Once
again, considerable time has passed since our last MDI Blog post, but
is seems that events on our little island continue taking a back seat
to much more significant national and international challenges.
That
said, we thought it was past time to comment on a few bits and pieces
– some of which are local, and some of which threaten to reshape
our world!
Budget
issues almost always dominate the discussion at Maine town meetings,
just as they do in Augusta and in Washington D.C. Recently these
budget discussions have very tentatively focused on the possibility
of consolidating some MDI town services to both improve efficiency
and reduce costs. Perhaps the most ambitious and most successful
effort in this direction so far has been the sharing of a Police
Chief and consolidation of Police Departments between The Town of
Mount Desert and the Town of Bar Harbor. At MDI.Net we have been
quite impressed with this project and believe that it will be a model
for similar joint programs involving more island towns in the future!
We also believe that this project has worked so well due largely to
the open-minded and flexible attitude of everyone involved – Chief
Willis, Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Police Officers, both Town
Managers, members of the Mount Desert Board of Selectmen and the Bar
Harbor Town Council, and local citizens. Congratulations to all!
There
is a related matter playing out on the national stage and also
showing examples here on Mount Desert Island. That would be the
problem of income inequality. In our country as a whole, the top one
percent of the people control around fifty percent of the wealth and
income. These wealthy individuals are seeing their fortunes grow even
larger every year while the remaining ninety nine percent struggle to
pay their bills as they gradually lose ground to inflation. Local
real estate markets reflect this situation as prices for year-round
homes remain relatively stagnant while demand is strong for
expensive, seasonal, waterfront estates. Teachers, firefighters,
shop owners, etc. cannot afford the average $300,000 price for a
year-round house while several summer mansions are currently under
construction at prices ranging upward of $20-25 million each! When
confronted with this issue, some have said “So what? I got mine,
let them get theirs!” The trouble is that such an argument ignores
one of the basic principles of economics – money makes money, and
no money makes no money! The poor, which is rapidly including
everyone other than the super rich, are trapped by both lack of
opportunity and lack of income! If not redressed, income inequality
can destroy our society.
In
the run-up to the 2016 election, politics at both the State and
National levels has been bizarre to say the least. Few regular
citizens would have predicted the vitriolic side show we have seen in
Augusta over the past year, and even fewer would have predicted the
current crop of candidates for the most powerful and influential
office in the world! Extreme polarization, voter apathy and voter
ignorance are all in part responsible; but if we don't pull our heads
out of the sand soon, we at MDI.Net fear for the future of our
country!
And
then there are the militant religious extremists around the world
whose brutality and shocking terrorist tactics know no bounds. The
likelihood of terrorism on our own soil increases by the day, and
places like MDI, which have heretofore been thought of as safe
havens, could well be at risk of experiencing a terrorist incident.
Local law enforcement personnel and all local residents need to be
aware of things going on around us at all times, and to avoid falling
into the trap of thinking “it can't happen here”. Taking a wider
view, we believe that as part of a broad coalition, the U.S. needs to
be significantly more aggressive in eliminating ISIS and similar
terrorist groups once and for all! We have to do it for our
children!
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