Curmudgeons and wasteful spending

We are “shortsighted” and ill-tempered persons full of resentment and stubborn notions, according to an editorial in the Wilmington Star-News. I hate being a curmudgeon: always out of sorts and resentful. I’m stubborn, too.

I stick to my principles. Editors say we curmudgeons “dismiss buying park land as foolish spending.” In defense of curmudgeonry, I repeat: buying more park land is not only wasteful; it’s profligate, uneconomical, inefficient, extravagant, lavish, excessive, imprudent, and maybe even intemperate. Got that?

And another thing; the city council is a bunch of spendthrifts. They needlessly spend on property useless to the majority of city residents. Furthermore, after the initial purchase more money must be spent to add improvements and accoutrements (For example, “Fencing or shrubbery and trees separating private land from public could reduce potential conflicts with neighbors,” counsels the editor.) In addition, maintenance will require more government employees and equipment (I’m looking at the long view of the council’s shortsightedness, Ms. Editor). Remember the green elephant Airlie Gardens costing millions and usurping more each year for the benefit of very few people?

Worse, this latest imprudence puts the city deeper into competing unfairly with private golf businesses. It will add another subsidy for a special few at the expense of the whole population. There’s a principle here, expressed by curmudgeon Dr. Michael Sanera of the John Locke Foundation (www.JohnLocke.org) in a 2009 City and County Issue Guide. Public parks and recreation departments “should not compete with services provided by the private sector.”

Call me resentful, ill-tempered or even stubborn. Yes, I resent government officials arrogantly spending our money on projects they, their bureaucrats and a few selfish interest groups decide meet our “quality of life.” Government’s role is to protect citizens, not to patronize them. Damn right this attitude angers me; as it should all free-thinking people—and I won’t give up criticizing it.