In the last few months there have been a number of high profile stories regarding powerful men and sexual harassment. As a woman in the work place, I'm pleased to see the topic coming out into the open and women becoming brave enough to speak up. Conversation and action on this topic are long overdue.
One of the stories I saw in the news had multiple video clips of Bill O'Reilly talking about how he is a big believer in "personal responsibility". While I'm not going to discuss his politics, the phrase got me to thinking about each person's own personal responsibility on social media.
Not long ago, I shared a newspaper story on social media about my beloved Kansas City Royals team and their last game of the season. Several players who were to be free agents at the end of the season were substituted out of the game at the same time and walked off the field together. It was an bittersweet moment for Kansas City baseball fans. The headline of the article I shared was "Here's the moment that Hosmer, Moose, Esky and Cain Walked Off the Field Together". Keep in mind this was just about the time the NFL/national anthem controversy was in the news. After sharing the story, I quickly received a comment from a social media friend that said "Good riddance losers". My response was something like "I'm sorry you feel this way. We have really enjoyed watching these guys play." This friend then proceed to ask about the story--he just assumed it was related to the NFL controversy. He did not read the story and went straight to political outrage.
Another social media experience for me lately was seeing a different friend post an article that was supposedly written by a conservative columnist. I read the article and it sounded a bit off to me. Two minutes of research showed that this article was not written by who it was purported to be and many of the articles assertions were misleading or false. Not wanting to start any argument, I refrained from commenting on it.
In these examples--where is the line of personal responsibility?
In my first example I explained to my friend what the article was about and included a reminder that we ALL need to always read the entire story. My friend apologized and we moved on. Was my response correct? What was my friends responsibility?
In the second story, should I have commented and set the record straight on false information that was being spread? What is the correct balance between polite discourse and correcting false information?
My point in writing about these experiences is certainly not to call out any individuals but to illustrate that ALL OF US have shared responsibilities in this day of instantaneous news. We must all try harder to take this responsibility seriously if we are to ever bridge views that divide us.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Monday, September 18, 2017
My Rx
Dear Fellow Citizens,
Here is the Midwest Moderate prescription for improving our country:
Most of these suggestions boil down to one thing. We need ADULTS serving in our government and we ALL have a responsibility to act like adults to each other.
Here is the Midwest Moderate prescription for improving our country:
STOP the partisanship. I'm sick to death of every politician beginning every answer to a question with blame about how the issue is due to the "other side". Politicians from both parties are guilty of this behavior. Remember that saying from parents, "I don't care who started it, I'm ending it". Vote in people who are willing to step up and try to work together.
Term limits. I know many people say that elections themselves are term limits but I'm not buying that. In every election, I hope that people will vote out incumbents. However it seems like most people say "politicians are terrible but my guy/gal is fine". I think anyone in Washington D.C. or even in state governments longer than 12 years needs to go. Yes, this would take an amendment to the constitution but I'm willing to bet there is a lot of support for this among regular citizens.
SOMEHOW stop the President of the United States from using Twitter. This penchant for 140 character sound bites is hurting this country. If the President wants to communicate with citizens he should make a speech, issue written statements or hold in-person press conferences. I have no idea how to accomplish this Twitter-ban other than to suggest that we all start ignoring the tweets. If he doesn't get media attention, maybe it won't be so attractive.
Stop consuming media that is "click bait" or is from sources that are very obviously partisan. We must recognize that by consuming media that is not responsible, fact-driven stories, we are contributing to the extreme partisanship in this country. Buy newspapers or go to your local library. Don't consume catchy slogans or sound-bites, but demand intelligent news.
Enact better campaign finance laws and stop the flow of "dark money" into elections. We are all being manipulated by the will of the rich in this country and most of the time, we aren't even aware of it. The ruling in the Citizens United Case in 2010 that gave businesses, and non-profit entities and unions the ability to spend unlimited amounts of money on political expenditures has been toxic to this country. These unlimited funds and the hidden trails of where the donations originate will continue to damage our country unless we do something about this.
Enact better campaign finance laws and stop the flow of "dark money" into elections. We are all being manipulated by the will of the rich in this country and most of the time, we aren't even aware of it. The ruling in the Citizens United Case in 2010 that gave businesses, and non-profit entities and unions the ability to spend unlimited amounts of money on political expenditures has been toxic to this country. These unlimited funds and the hidden trails of where the donations originate will continue to damage our country unless we do something about this.
Most of these suggestions boil down to one thing. We need ADULTS serving in our government and we ALL have a responsibility to act like adults to each other.
Monday, August 7, 2017
The Important Things
I have been intentionally ignoring this blog since mid-June. While I have not been ignoring the news, I just personally needed a break. Our current political environment is so toxic that I just feel I can't wade into it as frequently as I hoped. During these last two months, it seems to me that not much as happened.
Congress has not managed to work together on health care, the President continues to rant unproductively on twitter while only holding ONE solo news conference since he was sworn into office, the White House staff seems to be in a constant state of chaos, the President is spending a lot of time on the golf course after promising to do the exact opposite and he continues to try and sow mistrust between our citizens and the main stream media. I feel like we were in this exact spot in June when I last blogged.
However, during these two months away, the important things in my life have continued to chug along. My immediate family are all healthy and our first grandchild is on the way! We're all gainfully employed and happy in our relationships. We have been able to travel to see extended family this year in addition to some nice sight seeing of places we had never been before.
Our aging Corgi has recovered after a seizure a couple of weeks ago and is back to his bossy self. The Kansas City Royals are still in the hunt for post season play and continue to provide me with a nice escape most evenings. Kansas State football is just around the corner! My reading is proceeding at a slower pace than last year due to my need to stay current with the daily news but I'm making progress and am currently reading "The Whistler" by John Grisham. My goal of trying to decrease my sugar consumption doesn't seem to be happening but that chocolate chip cookie I just ate was delicious.
So while I do have some current issues that I plan to discuss, the things that matter in my life are good and no amount of craziness from Washington, D.C. is going to change my priorities.
Congress has not managed to work together on health care, the President continues to rant unproductively on twitter while only holding ONE solo news conference since he was sworn into office, the White House staff seems to be in a constant state of chaos, the President is spending a lot of time on the golf course after promising to do the exact opposite and he continues to try and sow mistrust between our citizens and the main stream media. I feel like we were in this exact spot in June when I last blogged.
However, during these two months away, the important things in my life have continued to chug along. My immediate family are all healthy and our first grandchild is on the way! We're all gainfully employed and happy in our relationships. We have been able to travel to see extended family this year in addition to some nice sight seeing of places we had never been before.
Our aging Corgi has recovered after a seizure a couple of weeks ago and is back to his bossy self. The Kansas City Royals are still in the hunt for post season play and continue to provide me with a nice escape most evenings. Kansas State football is just around the corner! My reading is proceeding at a slower pace than last year due to my need to stay current with the daily news but I'm making progress and am currently reading "The Whistler" by John Grisham. My goal of trying to decrease my sugar consumption doesn't seem to be happening but that chocolate chip cookie I just ate was delicious.
So while I do have some current issues that I plan to discuss, the things that matter in my life are good and no amount of craziness from Washington, D.C. is going to change my priorities.
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
A New Low
I think we have reached a new low in this country. I'm not talking about President Trump and his administration even as my previous writings have made it obvious that I feel that they are not good for our country. I'm not talking about the number of conservative columnists who are calling out President Trump for the chaos that is raining down on Washington D.C. I'm not talking about the fact that a foreign enemy has interfered in our elections and democratic process and will do so in the future. What I am talking about is the following article by David French of the National Review.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/448385/americans-left-right-liberal-conservative-democrats-republicans-blue-red-states-cultural-segregate?utm_source=social&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=french&utm_content=divorce
This article is about the increasing polarization within our country and how we are self segregating. I have included data from a chart from this article that I found to be particularly disturbing. The chart indicates that it was from a Pew Research Survey from the spring of 2016. The chart shows what each political party thinks of each other. Many of the categories are pretty evenly split. The two that bothered me the most are that 70% of Democrats think Republicans are closed minded (as opposed to 52% of the opposite way) and that 46% of Republicans think the Democrats are lazy (as opposed to 18% of the opposite way). (I'm not smart enough to insert the actual chart from the article so see the link above for a better view or turn your cell phone to a sideways view so my columns line up logically.)
