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Solving Global Warming, Defense Spending, and National Debt Problems in 800 Words or Less
My editor is after me to make my pieces fit neatly within newspaper opinion spaces, so here goes…
My editor has been after me to contain my thoughts within the 800 word limit, but in my defense, I’m often carrying around big thoughts that don’t conclude themselves easily. So in a personal challenge and act of defiance, I will try to solve three of the biggest world’s problems, Climate Change, National Deficit, Defense Spending within my word limit.
I love the budget balancing games on the internet. I am using information from one called “Debt Fixer” (which has a laudable goal of reducing national debt to 50% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) by 2050…it is currently on track to hit 180% by then, yikes!). I quickly notice that much of national deficit reduction goes through defense spending, so I have a quick “2 for 1” here. I am also loading info from “MacKay Carbon Calculator”, a simple game made for the UK to reduce 2050 greenhouse gas levels.
I need a few premises to play these games. First I will use a simple defense premise, that if we are annihilated by nukes, nothing else matters (a bizarre solution, actually). Second, I will seek to end small “silly” wars like Iraq, and allow only one big war between now and 2050. This would be a nice fit…
