The Brave Hearts within the Republican Party
As a few brave congressional Republicans stay the course and maintain their integrity under the most ferocious opposition from Donald Trump, all the rest of the civilized world can say is well done.
Tagged with: Republican Party
“No One Wants to Work Anymore”
How is it possible that, with American unemployment rates so low, there seems to be such an appalling lack of staff in key trades–in everything from retail to healthcare?
So often we hear, “No one wants to work anymore,” but does that really make sense? People would rather live in their parents’ basements? Hitchhike? Scrounge for food in dumpsters? Live under freeway overpasses?
As suggested at left, it’s more likely that “Few people want to work anymore under truly oppressive conditions.”
Perhaps the truth is that life in the corporate world, unless you’re the CEO, has gone from merely stressful to truly hellish–within just the past few decades. From 1978 to 2022, CEO compensation shot up 1,209.2% compared with a 15.3% increase in a typical worker’s compensation. In 2022, CEOs were paid 344 times as much as a typical worker in contrast to 1965 when they were paid 21 times as much as a typical worker.
It’s hard to rejoice for young people in the workforce in these conditions, and especially for young parents, whose kids will grow up under financial duress that’s hard to imagine.
Tagged with: No One Wants to Work Anymore
The Truth about the American “System”
The statement at left has a certain surface-level appeal, but it’s inaccurate.
What’s true:
The United States was started by rich white male landowners, and its original laws were put into place to maintain the dominance of the wealthy Europeans.
The subjugation of blacks, immigrants, and the native peoples further cemented the hegemony of the upper class whites.
What’s also true:
Throughout most of its history, the U.S. has seen times where the common American somehow succeeded in grabbing a significant amount of power: the abolitionists of the mid-19th Century, the women’s suffragists, the anarchists of the early 20th Century, organized labor, the New Deal, the post-WW2 booming affluence of the middle class, Brown vs. Board of Ed., and the Civil Rights Act.
It really wasn’t until the neoliberalism that blossomed under Reagan that the super-rich forged a way to use their wealth to take control of our lawmaking processes, and the United States began its path toward oligarchy.
Tagged with: Brown vs. Board of Ed., neoliberalism that blossomed under Reagan, organized labor, post-WW2 booming affluence of the middle class, super-rich forged a way to use their wealth to take control of our lawmaking processes, the abolitionists of the mid-19th Century, the anarchists of the early 20th Century, the Civil Rights Act, the United States began its path toward oligarchy, the women's suffragists
Are Our Schools Keeping Secrets from Parents?
I don’t know a single person stupid enough to believe that schools keep the curricula secret from parents. You’re more than welcome to walk into your kids’ school, meet their teachers and administrators, leaf through the textbooks, join the PTA, and attend parents’ night. You’ll learn immediately that there is no plot to brainwash your kids.
I happen to tutor, and so I know precisely what’s taught at our local public high school, but that level of involvement isn’t necessary.
Now, I’m not promising that you’ll be in love with everything you find. Our 12th grade U.S. history textbook features a chapter on the late political activist Howard Zinn, so if you’re a Fox News acolyte, you may find this distasteful. But it’s there in black and white; it’s anything but a secret.
Tagged with: Are Our Schools Keeping Secrets from Parents?
One Year from Now in American Politics
What do you think is going to happen when, in a few months, consumer prices haven’t fallen? Answer: Fox News and the MAGA crowd will drop the topic like a hot rock, and pretend that Trump never promised to lower the prices of gasoline, eggs, etc.
Tagged with: American Politics
Along with the Rest of America, Tech Moves to the Right
America’s political sensibilities are moving to the right, along with many other countries like Hungary, Turkey, Italy, Slovakia, Croatia and the Czech Republic, and that’s sad, but it’s a choice that the people of the United States are free to make.
My problem isn’t so much that we’re surrounded by a growing number of poorly educated racists, but that, in addition to the “contemptible fools,” to quote Elon Musk, or the “deplorables,” to quote Hillary Clinton, we live among a much smaller group of billionaires who couldn’t care less about the well-being of the common American, much less the environment, and who are dominating public policy in Washington.
Worst of all, Donald Trump, a convicted felon, adjudicated sex abuser, and indicted traitor to his country, is at the heart of this transition. I think many people, myself included, would be better equipped to deal with this if a criminal sociopath weren’t at the movement’s very core.
Marc Andreessen, who’s been at the forefront of the tech industry since the dawn of the Internet 30 years ago, donated $4.5 million to Trump’s 2024 campaign, and in the video below he explains why.
Tagged with: America's political sensibilities are moving to the right, billionaires who couldn't care less about the well-being of the common American much less the environment, Donald Trump a convicted felon, Donald Trump an adjudicated sex abuser, Donald Trump an indicted traitor to his country, hateful morons, Marc Andreessen at the forefront of the tech industry since the dawn of the Internet 30 years ago, we're surrounded by a growing number of poorly educated racists
The Depths of Our Disgrace
What we need to learn from the content of the meme here is that the majority of American voters simply don’t care that their leader is a convicted felon, and that he committed treason against our country.
Many of us oldsters remember a time when this would have been unthinkable.
Tagged with: Trump convicted felon
The Democrats’ Position
Most decent people support this. But guess what? Overall, in the United States right now, it’s a minority position.
At this point, we’re a nation dominated by greed and indifference to the well-being of others.
Tagged with: Democrats' Position
Aristotle Was Prolific, But …
One thing we can observe about Aristotle’s writings from our modern standpoint is that we got a whole bunch of stuff wrong, and the quote at left is a good example.
In fact, this specific quote was parodied by someone in recent times (George Carlin?), who said “The idea of waging war for peace is like screwing for virginity.”
Tagged with: Aristotle
Why Universal Healthcare Is Impossible in the United States
Private health insurance is a $1.7 trillion industry, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.08%. If you think the recipients of all this cash are going to step aside, just so Americans can enjoy the same benefits as the rest of the developed world, you’re out of your mind.
We may pretend we have compunction for our citizens, including our military veterans, dying of treatable diseases, but in the real world, we treat them with the same indifference as we do stray cats.
