Wednesday, August 24, 2016

End of Sabbatical

Sometimes i like to think of myself of having been on a sabbatical leave ... for the last twenty-five years.

Maybe it seems like a long time.  But that's how long it took me to work through some stuff, how long it took me to be able to move onto the next stage of my academic career.

Sure, it's not traditional — not much of what i've ever done followed any specific tradition; it's mostly been my own way.

During my sabbatical, i read ... a lot.  I studied many different things.  I took classes — in Philosophy (Symbolic Logic 1 & 2), Folklore, English, Weight Training, Critical Theory, Linguistics, more English, more Linguistics (Syntax), Creative Writing, Computer Science (Intro to CS in Java 1 & 2), and more Philosophy (Philosophical Foundations of Cognitive Science) — at different schools (UNC Chapel Hill, ASU Tempe, Framingham State, Tufts University) after my undergrad degree at Cornell University.

So what if i went from undergraduate straight into an extended sabbatical leave?  No law against it.  It's what i needed.

Now i'm ready to go back to work (on my own terms, of course), ready to make my contribution to society.

Monday, August 1, 2016

Establishing a 'Maximum Wage' in the United States

If we (in the United States) have a Minimum Wage, perhaps we should also have a Maximum Wage.

How much is enough for one person to earn?

Perhaps 10 million dollars per year.  A starting point for a conversation, at least.

Why should (or shouldn’t) there be a limit?

If we established an upper limit (above which all income would go into a general tax fund, so that low-earners wouldn’t have to pay any taxes, depending on how much was in the fund), what would be the general economic effects?

Imagine if anyone making under $50k per year (or whatever $ amount, depending on the Maximum Wage tax fund) didn’t have to PAY taxes — imagine how much more they would have to spend!

Worth considering!