What Republicans and Democrats say about each other:
% of Republicans who say Democrats are more_____ than other Americans:
Closed minded 52% Open-minded 11% About the same 35%
Immoral 47% Moral 3% About the same 49%
Lazy 46% Hardworking 3% About the same 50%
Dishonest 45% Honest 2% About the same 52%
Unintelligent 32% Intelligent 3% About the same 64%
% of Democrats who say Republicans are more_____ than other Americans:
Closed minded 70% Open-minded 5% About the same 23%
Immoral 35% Moral 9% About the same 54%
Lazy 18% Hardworking 9% About the same 71%
Dishonest 42% Honest 5% About the same 51%
Unintelligent 33% Intelligent 7% About the same 58%
We are truly sinking to a new low in America when we have such horrible opinions of our relatives, friends, neighbors, co-workers and fellow citizens. I hate the fact that this poll was even taken. Apparently there is virtually NO tolerance for dissenting viewpoints in this country these days. I would argue that this is THE most destructive result of the last election. Even though we have been headed down these divided paths for quite a few years, I feel like this last election was the tipping point of partisan divide.
WTF America?! Political intolerance can be just as destructive as religious, racial, and gender intolerance. It seems that we are treating politics as more like sports team allegiances and feel like we can just "trash talk" the other team and still think of ourselves as good citizens. I'm not sure this is the case any more.
I know that I'm just as guilty of political intolerance at times as the next person. However, I would like to note that at least half of my friends, relatives and co-workers are of different political views. I absolutely cherish all of these people. Part of what makes these people special to me IS the fact that they have differing opinions. They make me think about my own views and keep me intellectually challenged. I don't want to live in an echo chamber. Haven't we all seen how destructive that has turned out to be throughout history?
America, WAKE UP! If we cannot remember what it's like to be grownups and be respectful of each other we are going to run our country right into the ground.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/448385/americans-left-right-liberal-conservative-democrats-republicans-blue-red-states-cultural-segregate?utm_source=social&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=french&utm_content=divorce
This article is about the increasing polarization within our country and how we are self segregating. I have included data from a chart from this article that I found to be particularly disturbing. The chart indicates that it was from a Pew Research Survey from the spring of 2016. The chart shows what each political party thinks of each other. Many of the categories are pretty evenly split. The two that bothered me the most are that 70% of Democrats think Republicans are closed minded (as opposed to 52% of the opposite way) and that 46% of Republicans think the Democrats are lazy (as opposed to 18% of the opposite way). (I'm not smart enough to insert the actual chart from the article so see the link above for a better view or turn your cell phone to a sideways view so my columns line up logically.)
What Republicans and Democrats say about each other:
% of Republicans who say Democrats are more_____ than other Americans:
Closed minded 52% Open-minded 11% About the same 35%
Immoral 47% Moral 3% About the same 49%
Lazy 46% Hardworking 3% About the same 50%
Dishonest 45% Honest 2% About the same 52%
Unintelligent 32% Intelligent 3% About the same 64%
% of Democrats who say Republicans are more_____ than other Americans:
Closed minded 70% Open-minded 5% About the same 23%
Immoral 35% Moral 9% About the same 54%
Lazy 18% Hardworking 9% About the same 71%
Dishonest 42% Honest 5% About the same 51%
Unintelligent 33% Intelligent 7% About the same 58%
We are truly sinking to a new low in America when we have such horrible opinions of our relatives, friends, neighbors, co-workers and fellow citizens. I hate the fact that this poll was even taken. Apparently there is virtually NO tolerance for dissenting viewpoints in this country these days. I would argue that this is THE most destructive result of the last election. Even though we have been headed down these divided paths for quite a few years, I feel like this last election was the tipping point of partisan divide.
WTF America?! Political intolerance can be just as destructive as religious, racial, and gender intolerance. It seems that we are treating politics as more like sports team allegiances and feel like we can just "trash talk" the other team and still think of ourselves as good citizens. I'm not sure this is the case any more.
I know that I'm just as guilty of political intolerance at times as the next person. However, I would like to note that at least half of my friends, relatives and co-workers are of different political views. I absolutely cherish all of these people. Part of what makes these people special to me IS the fact that they have differing opinions. They make me think about my own views and keep me intellectually challenged. I don't want to live in an echo chamber. Haven't we all seen how destructive that has turned out to be throughout history?
America, WAKE UP! If we cannot remember what it's like to be grownups and be respectful of each other we are going to run our country right into the ground.
Saturday, May 20, 2017
Too Many Fingers
When you live in a large metropolitan area and have to commute through heavy traffic on a daily basis, traffic frustrations are a pretty frequent occurrence. Before I began commuting downtown, I was always a person who merged into a correct lane early and patiently waited my turn. A few weeks of commuting and I soon learned the necessity of becoming a more "decisive" driver. This means in many instances, that I stay in the faster moving lane and merge back into the line of traffic at the very end. These kinds of traffic maneuvers occasionally result in flaring tempers and flying fingers. While these instances are annoying, they are easily forgotten. By the time I arrive at work or home, I've moved on from whatever it was that annoyed me and hopefully whoever I have annoyed has moved on as well.
Currently I feel like our country is in a constant state of political road rage. The chaos emanating from Washington D.C. on a daily (or hourly) basis keeps the divisiveness in this country front and center. We cannot move past the annoyances. There are the people that continually want to re-litigate the past-both the election or comparisons to previous administrations. There are the people that think criticisms of the current administration or criticisms of either political party are somehow wrong. There are people that refuse to listen to fact based news and only feed their own pre-existing notions.
This collective finger flashing is not healthy for this country. We desperately need our leaders and citizens to place their country before any political party. We need leaders with a clear vision who can articulate and execute policies that will help this nation forward. We need citizens to do their part by educating themselves and striving to help at the community and state levels. We have SO MANY issues that need addressed and all that is getting done is too much finger flashing.
Currently I feel like our country is in a constant state of political road rage. The chaos emanating from Washington D.C. on a daily (or hourly) basis keeps the divisiveness in this country front and center. We cannot move past the annoyances. There are the people that continually want to re-litigate the past-both the election or comparisons to previous administrations. There are the people that think criticisms of the current administration or criticisms of either political party are somehow wrong. There are people that refuse to listen to fact based news and only feed their own pre-existing notions.
This collective finger flashing is not healthy for this country. We desperately need our leaders and citizens to place their country before any political party. We need leaders with a clear vision who can articulate and execute policies that will help this nation forward. We need citizens to do their part by educating themselves and striving to help at the community and state levels. We have SO MANY issues that need addressed and all that is getting done is too much finger flashing.
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Sanity vs Credibility
It's finally happening. I'm actually able to tune out President Trump's bluster, lies and tweets for more hours in the day than I thought would be possible. By taking a break from writing or discussing politics for the last few weeks I have gained some much needed perspective. I've watched baseball (painful as that is for the Kansas City Royals right now), watched shows on Netflix and made a trip to my local library for some nice juicy fiction novels. Ahh...
This is not to say that I have buried my head in the sand however. I'm still firmly in the camp that believes each of us has a responsibility to educate ourselves on the important issues facing our nation and our communities. I'm still reading my newspapers and having a hissy fit when my local paper carrier decides that delivery is optional on whatever day he deems it necessary. I still think that public libraries are one of the most important institutions in our country.
The Trump administration has simply exhausted me (and I suspect many others) and I just flat needed a break. I fervently hope that by trying to keep my sanity, I'm not succumbing to the idea that this administration is just politics as usual.
President Trump's seeming need to be a media headline every-damn-day and his constant search for adulation is absolutely NOT NORMAL. The constant lies (we can no longer just sugar coat these as campaign exaggerations) are on track to completely destroy the credibility of this administration. I know that for me, I am more often than not simply dismissing his tweets as just more daily bull shit. I swear I won't know what to do if he needs us to actually believe something. My fear is that the rest of the world may also stop believing him at a time when it may be most needed. This continual assault on the credibility of the reputation of United States government is something that we should all be very concerned about.
This is not to say that I have buried my head in the sand however. I'm still firmly in the camp that believes each of us has a responsibility to educate ourselves on the important issues facing our nation and our communities. I'm still reading my newspapers and having a hissy fit when my local paper carrier decides that delivery is optional on whatever day he deems it necessary. I still think that public libraries are one of the most important institutions in our country.
The Trump administration has simply exhausted me (and I suspect many others) and I just flat needed a break. I fervently hope that by trying to keep my sanity, I'm not succumbing to the idea that this administration is just politics as usual.
President Trump's seeming need to be a media headline every-damn-day and his constant search for adulation is absolutely NOT NORMAL. The constant lies (we can no longer just sugar coat these as campaign exaggerations) are on track to completely destroy the credibility of this administration. I know that for me, I am more often than not simply dismissing his tweets as just more daily bull shit. I swear I won't know what to do if he needs us to actually believe something. My fear is that the rest of the world may also stop believing him at a time when it may be most needed. This continual assault on the credibility of the reputation of United States government is something that we should all be very concerned about.
Sunday, April 9, 2017
Thoughts on Syria
Living in the middle of the United States provides a sort of insulation from some global events. Things can seem so remote that it's easy to take the "eh, whatever" attitude. Technology however is rapidly changing that. Now we can get instant images and news on our phones of activity happening on the other side of the world in practically real time. The world has indeed been made smaller.
