Channel Dredging: The Private Takeover Of Public Money
We citizens of Key West are personally experiencing a vivid example of what the country and most of the planet is suffering from; a myopic hell-bent-for-leather private takeover of public money and public institutions with no regard to environmental or cultural history. Utilities, schools, mail service, hospitals and prisons are now seen as money makers and private income streams at the expense of serving the people whose money created said institutions.
We see small, but powerful and influential factions seeking to expand their empires at the expense of the public. Private enterprise is a fine thing when responsible and aware of the cultural and environmental impact of its enterprise, however in today’s current state of capitalist purist ideology all bets are off. The quarterly bottom line and increasing it is the only objective. In fact the concept of leveling off and maintaining the status quo, no matter how much money these corporate goons have is an anathema!
If “terrorists” were destroying our reef and advocating for more and bigger silt making machines to further damage our true tourist economy engine, the marine environment, and these “terrorists” swarmed onto our little island and drove away all the visitors that were spending real money, we would be up in arms!
We citizens of Key West are victims of this purist capitalist ideology in the form of the channel dredging issue. This mental obsession of never ending expansion of profits is being advertised as a “study”. The use of the word, study, implies if we agree to it and vote “Yes” and the study is done, we will have another opportunity to say whether or not we want the dredging done. This is not so! If you vote yes, you are voting for dredging and you will not get another opportunity to say “NO”.
This is a perfect example of public money being used by private industry. Thirty five million, at least, of yours and my tax dollars to create a bigger money maker for a small, but influential group of individuals that live in Key Haven. To add insult to injury, the cruise industry pays virtually no taxes per the Section 883 exemption for cruise industry income derived from cruises that embark or disembark passengers in the U.S.! That is some serious capitalist purist Chutzpa!
Vote NO to dredging on October first. It will be the last time they ask you for permission to dredge!
Alex Symington
Key West (not Key Haven)