criticize us on Vietnam?), I'll take a French engineer first and foremost any day! ;)

And yes, this was a rant. The one, cool thing about Generation-X is when we retire -- we'll have Generation-Y in their prime, income earning years. There are just so many of them that even if they are all working low-paying service jobs -- well -- there's just still so few of us retiring in comparison! I'm not worried for me -- just my parents. I just want to keep my money so I can help people the way I want, not what some majority thinks I should do with my money, not theirs. Oh, duh, I forgot -- I'm a stupid engineer who doesn't know better! Sorry, I promise not to think like a successful individual anymore.