The images this week coming from the gas attack by the Assad regime in Syria were horrifying to say the least. President Trump, after changing his mind in less than 24 hours ordered a military strike as a response to the killing of innocent men, women and children. Like many, my first reaction was approval. I think most would agree that Assad deserves to be punished. With that in mind, there are a number of things worth noting.
The airport that was struck had Russians there as well. The planes that carried the chemical weapons were from this airport. This begs the question, how complicit were the Russians in the attack? Also, why did we not destroy the airstrip? The President's tweet said it was because airstrips can be easily fixed. Isn't that true of hangers and fueling stations? This doesn't make sense to me.
We notified the Russians of our intent prior to the strike. Did they pass this along to the Syrians? Why did we notify the Russians and not our own Congress?
What is our long term goal? The administration doesn't seem to have a concrete policy with regards to Syria. Also, how can we bomb Assad and yet refuse to take in refugees from this country? Wouldn't more innocent Syrians be helped by giving them refuge rather than just a one time bombing of hangers, planes and fuel targets?
The following paragraph is from lawfareblog.com by Daniel Byman. I have attached the link below. The paragraph is food for thought: "Nor do one-off attacks like the one we launched have a good track record. In a civil war that has claimed so many dead, the military impact of a missile strike on one facility is limited, even if it signals a profound shift in U.S. policy. Rather, such actions often are painted as "symbolic," but in reality they usually signal weakness, not resolve. The dictator or terrorist on the receiving end suffers little but often looks stronger because they survived a U.S. attack and can boast about their defiance. In 1998, after Al Qaeda bombed two U.S. embassies in Africa, the United States launched cruise missiles against facilities believed to be linked to terrorists in Afghanistan and Sudan-Operation Infinite Reach. The strikes backfired, allowing Bin Laden to claim he was standing up to the United States. His popular support and associated ability to recruit soared, and Al Qaeda terrorism continued undiminished. Contrast this with the sustained drone campaign against Al Qaeda that began under President George W. Bush in the years after 9/11 and took off under Obama. This devastated Al Qaeda, but required years and many strikes."
https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-effect-will-trumps-airstrikes-really-have
My foreign policy knowledge is like that of many people--it consists of what I read in the news. While the cruise missiles launched by the Trump administration made many of us feel that Assad deserved every bit of it, I also feel that we have more unanswered questions than before regarding our foreign policy goals.
The images this week coming from the gas attack by the Assad regime in Syria were horrifying to say the least. President Trump, after changing his mind in less than 24 hours ordered a military strike as a response to the killing of innocent men, women and children. Like many, my first reaction was approval. I think most would agree that Assad deserves to be punished. With that in mind, there are a number of things worth noting.
The airport that was struck had Russians there as well. The planes that carried the chemical weapons were from this airport. This begs the question, how complicit were the Russians in the attack? Also, why did we not destroy the airstrip? The President's tweet said it was because airstrips can be easily fixed. Isn't that true of hangers and fueling stations? This doesn't make sense to me.
We notified the Russians of our intent prior to the strike. Did they pass this along to the Syrians? Why did we notify the Russians and not our own Congress?
What is our long term goal? The administration doesn't seem to have a concrete policy with regards to Syria. Also, how can we bomb Assad and yet refuse to take in refugees from this country? Wouldn't more innocent Syrians be helped by giving them refuge rather than just a one time bombing of hangers, planes and fuel targets?
The following paragraph is from lawfareblog.com by Daniel Byman. I have attached the link below. The paragraph is food for thought: "Nor do one-off attacks like the one we launched have a good track record. In a civil war that has claimed so many dead, the military impact of a missile strike on one facility is limited, even if it signals a profound shift in U.S. policy. Rather, such actions often are painted as "symbolic," but in reality they usually signal weakness, not resolve. The dictator or terrorist on the receiving end suffers little but often looks stronger because they survived a U.S. attack and can boast about their defiance. In 1998, after Al Qaeda bombed two U.S. embassies in Africa, the United States launched cruise missiles against facilities believed to be linked to terrorists in Afghanistan and Sudan-Operation Infinite Reach. The strikes backfired, allowing Bin Laden to claim he was standing up to the United States. His popular support and associated ability to recruit soared, and Al Qaeda terrorism continued undiminished. Contrast this with the sustained drone campaign against Al Qaeda that began under President George W. Bush in the years after 9/11 and took off under Obama. This devastated Al Qaeda, but required years and many strikes."
https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-effect-will-trumps-airstrikes-really-have
My foreign policy knowledge is like that of many people--it consists of what I read in the news. While the cruise missiles launched by the Trump administration made many of us feel that Assad deserved every bit of it, I also feel that we have more unanswered questions than before regarding our foreign policy goals.
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
The Finance of Politics
For Christmas this year I did what is not unusual in our marriage, I purchased my own gift and gave it to my husband to wrap up for me. While there is no surprise, there is also no return to deal with. It's a win for both me and my husband. This year the item I picked up was the book "Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right" by Jane Mayer. I had read a review on the book and given the political climate immediately after Trump's election, it sounded like my kind of reading. So, courtesy of Barnes and Noble, Santa arrived with just the right gift!
Jane Mayer writes for "The New Yorker" magazine and has written three other non-fiction books. Having never read any of her articles or books before, she was a new author to me. She did NOT disappoint. The book is an excellent read for anyone with an interest in how our political system has pretty much become a product for sale to the highest bidder. While her story is about the right end of the political spectrum, I have no illusions that there exists similar stories on the left end as well. She writes in a very easy to read, NON-conspiracy theory style.
The book begins with a history of several of our country's richest families. The Koch brothers, Richard Mellon Scaife, John M. Olin, the Bradley brothers and others. The story starts as far back as the 1970's and how the Koch's and others came to regard the Libertarian ideals as the proper political course for the country. David Koch ran for President in 1980 on the Libertarian ticket. According to Mayer, "In the view of the Kochs and other members of the Libertarian Party, government should be reduced to a skeletal function: the protection of individual and property rights." These ideas of very limited government are evident today in the Republican party and the Tea Party offshoot.
The book details how the Kochs and others set up their private foundations, think tanks and political action committees etc. It talks about how different families have plowed massive amounts of money into universities that agree to support courses in free market ideas and in sponsoring judicial seminars for federal judges. Ms. Mayer discusses the effects of the Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case in 2010. That ruling allowed some of the most wealthy in our country to try and turn back the clock to the Gilded Age of the robber barons. According to Ms. Mayer this ruling overturned "a century of restrictions banning corporations and unions from spending all they wanted to elect candidates." The ability to hide donations through intricate webs of non-profit groups has created the "dark money" description. She states that "the American political system became awash in unlimited, untraceable cash. In striking down the existing campaign-finance laws, the courts eviscerated a century of reform."
The following paragraph from Mayer's book is telling: "From the Republic's earliest days, the wealthy had always dominated politics but at least since the Progressive Era the public, through its elected representatives, had devised rules to keep the influence in check. By 2015, however, conservative legal advocates, underwritten by wealthy benefactors and aided by conservative majority on the Supreme Court, had led a successful drive to gut most of those rules. It was no longer clear if the remaining checks on corruption were up to the task. It had long been the conceit in America that great economic inequality could coexist with great social and political equality. But a growing body of academic work suggested that this was changing. As America grew more economically unequal, those at the top were purchasing the power needed to stay there."
If you have a concern about our political system and it's seeming failure of the common man, this book should be of interest to you. It was eye opening to me to read of the shear amount of money generated by these billionaire conservative families and how far they have come over the last 30 years in influencing our politics. Ms. Mayer quotes the political consultant Mark McKinnon who stated "We have reached a tipping point where mega donors completely dominate the landscape."
And in my opinion, most of us average citizens have no idea how our political decisions are being influenced by this money machine. That is the most frustrating thing of all.
Jane Mayer writes for "The New Yorker" magazine and has written three other non-fiction books. Having never read any of her articles or books before, she was a new author to me. She did NOT disappoint. The book is an excellent read for anyone with an interest in how our political system has pretty much become a product for sale to the highest bidder. While her story is about the right end of the political spectrum, I have no illusions that there exists similar stories on the left end as well. She writes in a very easy to read, NON-conspiracy theory style.
The book begins with a history of several of our country's richest families. The Koch brothers, Richard Mellon Scaife, John M. Olin, the Bradley brothers and others. The story starts as far back as the 1970's and how the Koch's and others came to regard the Libertarian ideals as the proper political course for the country. David Koch ran for President in 1980 on the Libertarian ticket. According to Mayer, "In the view of the Kochs and other members of the Libertarian Party, government should be reduced to a skeletal function: the protection of individual and property rights." These ideas of very limited government are evident today in the Republican party and the Tea Party offshoot.
