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“He who buys what he does not need, steals from himself.” - Swedish Proverb.
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Common Sense
The Progress
Editorial
November 2,2023
Personal spending for Georgia ranks in top ofU.S. states
Don’t forget to save
Warren Buffett, the iconic American
business magnate who is synonymous
with successful investing, once said: “Do
not save what is left after spending, but
spend what is left after saving.” His per
sonal worth stands at roughly $124 bil
lion so he’s probably someone who’s
financial advice we should all heed.
But statistics show that many of us
don’t pay attention to that advice.
The United States Bureau of Eco
nomic Analysis recently released its an
nual survey of consumer spending by
state. As Georgia continues to grow, and
Pickens County right along with it, it’s no
surprise that our state saw a 9.8 percent
increase in per capita personal consump
tion expenditures from 2021-22.
Personal consumption expenditures
(PCE), also known as consumer spend
ing, is a measure of American’s spending
on goods and services. PCE, according to
the Bureau of Economic Analysis, ac
counts for about two-thirds of all domes
tic spending. Consumer spending, an
important factor driving the U.S. econ
omy, also sheds light on buying habits
and savings levels - or the lack thereof.
According to the BEA, the average
percentage change for consumer spend
ing across the U.S. increased by 9.2%.
Georgia was one of nine states with the
highest percentage change from 2021 to
2022. Idaho, Nevada and Utah were the
three states with the largest increase in
spending among their residents at 11.8%,
11.4% and 11.3%, respectively. They
were followed by Florida (10.9%), Ari
zona (10.3%), and Colorado (10.2%)
while Georgia (9.8%), and Indiana and
Montana (both at 9.7%) rounded out the
top of the field. The state with the least
personal consumption expenditure (PCE)
increase was Louisiana with 6.4 percent.
Across all states and the District of
Columbia, according to the BEA, per
capita PCE increased to $52,542 in 2022
from $48,318 in 2021.
If the average person is spending
$52,542 a year, what’s left over for sav
ings? Not much, apparently.
In 2020 the Federal Reserve reported
that only 64% of Americans had enough
money on hand to cover a $400 emer
gency.
And the February 2023 edition of the
New Reality Check: The Paycheck-to-
Paycheck Report, revealed that 60% of
adults live paycheck to paycheck. Of
those living paycheck to paycheck, four
in 10 are considered high-income earn
ers.
That’s an alarming finding.
While it’s easy to overspend any time
of the year, the fall/winter holidays of
Thanksgiving and Christmas are upon us
and make adhering to our savings goals
even more difficult. But it’s well worth
it.
Financial advisers tell us to split our
monthly income into three-categories -
the so-called 50/30/20 rule. Fifty percent
of our income should be spent for essen
tials (think housing, groceries and gas),
30 percent for wants and 20 percent for
savings. While that’s not a golden rule,
it’s certainly a great place to start.
With housing costs in Pickens at
record highs, we recognize there are
many who struggle to save anything be
yond what we shell out for rent or mort
gages. If saving 20 percent of your
monthly paycheck isn’t within reach,
don’t get discouraged. Any savings is
good savings.
So take it from Warren Buffet, a noto
rious spendthrift despite his vast wealth,
put an emphasis on creating financial se
curity. If your finances aren’t where
you’d like them to be - and who’s are? -
there’s no better time than right now to
start making positive changes that im
prove your financial situation.
Tell us your thoughts with a letter to the editor. E-mail to news@picken-
sprogress.com See letter submission guidelines on the Letters to the Editor page
or call us 706-253-2457.
Hugh Pendley unsupervised
with a word processor
Chess
Chess is a game that has
long been of interest to me,
even before the epic battle
between Bobby Fisher and
Boris Spassky in 1972. I re
call this the way some people
recall Super Bowls or World
Series games. Fisher's antics
were notorious for being con
sidered childish, yet he is
considered one of the best
players of all time.
A lot of people dismiss
chess as “too complicated.”
It is complex, no doubt...
“Chess is a game that has
been around 1,500 years and
stood the test of time. There
are over nine million varia
tions after just three moves
and 288 billion different pos
sible positions after four
moves” (- from Chessjour-
nal.com).
But its complexity is what
makes it interesting. Perhaps
the hardest thing about a
game is avoiding a “blunder.”
Your queen is captured by a
pawn - this is a bad move
that can not be recovered or
corrected, which leads to a
lost game. This is often ex
plained away with the trite
excuse “I didn't see it.” Being
able to “see” everything on
the board simultaneously is a
prerequisite for victory.
Chess is all about finding
the next “best move.”
There is an important
life—lesson here.
Life is a succession of de
cisions or choices that may
not be recoverable if blun
dered.
For example: “I'll stop at
the Kicking Mule Saloon on
the way home after work for
a few cocktails.” But the trip
home has a detour to jail, or
worse the graveyard.
A decision-making tip:
“Donnie Craig, the sheriff of
Pickens County, will never
lock you up for driving sober.
Remember this Friday
night.”
How many auto accidents
are explained: “Officer a car
came out of nowhere, hit me,
and disappeared.” Or, “Your
honor, I didn't see the pedes
trian because my cell phone
was in my line of sight.”
These are the types of
choices that won't end well.
In business school, there
is a major called “manage
ment.” I'm sure it has courses
that stress the importance of
good business decision-mak
ing. If the wrong decision is
made, it is a sure way to
make a business “go out of
business.”
It pays to ponder the con
sequences of our actions and
“see” the benefit or potential
harm of our decisions.
It's your move.
Hugh Pendley grew up on
a chicken farm off Cove Road
in the 1960s. He contributes
occasionally to the Progress.
