Danielle Levy

The wealthy in California are being tested, in between the new federal taxes on the rich and those in California, they will pay a total of %51.90—at least those whose income will be above $1 million! Is it fair? No, it isn’t. Still, no one is predicting a run on Malibu mansions. In fact those in the know, whoever they may be, do not even foresee an exodus to one of the eight states with no income tax, like Florida. One can fairly assume that people in that income bracket will not change their life style, will not curtail their vacations, visits to four stars restaurants or usage of what they are currently consuming. Those same experts predict they may be more intent on using loopholes to pay as little taxes as possible, think through their next investments to perhaps minimize taxes, or even make adjustments to how they conduct their business. Imagine a tax increase of but 10% for most working class people, the many millions who live paycheck to paycheck or near it. They would have to adjust their spending accordingly and perhaps their standard of living. I’m left with the notion, erroneous as it may be, that taxing the rich affects their balance sheets but does not hurt them.

Speaking at the forum in Davos, Switzwerland,Babatunde Osotimehin, the UN Population Fund Executive Director told his audience that 220 million women in the development world want family planning and aren’t getting it. He also said that many women would like to have fewer children, that a high percentage of the women die giving birth and that their death could be prevented with family planning. He asked for governments to do more to make family planning accessible to all women who want it, warning that without it the world’s population will grow by a billion within a decade. Surprising at it may be, the Davos setting gives the remarks added hope they might be heard. The people attending the yearly conference are drug makers who see in 220 milllion women an expanded market, people who can be intermediaries with the Catholic church’s opposition to contraceptives, people who can talk to governments, government themselves, members of the press, who made it possible for me to read about it. And too one can’t discount the people who might care just because it’s important to care about this issue.

Many will have no doubt heard of the recent report from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers finding that as much as 2 billion tons of food, about half the food produced, doesn’t make it to our tables. What has not been as publicized are the reasons for the waste and the suggested remedy. The reasons go to the values that make our culture what it is and involve the expectations of good looking produce. The report found about 30% of vegetable crops are not harvested because they fail to meet retailers’ exact standards of physical appearance. Another finding is that about half the food that is bought in Europe and the U.S. is thrown away by consumers. Part of the problem generated by the waste is the corresponding waste of the water used to sustain crops that then do not do what they are to do. The waste of water is estimated as 2.5 to 3.5 times greater than the total human use of fresh water in a day and could lead to even more dangerous water shortages around the world. To prevent all this waste, the IMechE report suggests that governments, development agencies and organizations like the UN must all work together to help change people’s mindsets and discourage wasteful practices by farmers, food producers, supermarkets and consumers. Regardless of who ends up doing what, wouldn’t a changed mindset begin with us?