The book details how the Kochs and others set up their private foundations, think tanks and political action committees etc. It talks about how different families have plowed massive amounts of money into universities that agree to support courses in free market ideas and in sponsoring judicial seminars for federal judges. Ms. Mayer discusses the effects of the Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case in 2010. That ruling allowed some of the most wealthy in our country to try and turn back the clock to the Gilded Age of the robber barons. According to Ms. Mayer this ruling overturned "a century of restrictions banning corporations and unions from spending all they wanted to elect candidates." The ability to hide donations through intricate webs of non-profit groups has created the "dark money" description. She states that "the American political system became awash in unlimited, untraceable cash. In striking down the existing campaign-finance laws, the courts eviscerated a century of reform."
The following paragraph from Mayer's book is telling: "From the Republic's earliest days, the wealthy had always dominated politics but at least since the Progressive Era the public, through its elected representatives, had devised rules to keep the influence in check. By 2015, however, conservative legal advocates, underwritten by wealthy benefactors and aided by conservative majority on the Supreme Court, had led a successful drive to gut most of those rules. It was no longer clear if the remaining checks on corruption were up to the task. It had long been the conceit in America that great economic inequality could coexist with great social and political equality. But a growing body of academic work suggested that this was changing. As America grew more economically unequal, those at the top were purchasing the power needed to stay there."
If you have a concern about our political system and it's seeming failure of the common man, this book should be of interest to you. It was eye opening to me to read of the shear amount of money generated by these billionaire conservative families and how far they have come over the last 30 years in influencing our politics. Ms. Mayer quotes the political consultant Mark McKinnon who stated "We have reached a tipping point where mega donors completely dominate the landscape."
And in my opinion, most of us average citizens have no idea how our political decisions are being influenced by this money machine. That is the most frustrating thing of all.
Friday, March 17, 2017
Masquerade
This was my Facebook post from the day after the election. It has been around 130 days since then and 56 since President Trump took office. It's time for a look back.
After reflecting on the election results from yesterday, I have to say that my greatest hope is that we never again have such a hate filled election process. We are privileged to live in a wonderful country where we have a voice in our government. TO that end, I would like to voice a few of my own thoughts.
No matter who you voted for, the newly elected officials represent all of us. In the spirit of unity, it would be wise to try and remember to include dissenting opinions in the new administration. To only include those with whom we “agree” with will only lead to more division within our country. We will all end up back in the same ugly stew in the next cycle. Surely we’re all tired of that!
Compromise is not a dirty word. Differing views can lead to great ideas. Elections are not just sporting events where there is a winner and a loser and another game tomorrow. Our time on this earth is short and to waste it bickering is sad.
We all need to remember that patriotism is not “owned” by
any one party. It can take many shapes and forms. Even though we are a melting
pot of cultures, we all believe in the freedom that this country represents.
We also need to remember that freedom of speech is vital.
With this freedom should come the responsibility of LISTENING to each other. If
we start listening, maybe we can stop the name calling and blame game and start
working together.
We need to keep in mind that our government was founded on
the bedrock idea of separation of church and state. All religions should be
free to peaceably worship as they desire. No matter how passionately one
individual may believe that theirs is the “one true religion” others that
worship differently think the same. Let’s try and remember to not persecute
others for their beliefs.
We must remember that we have responsibilities outside of
our borders. We are only 5% of the world’s population but we consume 24% of the
world’s energy. Our actions have global implications. We cannot ignore the rest
of the world.
We all need to try harder to educate ourselves on issues and
not spew misinformation or hateful rhetoric. In this technology driven world,
we must be mindful that our words matter and can do lasting damage with one
click of the keyboard. This election was filled with so much misinformation and
things taken out of context it was crazy. With the technology it has also
become too easy to not LISTEN. We can block dissenting opinions with a single
click.
I appreciate my freedom to voice my thoughts here. Thanks
for taking the time to read them. Now we need to all behave like grownups. To
that end, can we all just go have a cold beer together?
Thanks--D
We have a potential wall masquerading as immigration control. We have a travel ban masquerading as Islamphobia. We have innumerable unsubstantiated tweets from the President masquerading as facts. We have insulting comments about foreign countries such as Mexico masquerading as trade policy negotiations. We have constant defense of all things Russian masquerading as foreign policy. We have the proposed AHCA bill with it's projected loss of millions from the ranks of the insured masquerading as health care policy for ALL Americans. We have potential budgets cuts that aim to hurt the poorest in our country masquerading as fiscal responsibility. And last but not least, we have a paranoid liar masquerading as a President.
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Outsourcing Employees
It's time to discuss another topic related to jobs that I rarely hear our political leaders talking about. Contract employees. According to the Wall Street Journal article, "The End of Employees" by Lauren Weber, more and more companies are foregoing full time employees in favor of contract employees. Here is the link to the article.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-end-of-employees-1486050443?mod=e2tw
This trend is allowing companies to adapt quicker to changing conditions with regards to their full time workforce. It allows companies to manage costs better but usually leads to lower wages and less security for the workers. Obviously this will also have ramifications with regards to benefits (and the lack there-of) for employees. It appears to me that this is another reason for the need to have a healthcare system that will allow plans to cross state lines and easily follow people as they adapt to the changes in their work lives.
The article notes that "At large firms, 20% to 50% of the total workforce often is outsourced, according to staffing executives." This is just another way our labor force is being drastically changed from the past. Further, Ms. Weber writes, "Steven Berkenfeld, an investment banker who has spent his career evaluating corporate strategies, says companies of all shapes and sizes are increasingly thinking like this: Can I automate it? If not, can I outsource it? If not, can I give it to an independent contractor or freelancer?"
The American workforce is having to grapple with so many changes that it's no wonder that people are frustrated and looking for answers in the form of unconventional politicians. The pace of these changes in technology, automation and outsourcing are contributing to the lack of mobility compared to previous generations. Many workers simply do not know how to adapt to a workplace that looks so different than the past.
It's seems all too easy for politicians to ignore topics like this. I have discussed automation and the lack of mobility in previous posts. Here are the links to those posts.
http://midwestmoderatemusings.blogspot.com/2016/12/automation.html
http://midwestmoderatemusings.blogspot.com/2017/02/get-moving-america.html
I firmly believe that pandering to our citizens with vague promises about "bringing back good manufacturing jobs" is doing a disservice to not only the workers but to our country. We need to be having more realistic conversations about these changes that are happening. How can we re-educate our workforce, provide incentives for them to be more mobile and ensure that they have adequate benefits in the face of so much outsourcing? While we may be able to stem the flow of some job loss to other countries, these other pressures will still remain. Changes cannot be managed by ignoring them and we must all look to the future and not to the past.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-end-of-employees-1486050443?mod=e2tw
This trend is allowing companies to adapt quicker to changing conditions with regards to their full time workforce. It allows companies to manage costs better but usually leads to lower wages and less security for the workers. Obviously this will also have ramifications with regards to benefits (and the lack there-of) for employees. It appears to me that this is another reason for the need to have a healthcare system that will allow plans to cross state lines and easily follow people as they adapt to the changes in their work lives.
The article notes that "At large firms, 20% to 50% of the total workforce often is outsourced, according to staffing executives." This is just another way our labor force is being drastically changed from the past. Further, Ms. Weber writes, "Steven Berkenfeld, an investment banker who has spent his career evaluating corporate strategies, says companies of all shapes and sizes are increasingly thinking like this: Can I automate it? If not, can I outsource it? If not, can I give it to an independent contractor or freelancer?"
The American workforce is having to grapple with so many changes that it's no wonder that people are frustrated and looking for answers in the form of unconventional politicians. The pace of these changes in technology, automation and outsourcing are contributing to the lack of mobility compared to previous generations. Many workers simply do not know how to adapt to a workplace that looks so different than the past.
It's seems all too easy for politicians to ignore topics like this. I have discussed automation and the lack of mobility in previous posts. Here are the links to those posts.
http://midwestmoderatemusings.blogspot.com/2016/12/automation.html
http://midwestmoderatemusings.blogspot.com/2017/02/get-moving-america.html
I firmly believe that pandering to our citizens with vague promises about "bringing back good manufacturing jobs" is doing a disservice to not only the workers but to our country. We need to be having more realistic conversations about these changes that are happening. How can we re-educate our workforce, provide incentives for them to be more mobile and ensure that they have adequate benefits in the face of so much outsourcing? While we may be able to stem the flow of some job loss to other countries, these other pressures will still remain. Changes cannot be managed by ignoring them and we must all look to the future and not to the past.
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Heaven or Spring Training?
In the midst of this crazy world of national politics that seems to change hourly, a looming bright spot glows. BASEBALL! Spring training is well underway and opening day is April 2, 2017.
