Clearing my thoughts here for a moment before I describe my view from twixt galaxies.
Forget the word "union," just like climatologists learned to forget the phrase "global warming," and concentrate on the inherent value of the exchange of goods and services between those who've provided you an in/tangible ROI and those who funded them, putting time aside.
It's not just the current ROI or exchange rate that matters. Interest rates are there for a reason, to indicate future value of money, too.
Social science may seem anything but (and as a friend of science, I am a skeptic about anything scientific) what is, to pull an overused phrase out of the stuffy, recycled air, the trickle-down value of delayed gratification in the form of low salaries today that guarantee pensioned salaries at a future (but never guaranteed) point in your life?
I didn't vote for Bush, Jr., (although I did once vote for his daddy because I gotta admire a man who was in charge of the CIA, despite its bureaucratic flaws).
However, his post-presidential comment that he regrets not privatising the big SS (no, not that one...well, wait, maybe he did privatise that one...anyway, staying on this train of thought), Social Security, and while we're sitting here halfway through the next presidential term, I pause to consider the ups and downs of his potential thoughts on the matter.
How do you create a system that is inabusivable? [invent your own word, if you don't like that one]
How do you create a social monetary support system that provides incentives?
How do you guarantee people don't pad their expense reports?
How do you put into place a mode for people to care about others just like they care for themselves and their family/friends?
You can't legislate morality. You can only set an example by living a morally forward-pointing life.
You can legislate ethics but how do you reward rather than punish? [on a side note, how can Google reward innovation rather than calling innovative SEO tricksters "system cheaters"?]
After all, didn't Abraham Lincoln himself pad his Congressional expense reports to fund his lifestyle?
Life finds a way.
Not everyone on welfare, Social Security, or pension is bad. In fact, pensioners and welfare recipients probably use most of their money to fund many of the small businesses and franchises/chains that keep our global economy running ( in other words, how many pensioners are actually living below their means and saving, creating a savings rate in a CD or other monetary instrument that's generating future income in another path? I don't know - it's an exercise I leave for those who've considered the matter).
On the flip side, because they have, on one hand, a fixed salary, and, on the other hand, an income based on someone else's pot of gold, not the one they themselves saved up, are they using their limited means in the most wise way, whatever that means?
Flip sides. Palms. Backhands. Back flips. You pick the images and see for yourself.
There is no cut-and-dry, easy answer for the issue at hand. Otherwise, I'd pretend to know the answer on this one, or provide the Committee's input and/or the direction provided to the Committee members by the ones who control the ones who control the Committee, and tell you.
Now, back to the dark matter's view of our galaxy and the superclusters we think we call home.
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