As for my Confederate ancestor, I consider him without bitterness. He was a man of his time, his family, his community and his culture. He probably wasn’t particularly evil — just an ordinary man, without the advantage we have: 152 years’ perspective on the Civil War. I have met a few of his white descendants — my cousins — and we regard each other with genuine affection.

The president has asked, “Where will it end?” Will the removal of General Lees lead to upheaval for Thomas Jefferson? Trigger the end for George Washington?

I would ask, how could a patriot be confused with a traitor? How can leading a war to bring forth a new country be confused with leading a rebellion to tear it in two?

the contorted logic that it is possible to separate the Confederacy from the institution of slavery, that it’s a whites-only story and slavery is blacks-only, and that treason is the same as patriotism.

terrorism, lynchings, bombings and cross burnings. The current uptick in neo-Nazi and white supremacist activity was entirely predictable. With clockwork precision it surged at the time of the nation’s first African-American president.

Lee surrendered at Appomattox. They were hoisted into view to assert white dominance at specific points in time when African-Americans gained a measure of political influence — during Reconstruction and the civil rights era. With the bronzes came domestic

Yet the monuments debate isn’t really about the past. It’s about a present-day assertion of white supremacy and whether our nation is going to stop making excuses and stare it down. Most of the statues, as has been widely discussed, were erected long after Robert E.

December 1862, would have meant defeat for my great-great-great-grandmother Lavinia Fulton and their daughter, Mary Ellen. Instead, Lavinia died a free woman, living to play with her grandchildren and give thanks to God every Sunday in church in Birmingham, Ala. I thank God my great-great-great-grandfather lost. Every right-thinking person should be glad he lost.

As monuments to the Confederacy are swept away from public spaces, white supremacists, neo-Nazis and the president of the United States have been fretting over the so-called attack on history, presumably their history. Their white history.

No one would dislike welfare. But if welfare causes a fiscal crisis, income-led growth will hit the skids.

Now the ball is in the court of the National Assembly. Detailed scrutiny is required.

Understandably, considering these problems, the government may have taken expansionary fiscal policy. But it is an undeniable fact that surge in welfare spending is prone to hurt fiscal health.

This way, future generations cannot but get stuck with the tab.

The Korean economy is beset with troubles such as chronic low growth, high unemployment and income polarization.

Government debt will likely top 700 trillion won next year. If the trend of expenditure increases is left unchecked, the figure will snowball from 670 trillion won this year to 800 trillion won in 2021.

Furthermore, from next year pensions to low-income people 65 years of age and older will rise by about 50,000 won per month, and every child aged 5 and below will receive an allowance of 100,000 won a month.

The government should have weighed demographic changes before expanding its budget. The population aged 65 or older is getting larger and larger due to fast aging, while the working age population is shrinking. As a result, the number of taxpayers is contracting.

It is common sense that tax revenue will swell naturally as an economic pie becomes larger through growth. The government cannot be sure of a sustained increase in tax revenues while paying little attention to growth.

The government said it would save 11.5 trillion won by cutting expenditures. But spending more is pleasing and easy, while spending less is painful and difficult.

There is criticism that the government was so optimistic about growth outlook that it has overestimated tax revenue.

The passive expansion in research and development also puts people at unease, as research is essential to growth through innovation in a rapidly aging low-birthrate society.

The “income-led growth” strategy seeks to spend fiscal money to increase household income through welfare programs in order to induce private-sector growth. However, whether this scheme will work is questionable because it has not been tried and proven yet.

The budget plan has been expanded because the Moon Jae-in administration has shifted its policy paradigm from growth led by exports and companies to growth led by humans and income.

Welfare expenditures have increased 12.9 percent to take up 34.1 percent of the total budget. The education budget has also gained 11.7 percent. Combined expenditures for welfare and education amount to 210 trillion won, about half of the total budget.