Last week, I was fortunate enough to make a trip to Phoenix, AZ. Included in the 4 night trip were 3 games of baseball. The Kansas City Royals are my team and I was able to watch them play the Colorado Rockies, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the San Francisco Giants. I'm not suggesting that I'm a good luck charm but the Royals did win all three games. Just sayin...
This was my first experience with Major League Baseball Spring Training and it did not disappoint. Two of the three games I attended were at the Royals/Rangers complex in Surprise, AZ and the third game was at the Dodgers/White Sox complex in Glendale, AZ. The facilities at both places were top notch. The Royal/Rangers stadium seats 10,800 and the facilities include 6 practice fields and 1 half field. The Dodgers/White Sox stadium seats 13,000 and the facilities include 13 practices fields and 3 half fields.
The Surprise Stadium was my personal favorite. Being smaller it feels more intimate. It's always a special to see a major league baseball game and to sit within a few rows of the field is such a treat. For a few hours you can absorb the game and feel like a 'top dog' by sitting so close. On my bucket list is to someday attend a game at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City while sitting behind home plate watching the boys in blue play. Spring training gave me a taste of that bucket list item.
Before the game, you're allowed to walk around the practice fields and take in the hard work that these athletes are putting into their craft. While I'm not overly knowledgeable about most of the minor league players, it was still fun to see many of these young men play. If they do get called up to the majors, it will be cool to say "I saw him at spring training".
The weather during my stay was perfect. No wind, sunny and mid-seventies. Couple that with a cold beer and a few hours of watching my favorite team and it was heaven. "Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa." You know know what I'm talking about here.
I hope that Major League Baseball does not implement changes that they have been discussing regarding trying to speed up the game. I would argue that our national pastime does not need to be accelerated. For a few blissful hours the ability to check out of real life is priceless. In our crazy world right now we all need a dose of heaven.
Last week, I was fortunate enough to make a trip to Phoenix, AZ. Included in the 4 night trip were 3 games of baseball. The Kansas City Royals are my team and I was able to watch them play the Colorado Rockies, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the San Francisco Giants. I'm not suggesting that I'm a good luck charm but the Royals did win all three games. Just sayin...
This was my first experience with Major League Baseball Spring Training and it did not disappoint. Two of the three games I attended were at the Royals/Rangers complex in Surprise, AZ and the third game was at the Dodgers/White Sox complex in Glendale, AZ. The facilities at both places were top notch. The Royal/Rangers stadium seats 10,800 and the facilities include 6 practice fields and 1 half field. The Dodgers/White Sox stadium seats 13,000 and the facilities include 13 practices fields and 3 half fields.
The Surprise Stadium was my personal favorite. Being smaller it feels more intimate. It's always a special to see a major league baseball game and to sit within a few rows of the field is such a treat. For a few hours you can absorb the game and feel like a 'top dog' by sitting so close. On my bucket list is to someday attend a game at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City while sitting behind home plate watching the boys in blue play. Spring training gave me a taste of that bucket list item.
Before the game, you're allowed to walk around the practice fields and take in the hard work that these athletes are putting into their craft. While I'm not overly knowledgeable about most of the minor league players, it was still fun to see many of these young men play. If they do get called up to the majors, it will be cool to say "I saw him at spring training".
The weather during my stay was perfect. No wind, sunny and mid-seventies. Couple that with a cold beer and a few hours of watching my favorite team and it was heaven. "Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa." You know know what I'm talking about here.
I hope that Major League Baseball does not implement changes that they have been discussing regarding trying to speed up the game. I would argue that our national pastime does not need to be accelerated. For a few blissful hours the ability to check out of real life is priceless. In our crazy world right now we all need a dose of heaven.
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Get Moving America!
Tonight I was watching PBS Newshour and they did a story on Erie, Pennsylvania and about the loss of manufacturing jobs there. This county had previously been a Democratic stronghold but flipped in the last election to vote for Trump. It was familiar story: People lamenting the loss of good manufacturing jobs.
In previous posts, I have discussed my thoughts about automation and how many manufacturing jobs are simply not coming back. I have also discussed the need for individuals to be proactive and to seek new training. In addition to re-educating our work force, we need more discussion about the need for workers to relocate. I haven't seen many news stories about this aspect of our economy. The following article in the National Review by Kevin D. Williamson addresses this very subject. It is definitely worth reading.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/444841/help-poor-relocate-find-better-jobs-opportunity
The article notes that "Americas mobility has been declining since the 1980s". It further states that "This lack of geographic mobility correlates strongly with a decline in income mobility (the ability to improve ones financial lot. It is a compound stagnation."
To me it seems like we are in a period of adjustment similar to the years from 1880 to 1920, the American Industrial Revolution. This is when vast numbers of rural citizens left farming for urban areas in search of better jobs. Areas where industries that have been hard hit by globalization and automation are the rural areas of the late 1800s.
The lack of mobility of our citizens is a huge drag on our economy. Has technology decreased our desire to move? Does the ability to follow the world on our phone make us unable or unwilling to see what's in our own backyard? Has technology enabled us to ignore the hard decisions and to be lazy in our lives? Politicians are not doing anyone any favors by promising to return our lives to some fantasy of a by-gone era. Even if more companies begin to manufacture more goods here in the U.S., the automation factor is only going to continue it's march into the future.
The article states "The people who remain are to a very large extent those who lack the resources-financial or spiritual-to leave." To me this illustrates many citizen's refusal to take personal responsibility for their situation. We are never going back to the past. MOVE people! I know it is hard. I have personally had to do this very thing. It sucks to leave a place you love or leave family behind. However, we cannot just expect our politicians to wave a magic wand and create jobs.
In previous posts, I have discussed my thoughts about automation and how many manufacturing jobs are simply not coming back. I have also discussed the need for individuals to be proactive and to seek new training. In addition to re-educating our work force, we need more discussion about the need for workers to relocate. I haven't seen many news stories about this aspect of our economy. The following article in the National Review by Kevin D. Williamson addresses this very subject. It is definitely worth reading.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/444841/help-poor-relocate-find-better-jobs-opportunity
The article notes that "Americas mobility has been declining since the 1980s". It further states that "This lack of geographic mobility correlates strongly with a decline in income mobility (the ability to improve ones financial lot. It is a compound stagnation."
To me it seems like we are in a period of adjustment similar to the years from 1880 to 1920, the American Industrial Revolution. This is when vast numbers of rural citizens left farming for urban areas in search of better jobs. Areas where industries that have been hard hit by globalization and automation are the rural areas of the late 1800s.
The lack of mobility of our citizens is a huge drag on our economy. Has technology decreased our desire to move? Does the ability to follow the world on our phone make us unable or unwilling to see what's in our own backyard? Has technology enabled us to ignore the hard decisions and to be lazy in our lives? Politicians are not doing anyone any favors by promising to return our lives to some fantasy of a by-gone era. Even if more companies begin to manufacture more goods here in the U.S., the automation factor is only going to continue it's march into the future.
The article states "The people who remain are to a very large extent those who lack the resources-financial or spiritual-to leave." To me this illustrates many citizen's refusal to take personal responsibility for their situation. We are never going back to the past. MOVE people! I know it is hard. I have personally had to do this very thing. It sucks to leave a place you love or leave family behind. However, we cannot just expect our politicians to wave a magic wand and create jobs.
Monday, February 20, 2017
Lather, Rinse, Repeat
In my day job working with numbers, I occasionally have issues with the dreaded circular logic error message within an Excel spreadsheet. Can anyone else relate to this? Trying to find the error within a formula that is buried in a massive spreadsheet can really ruin a bean-counters day. While counting my beans today, it dawned on me that this is what's going on with President Trump and the Media. A seemingly endless loop.
1. Trump watches the news on cable television.
2. Trump tweets or comments on an item from the television news.
3. The Media run stories regarding his comments.
4. Trump doubles down and reasserts his comments.
5. The Media ask for facts to back up his comments.
6. Trump asserts that the Media is running FAKE NEWS.
7. The Media run stories about the FAKE NEWS comments.
8. Lather, rinse, repeat.
This cycle is playing out multiple times each day. I'm willing to bet that most of the country is becoming exhausted by this never ending cycle.
Recommendations from a bean counter:
1. Trump: Stop the tweeting and commenting on television news stories, stop whining about FAKE NEWS, make policies, nominate qualified people, and learn from your mistakes.
2. Media: Report the facts without screaming headlines, defend your fellow reporters, and don't let cries of FAKE NEWS hamper your quest for facts.
3. Citizens: Stop feeding this endless loop, require facts from both the Media and Trump. And above all, put the needs of our country ahead of either political party.
1. Trump watches the news on cable television.
2. Trump tweets or comments on an item from the television news.
3. The Media run stories regarding his comments.
4. Trump doubles down and reasserts his comments.
5. The Media ask for facts to back up his comments.
6. Trump asserts that the Media is running FAKE NEWS.
7. The Media run stories about the FAKE NEWS comments.
8. Lather, rinse, repeat.
This cycle is playing out multiple times each day. I'm willing to bet that most of the country is becoming exhausted by this never ending cycle.
