An Example of The Way Things Should Work!

Without going all political and everything, one thing that bothers me is how the various governments decide to raise taxes "for the public good" on things that maybe the "public" really doesn't want. I think all levels of government overreach into things that maybe they shouldn't be getting into, and certainly private enterprise can do better in general. Especially when government sponsored programs tend to have cost overruns, 75% rate increases AND then require a doubling of the tax, all while increasing the pay of the ones that run it.--See Denver's RTD as an example.

That is why I was impressed with this story that I read this morning: Supporting cast steps up to save live theater in Trinidad

The recession, fueled by increased regulation and decreased gas prices, hit principal sponsors of the theater hard, mostly from the gas, tourist and manufacturing sectors. Canceling seemed inevitable.

"But first we felt we needed to at least take it to the town and give them the opportunity to rise to the occasion," executive director Brad Askew said.

Rise they did. The citizenry rustled up nearly $90,000, not only saving the upcoming season, Askew said, but maybe even offering a blueprint for the way communities can come together to help solve economic problems in hard times.

"This is a town that basically said, 'We're going to opt out of the recession,' " Askew said. "We know that recovery starts at the grassroots level. How much easier would it be for this country to recover if everybody personally got involved?"

It's really a pretty simple concept--if you really want it and it's necessary everyone will help pay for it. One of the statistics listed in the article, is that 60% of the contributors had never been to one of the theater's productions.

Here's sending some Gruntlement the way of Trinidad, CO!