WEATHER
By William Dilbeck
HI LOW ‘RAIN
Oct.
24
79
48
.00
Oct.
25
71
48
.00
Oct.
26
75
58
.00
Oct.
27
77
54
.00
Oct.
28
80
54
.00
Oct.
29
81
57
.00
Oct.
30
78
44
.00
‘NOTE: The month
of October
we only had a total of .55
inches of rain. September we
only got .40 inches of rain,
that’s less than an inch of rain
in the last 2 months.
(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main Street, Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-2457
www.pickensprogressonline.com
DAN POOL
Publisher/Editor
Published each Thursday at Jasper, Pickens County, Georgia.
Entered at the Post Office at Jasper, Georgia 30143
as Mail Matter of Second Class.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS, 94 N. Main St., Jasper, GA 30143.
One Year Subscription: $41.17 for residents of Pickens County
or the cities of Ball Ground, Fairmount, and Ranger;
$52.30 for all other Georgia residents; $62.32 out of state residents.
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Other Voices
Convict leasing still exists
as penal servitude
By A Ga. Prison Inmate
In respectful rebuttal of
Chris Feldt's conclusion of
the October 19, 2023
Progress article on the local
convict camp "... thus ending
a remnant of legitimized
slavery." I feel it necessary to
submit the following.
All who pay taxes to the
state of Georgia own slaves,
that's the plain and simple
truth. In fact, we own many
slaves. There are about
50,000 caged in substantial
slave quarters, aka ware
houses or prisons which are
all tucked away out of sight,
thus out of mind. The way
out of this shameful truth be
gins with the re-wording of
our state constitution to elim
inate the exception of legal
ized slavery as 'penal
servitude.'
Around 1,000,000 of our
former absolute slaves walk
semi-freely on parole or pro
bation today among our
everyday Georgia lives. That
is how many people in the
last 40 years have had ad
verse contact with our judi
cial system and either
avoided incarceration by for
feiting their full citizenship
rights or have been impris
oned and later deemed safe to
live amongst us, most unsu
pervised.
We own these slaves at a
dear price financially and
morally. Arguably wasting
several billion-tax dollars
each year in the lengthy,
lawyer-filled road of taking
away other citizen's freedom
and stuffing them into re-ed
ucation camps that have
proven over the last hundred
years to be complete failures
in effecting positive changes
for society.
We are not doing a very
good job of taking care of our
stock either. Examples: In
2022 we allowed a total 239
of these human beings to die
in our care. Thirty were nded
homicides, 40 more are listed
as suicides, leaving 169 as
natural or undetermined
causes. Georgia's slave
deaths have occurred to the
tune of about 1,000 in the last
four years. Clearly our prison
system, in providing for our
safety, is enabling the elimi
nation of a portion of our
state's population.
We no longer can hide be
hind the moral facade of en
deavoring to use
incarceration to rehabilitate
criminals to be self-support
ing, free-range slaves who
contribute to the state coffers.
Convict road crews and other
community-enhancing jobs,
which were purported to
build character and good
labor habits, are now con
tracted out to private busi
nesses. Basic educational
classes are limited to two-
hour segments four days a
week. Jobs training is noth
ing more than a minuscule
1,000 slaves working for no
pay 40 hours a week at a
dozen industrial trades that
scarcely exist in free Amer
ica.
Possession of persons has
become the industry. We lit
erally warehouse these
human beings on three high
shelves, 26 inches apart in
every direction, in open
dorms as the end product of
excusing the existence of a
police state supported by
propagandized fear.
The parole board, a group
of five citizens who have
been appointed to decide
which of our chattel are wor
thy to be allowed free range
living, get the decision wrong
70% of the time. Apparently,
that is the right way to do the
job. Otherwise, a track record
of mistaken judgments seven
out of 10 times a day for
years on end would result in
an employee's termination.
Not so in the administration
of the slave industry. Releas
ing impoverished, unskilled
persons has a predictable re
sult that works only in the
favor of increasing ware
house capacity and the sup
porting budget.
At either goal (keeping or
killing), our efforts are suf
fering from bad management.
Not enough slaves are leav
ing the prison industry able to
become gainfully self-suffi
cient, nor are they dying in
numbers large enough to af
fect any discernible change in
the safety of free society.
With nearly 100 suicide at
tempts annually (about half
successful) we could find
plenty of volunteers for eu
thanasia. Even more in the
years to come as the current
population of child slaves,
sentenced to minimum 20
and 30 years of 'penal servi
tude' realize those numbers
are real.
No matter how well they
behave or try, there exists no
means for their improving
the situation of imposed des
titution. Hopeless and sepa
rated from positive
influences, many fall victim
to the mind-numbing drugs
(penal) employees supply to
supplement their own poor
incomes.
It was not the choice of
most of these human beings
to live as our slaves. Set aside
that some 10-12%, by violent
actions, did in effect choose
to live in the bams. The vast
majority were simply bom on
a track that leads straight to
prison. Surviving crowded,
substandard schools, and the
inability to obtain livable
wage employment gained
them a classification as ma
nipulative or dangerous and a
place on a shelf in the ware
houses.
When we turn away from
reports such as this one, we
are no better than the passive
citizens of the last Holocaust.
It is not too late to turn aside
our otherwise sure course of
industrialized executions of
the excess stock. It begins
with amending the Constitu
tion so as to end slavery and
treat all Georgia citizens as
human beings.
[Written by a Georgia
prison inmate who feared ret
ribution if his name was pub
lished.]
vole
Kirk Raffield
jasper Mayor
Paid for by Friends of Kirk Raffield