Recommendations from a bean counter:
1. Trump: Stop the tweeting and commenting on television news stories, stop whining about FAKE NEWS, make policies, nominate qualified people, and learn from your mistakes.
2. Media: Report the facts without screaming headlines, defend your fellow reporters, and don't let cries of FAKE NEWS hamper your quest for facts.
3. Citizens: Stop feeding this endless loop, require facts from both the Media and Trump. And above all, put the needs of our country ahead of either political party.
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
We Need Answers
Is is just me? In my world, logic is like the saying if it walks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck....
For the last few days the news has been dominated by the story of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and his contact with the Russians. Additional stories are discussing other contacts between former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Then we have the continual defense of Putin and Russia by President Trump in speeches and on Twitter. Add all of this to the report of the Russian hacking of our elections and what do we have? From my seat it sure seems like the situation is walking and talking and smelling like something illegal.
President Trump and his administration owe the American people some straight answers about this situation. Period.
I'm failing to understand why ALL of our elected congressional leaders are not unanimously demanding an independent investigation of this situation. As a loyal U.S. citizen, anything less is absolutely a dereliction of duty. Call your Senators and Representatives and DEMAND an independent investigation into all of this mess. Here are links if you need to find out how to contact your Senator or Representative.
https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
For the last few days the news has been dominated by the story of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and his contact with the Russians. Additional stories are discussing other contacts between former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Then we have the continual defense of Putin and Russia by President Trump in speeches and on Twitter. Add all of this to the report of the Russian hacking of our elections and what do we have? From my seat it sure seems like the situation is walking and talking and smelling like something illegal.
President Trump and his administration owe the American people some straight answers about this situation. Period.
I'm failing to understand why ALL of our elected congressional leaders are not unanimously demanding an independent investigation of this situation. As a loyal U.S. citizen, anything less is absolutely a dereliction of duty. Call your Senators and Representatives and DEMAND an independent investigation into all of this mess. Here are links if you need to find out how to contact your Senator or Representative.
https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
Monday, February 13, 2017
Thoughts on "Hillbilly Elegy"
Recently I finished reading the best selling book "Hillbilly Elegy, A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis" by J.D. Vance. This book has been much discussed in relation to the white working class voters that propelled Donald Trump into the Presidency. It's the true story of J.D. Vance, a Yale educated lawyer, and how he managed to escape the world of the poor working class of rural Kentucky and Middletown, Ohio.
J.D. Vance, whose mother struggled with drug and alcohol abuse and multiple marriages, was raised in a chaotic and unstable environment by his family who had moved from Appalachia Kentucky to Ohio. While his grandparents did manage to do better financially in Ohio than much of their extended family who stayed in Kentucky, many of the problems of rural Appalachia followed them. In spite of his mothers problems, Mr. Vance was fortunate enough to have a grandmother who took him in permanently in early high school. He credits his grandmother's stability, the Marines, a college education and his wife with helping him to overcome the cycle of poverty and abuse that surrounded his childhood.
Mr. Vance discusses how his first job at a grocery store in high school left him with the impression that the poor who received welfare and food stamps seemed to have more luxury items (such as cell phones) than the working class could afford. Regarding income taxes taken out of his paycheck he noted, "our drug-addict neighbor would buy T-bone steaks, which I was too poor to buy for myself but was forced by Uncle Sam to buy for someone else." He also stated that it was at this point (age 17) that he began questioning the policies of the Democrats.
He spent a lot of time describing the chaos in his and neighbors everyday lives: the hitting, screaming, drug and alcohol abuse, the little emphasis on education, irresponsible money management, poor nutrition and exercise habits and the abdication of responsibility. He noted, "We talk about the value of hard work but tell ourselves that the reason we're not working is some perceived unfairness: Obama shut down the coal mines, or all the jobs went to the Chinese. These are the lies we tell ourselves to solve the cognitive dissonance-the broken connection between the world we see and the values we preach."
Mr. Vance discussed how the working class have lost trust in the basic foundations of our society. They mistrust the news, the politicians, and the education system. This group mistrust has created a group mindset with a double edged sword. He stated that "If you believe that hard work pays off, then you work hard; if you think it's hard to get ahead even when you try then why try at all?" Mr. Vance said that the message of the conservatives was that "it's not your fault that you're a loser; it's the governments fault." He further noted that his own father genuinely wondered where he had "pretended to be black or liberal" when hearing that his son had been accepted to Yale Law school.
This sense of mistrust has been cited as one of the reasons that the white working class voted Donald Trump into office. They desperately wanted change. It's always a risky thing to make generalizations about a broad group of people. However, from my seat as a moderate here in the heartland, this statement seems to hold some weight. I heard this mistrust echoed by friends and relatives on both ends of the political spectrum. Much of their distrust was and is directed at the media. This breakdown of trust is driving such a partisan wedge into our society that I'm not sure how we can overcome it.
The message that I took from this book was primarily that while the government can help many people with certain aspects of trying to build a nice middle class life, most things are beyond the control of the federal government. Toward the end of the book, Mr. Vance stated "These problems were not created by governments, or corporations or anyone else. We created them and only we can fix them." Amen Mr. Vance.
J.D. Vance, whose mother struggled with drug and alcohol abuse and multiple marriages, was raised in a chaotic and unstable environment by his family who had moved from Appalachia Kentucky to Ohio. While his grandparents did manage to do better financially in Ohio than much of their extended family who stayed in Kentucky, many of the problems of rural Appalachia followed them. In spite of his mothers problems, Mr. Vance was fortunate enough to have a grandmother who took him in permanently in early high school. He credits his grandmother's stability, the Marines, a college education and his wife with helping him to overcome the cycle of poverty and abuse that surrounded his childhood.
Mr. Vance discusses how his first job at a grocery store in high school left him with the impression that the poor who received welfare and food stamps seemed to have more luxury items (such as cell phones) than the working class could afford. Regarding income taxes taken out of his paycheck he noted, "our drug-addict neighbor would buy T-bone steaks, which I was too poor to buy for myself but was forced by Uncle Sam to buy for someone else." He also stated that it was at this point (age 17) that he began questioning the policies of the Democrats.
He spent a lot of time describing the chaos in his and neighbors everyday lives: the hitting, screaming, drug and alcohol abuse, the little emphasis on education, irresponsible money management, poor nutrition and exercise habits and the abdication of responsibility. He noted, "We talk about the value of hard work but tell ourselves that the reason we're not working is some perceived unfairness: Obama shut down the coal mines, or all the jobs went to the Chinese. These are the lies we tell ourselves to solve the cognitive dissonance-the broken connection between the world we see and the values we preach."
Mr. Vance discussed how the working class have lost trust in the basic foundations of our society. They mistrust the news, the politicians, and the education system. This group mistrust has created a group mindset with a double edged sword. He stated that "If you believe that hard work pays off, then you work hard; if you think it's hard to get ahead even when you try then why try at all?" Mr. Vance said that the message of the conservatives was that "it's not your fault that you're a loser; it's the governments fault." He further noted that his own father genuinely wondered where he had "pretended to be black or liberal" when hearing that his son had been accepted to Yale Law school.
This sense of mistrust has been cited as one of the reasons that the white working class voted Donald Trump into office. They desperately wanted change. It's always a risky thing to make generalizations about a broad group of people. However, from my seat as a moderate here in the heartland, this statement seems to hold some weight. I heard this mistrust echoed by friends and relatives on both ends of the political spectrum. Much of their distrust was and is directed at the media. This breakdown of trust is driving such a partisan wedge into our society that I'm not sure how we can overcome it.
The message that I took from this book was primarily that while the government can help many people with certain aspects of trying to build a nice middle class life, most things are beyond the control of the federal government. Toward the end of the book, Mr. Vance stated "These problems were not created by governments, or corporations or anyone else. We created them and only we can fix them." Amen Mr. Vance.
Thursday, February 9, 2017
National Vacation
When I started this Blog, my intention was to write about the current activity with regards to our national politics. Naively, I thought that I could delve into current issues somewhat in-depth and discuss how I, as a moderate, viewed what was happening. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the complete deluge of information being spewed from Washington on an HOURLY basis. It is IMPOSSIBLE to keep up with this constant barrage. Information is changing in real time and by the time I get around to composing my thoughts, I'm completely talking about old news.
The thoughtful, measured deliberation by our elected officials on issues both foreign and domestic seems to no longer exist. While there has long been an acknowledgement that Washington fails to get much done a lot of the time, this crazy pace for trying to tick off a laundry list of actions cannot be good either. The one thing I can say for sure is that everyone is blaming everyone else for whatever perceived wrong. The new national pastime seems to be watching the blame game between all of us.
The President blames the Media, Congress, Judges and the Obama administration for anything he doesn't agree with.
Congress blames the President and each other for anything they don't agree with.
Citizens blame the President, Congress, the Obama administration, and the Media for anything they don't agree with.
GOOD GRAVY!! I'm going to have to modify my attempts to discuss political issues to a broader picture since it would appear that I will not succeed at keeping up with the frantic pace that we're now living in.
This country needs a vacation (and maybe a stiff drink).
The thoughtful, measured deliberation by our elected officials on issues both foreign and domestic seems to no longer exist. While there has long been an acknowledgement that Washington fails to get much done a lot of the time, this crazy pace for trying to tick off a laundry list of actions cannot be good either. The one thing I can say for sure is that everyone is blaming everyone else for whatever perceived wrong. The new national pastime seems to be watching the blame game between all of us.
The President blames the Media, Congress, Judges and the Obama administration for anything he doesn't agree with.
Congress blames the President and each other for anything they don't agree with.
Citizens blame the President, Congress, the Obama administration, and the Media for anything they don't agree with.
GOOD GRAVY!! I'm going to have to modify my attempts to discuss political issues to a broader picture since it would appear that I will not succeed at keeping up with the frantic pace that we're now living in.
This country needs a vacation (and maybe a stiff drink).
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
The Immigration Ban
My first thought when I read about this ban was that The President just put a target on the back of every citizen of this country who travels out of the country. President Trump (or is it President Bannon?) is apparently not only a heartless person with regards to refugees but also seemingly doesn't care about the safety of U.S. citizens who travel the world. Does he not realize that this will just incite other countries against us? What kind of foreign policy is this?
This executive order has been criticized by not only U.S. citizens but other world leaders. The article "Merkle, May Criticize Trump's Refugee Ban" by Anton Troianovski and Jason Douglas (link below) indicate that both leaders of Germany and the U.K. disagree with the ban. Apparently Ms. Merkle, the German leader, had to explain the refugee policy that the U.S. signed in 1967. She reminded him of the Geneva Conventions. It is unbelievable that the President is so determined to alienate even our closest allies. Canada and France have also spoken out against this policy.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/merkel-calls-u-s-refugee-ban-unjustified-1485687277?mod=e2tw
This ban is not the same as 2011 when the Obama administration halted refugee applications from Iraq. According to the CNN article "Trump Defends Executive Order Concerning Extreme Vetting" by Kevin Liptak "Trump cast the move as in line with the previous administration's moves to combat terrorism, writing: "My policy is similar to what President (Barack) Obama did in 2011 when he banned visas for refugees from Iraq for six months." While Obama did order his administration to pause consideration of Iraqi refugee applications for six month in 2011, Trump's action is far more sweeping, preventing all citizens of Iraq from entering the United States for 90 days. The other nations under the same restrictions are Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen." (link attached)
http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/29/politics/donald-trump-executive-order-statement/index.html
The ban with prevents ALL citizens from 7 predominately Muslim countries from entering the U.S. for 3 months, is nothing more than religious persecution by the Trump administration. The order did not include Saudi Arabia where most of the 9/11 terrorists were from. Note that this country is where Trump owns property.
It appears that the ACLU has filed suits in a number of states. Hopefully justice will prevail. We do NOT want to go back to that era in time when we denied Jews entry in our country who were fleeing the Nazi's or when we systematically rounded up all the Asians and placed them in internment camps in the U.S. Surely we are better than this.
The final link I have attached is a video by Fareed Zakaria of CNN. It's about 2-3 minutes and is worth the watch. He provides statistics to back up his claim that this is simply Fear Mongering by the Trump administration.
http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2017/01/29/exp-gps-0129-take-travel-ban.cnn/video/playlists/trump-travel-ban/
This executive order has been criticized by not only U.S. citizens but other world leaders. The article "Merkle, May Criticize Trump's Refugee Ban" by Anton Troianovski and Jason Douglas (link below) indicate that both leaders of Germany and the U.K. disagree with the ban. Apparently Ms. Merkle, the German leader, had to explain the refugee policy that the U.S. signed in 1967. She reminded him of the Geneva Conventions. It is unbelievable that the President is so determined to alienate even our closest allies. Canada and France have also spoken out against this policy.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/merkel-calls-u-s-refugee-ban-unjustified-1485687277?mod=e2tw
This ban is not the same as 2011 when the Obama administration halted refugee applications from Iraq. According to the CNN article "Trump Defends Executive Order Concerning Extreme Vetting" by Kevin Liptak "Trump cast the move as in line with the previous administration's moves to combat terrorism, writing: "My policy is similar to what President (Barack) Obama did in 2011 when he banned visas for refugees from Iraq for six months." While Obama did order his administration to pause consideration of Iraqi refugee applications for six month in 2011, Trump's action is far more sweeping, preventing all citizens of Iraq from entering the United States for 90 days. The other nations under the same restrictions are Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen." (link attached)
http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/29/politics/donald-trump-executive-order-statement/index.html
The ban with prevents ALL citizens from 7 predominately Muslim countries from entering the U.S. for 3 months, is nothing more than religious persecution by the Trump administration. The order did not include Saudi Arabia where most of the 9/11 terrorists were from. Note that this country is where Trump owns property.
It appears that the ACLU has filed suits in a number of states. Hopefully justice will prevail. We do NOT want to go back to that era in time when we denied Jews entry in our country who were fleeing the Nazi's or when we systematically rounded up all the Asians and placed them in internment camps in the U.S. Surely we are better than this.
The final link I have attached is a video by Fareed Zakaria of CNN. It's about 2-3 minutes and is worth the watch. He provides statistics to back up his claim that this is simply Fear Mongering by the Trump administration.
http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2017/01/29/exp-gps-0129-take-travel-ban.cnn/video/playlists/trump-travel-ban/
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Shameful Behavior
Donald Trump has been President for 8 days and the speed at which he has shamed this country is astounding. While I have obviously never been a supporter, I'm finding it almost beyond belief that he is on such a record setting pace to tear apart so many of our core values in this country.
His crazy preoccupation with the crowd size at the inauguration was the first glimpse into what was important to President Trump. I cannot fathom why in heavens name this mattered enough to send his press secretary out on the day after the ceremony to completely dress down the media. This smacked of a child throwing a tantrum and tattling. This is embarrassing behavior in our leader.
The President remains fixated on the size of his victory. He continues to allege that there were 3-5 million illegal votes cast (all of which for Clinton) and that his margin of victory is under reported. There is of course no evidence of this but he is promising to launch an investigation. There go wasted tax dollars.
He is pressing forward with plans to build his damn wall. This is to the tune of 10-15 billion dollars. What a waste of money. An article from thehill.com quotes Texas Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) as saying "Building a wall is the most expensive and least effective way to secure the border." Thehill.com picked up this quote from the Washington Post. Will the wall have big gold letters spelling out T-R-U-M-P every 500 feet? Great Wall of TRUMP? More wasted taxpayer money. Mid week also saw a pissing contest between President Trump and the President of Mexico. A planned meeting was cancelled. Mexico still maintains they won't pay for a wall and Trump says they will. You do realize that any costs will ultimately be paid for by us, right? Those costs will be added in one way or another to goods that we all purchase.
He continues to say that he is pro-torture. His caveat is that he will defer to General Mattis who has stated he is against torture. I NEVER thought I would live to hear a President of the United States advocating torture. This is something I expect to hear from dictators in third world countries. How can you tweet that the Pro-life movement is so important and in the next breath be advocating torture? These are despicable words from the leader of the free world.
The speech that President Trump gave at the CIA headquarters was another embarrassing outing. He spent just a few minutes saying he supported the intelligence community (the ones he has formerly compared to Nazi's) and then proceeded to talk about his inauguration crowd size and the usual rant about the media. The ego of this man is so continually embarrassing.
Finally, on the same day as the International Holocaust Remembrance Day he announced that the United States was banning acceptance of refugees from a number of Muslim countries. His Holocaust pronouncement stated. "In the name of the perished, I pledge to do everything in my power throughout my Presidency, and my life, to ensure that the forces of evil never again defeat the powers of good. Together we will make love and tolerance prevalent throughout the world." How can he even sign is name to this statement and in the next minute ban refugees seeking a new life? I cannot even fathom such heartless behavior.
I have repeatedly tried to see something good in this President. I have seen nothing even close to resembling mature, adult, intelligent, thoughtful or compassionate behavior from this man. This is a shameful era for the United States.
His crazy preoccupation with the crowd size at the inauguration was the first glimpse into what was important to President Trump. I cannot fathom why in heavens name this mattered enough to send his press secretary out on the day after the ceremony to completely dress down the media. This smacked of a child throwing a tantrum and tattling. This is embarrassing behavior in our leader.
The President remains fixated on the size of his victory. He continues to allege that there were 3-5 million illegal votes cast (all of which for Clinton) and that his margin of victory is under reported. There is of course no evidence of this but he is promising to launch an investigation. There go wasted tax dollars.
He is pressing forward with plans to build his damn wall. This is to the tune of 10-15 billion dollars. What a waste of money. An article from thehill.com quotes Texas Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) as saying "Building a wall is the most expensive and least effective way to secure the border." Thehill.com picked up this quote from the Washington Post. Will the wall have big gold letters spelling out T-R-U-M-P every 500 feet? Great Wall of TRUMP? More wasted taxpayer money. Mid week also saw a pissing contest between President Trump and the President of Mexico. A planned meeting was cancelled. Mexico still maintains they won't pay for a wall and Trump says they will. You do realize that any costs will ultimately be paid for by us, right? Those costs will be added in one way or another to goods that we all purchase.
He continues to say that he is pro-torture. His caveat is that he will defer to General Mattis who has stated he is against torture. I NEVER thought I would live to hear a President of the United States advocating torture. This is something I expect to hear from dictators in third world countries. How can you tweet that the Pro-life movement is so important and in the next breath be advocating torture? These are despicable words from the leader of the free world.
The speech that President Trump gave at the CIA headquarters was another embarrassing outing. He spent just a few minutes saying he supported the intelligence community (the ones he has formerly compared to Nazi's) and then proceeded to talk about his inauguration crowd size and the usual rant about the media. The ego of this man is so continually embarrassing.
Finally, on the same day as the International Holocaust Remembrance Day he announced that the United States was banning acceptance of refugees from a number of Muslim countries. His Holocaust pronouncement stated. "In the name of the perished, I pledge to do everything in my power throughout my Presidency, and my life, to ensure that the forces of evil never again defeat the powers of good. Together we will make love and tolerance prevalent throughout the world." How can he even sign is name to this statement and in the next minute ban refugees seeking a new life? I cannot even fathom such heartless behavior.
I have repeatedly tried to see something good in this President. I have seen nothing even close to resembling mature, adult, intelligent, thoughtful or compassionate behavior from this man. This is a shameful era for the United States.
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Balancing Regulations
Since the last election, there has been a lot of talk about government overreach and over regulation. The Trump administration has promised to pull back many regulations. Their reason is that regulations are stifling job creation and growth in our country. While I am no expert in this field it seems to me that this is an over simplification.
Last night I watched American Experience on PBS (my favorite channel). It was a documentary about Rachel Carson, the author of "Silent Spring". This book was published in 1962. I have not read it but have added it to my list. According to Wikipedia, Discover Magazine has this book listed as one of the 25 greatest science books of all time. The book is about synthetic pesticides. Not exactly the most exciting sounding topic but the documentary was really interesting. I have attached the link below. The show was almost 2 hours but it is definitely worth watching.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/rachel-carson/player/
Before the book was published, DDT was in widespread use and people were not aware of the harmful effects as they are today. This book eventually led to a ban on DDT and the movement that was started led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. When DDT was in widespread use, companies were not rushing to be self-policing. This was a billion dollar industry according to yourdictionary.com. Pesticides were in such wide spread use then that worms were toxic even a year later and when birds consumed the toxic worms and you created a circle of poison. The documentary said this was a time of the "arms race of pesticide use".
This whole thing has me thinking about the Trump administration and how they want to roll back regulations. It seems to me that they are in a race to see how fast they can make changes. This race is could have dire effects if we're not careful. Being concerned with job creation is fine but not if it leads us back to situations where companies have no regulations about the products they put out and their effect on our environment and ourselves.
According to yourdictionary.com Rachel Carson wrote "I suppose my thinking began to be affected soon after atomic science was firmly established...It was pleasant to believe that much of Nature was forever beyond the tampering reach of man: I have now opened my eyes and my mind. I may not like what I see, but it does no good to ignore it." We must all be aware of our actions and the long term effects. Rolling back one regulation may not seem like a big deal but it could have long term consequences for our health or the health of our planet.
Last night I watched American Experience on PBS (my favorite channel). It was a documentary about Rachel Carson, the author of "Silent Spring". This book was published in 1962. I have not read it but have added it to my list. According to Wikipedia, Discover Magazine has this book listed as one of the 25 greatest science books of all time. The book is about synthetic pesticides. Not exactly the most exciting sounding topic but the documentary was really interesting. I have attached the link below. The show was almost 2 hours but it is definitely worth watching.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/rachel-carson/player/
Before the book was published, DDT was in widespread use and people were not aware of the harmful effects as they are today. This book eventually led to a ban on DDT and the movement that was started led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. When DDT was in widespread use, companies were not rushing to be self-policing. This was a billion dollar industry according to yourdictionary.com. Pesticides were in such wide spread use then that worms were toxic even a year later and when birds consumed the toxic worms and you created a circle of poison. The documentary said this was a time of the "arms race of pesticide use".
This whole thing has me thinking about the Trump administration and how they want to roll back regulations. It seems to me that they are in a race to see how fast they can make changes. This race is could have dire effects if we're not careful. Being concerned with job creation is fine but not if it leads us back to situations where companies have no regulations about the products they put out and their effect on our environment and ourselves.
According to yourdictionary.com Rachel Carson wrote "I suppose my thinking began to be affected soon after atomic science was firmly established...It was pleasant to believe that much of Nature was forever beyond the tampering reach of man: I have now opened my eyes and my mind. I may not like what I see, but it does no good to ignore it." We must all be aware of our actions and the long term effects. Rolling back one regulation may not seem like a big deal but it could have long term consequences for our health or the health of our planet.
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Sports Sadness
In the life of most human beings, sports is an area that can bring all types of people together. It can transcend differences in religion, politics, race, gender, and nationalities. Sports can be either individual or team driven. It can be professional, educational, or recreationally sponsored. We can be just as passionate about little league baseball as we are about high school, college or professional baseball. Sports can act as a family for many communities.
My community is fortunate enough to have all types of sports. In the professional realm we have our hometown Kansas City Royals and Kansas City Chiefs. This week, we lost a member of the Kansas City Royals baseball team. Yordano Ventura was a 25 year old starting pitcher who brought at times both joy and frustration for fans. A talented baseball player who had a real gift was taken too soon.
Normally I'm a very private person regarding grief and tragedies. I'm not a touchy-feely person so I generally steer clear of such topics. However, this loss for our community family has stuck a cord with me. This young man was the same age as my youngest child. It's a horrible loss for his family. I cannot imagine having to bury a child. For us fans, baseball players become a part of our own family. With 162 games in a season, we regular watchers allow those players into our living room for well over 100 games each season. That translates to at least 300 hours and it almost feels as if we know them. Even more so than other celebrities because we all have an emotional attachment to our teams and are constantly rooting for a win.
Ventura was just like one of our own kids; both exciting and at times frustrating to watch. But I do know that whenever we were headed to a game, the interest level went up a notch when we knew he would be pitching. He helped bring a lot of pride to this city when they won the World Series in 2015. The media has mentioned that signs were placed on a memorial at the stadium that say he was traded to the Angels. I love this analogy. Yordano, you'll always have home-field advantage now. Thank you for the many hours of enjoyment you brought into our homes these last few years.
In this crazy mixed up country of ours right now, sports is an oasis for many of us. It's an escape from the nutty politics and other issues facing us daily. This tragedy is a reminder that life can be cut short in an instant and we need to always be mindful of what's important.
Normally I'm a very private person regarding grief and tragedies. I'm not a touchy-feely person so I generally steer clear of such topics. However, this loss for our community family has stuck a cord with me. This young man was the same age as my youngest child. It's a horrible loss for his family. I cannot imagine having to bury a child. For us fans, baseball players become a part of our own family. With 162 games in a season, we regular watchers allow those players into our living room for well over 100 games each season. That translates to at least 300 hours and it almost feels as if we know them. Even more so than other celebrities because we all have an emotional attachment to our teams and are constantly rooting for a win.
Ventura was just like one of our own kids; both exciting and at times frustrating to watch. But I do know that whenever we were headed to a game, the interest level went up a notch when we knew he would be pitching. He helped bring a lot of pride to this city when they won the World Series in 2015. The media has mentioned that signs were placed on a memorial at the stadium that say he was traded to the Angels. I love this analogy. Yordano, you'll always have home-field advantage now. Thank you for the many hours of enjoyment you brought into our homes these last few years.
In this crazy mixed up country of ours right now, sports is an oasis for many of us. It's an escape from the nutty politics and other issues facing us daily. This tragedy is a reminder that life can be cut short in an instant and we need to always be mindful of what's important.
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Back to the Future
Today was inauguration day for our country's highest office. It was a day that provoked a lot of emotions for our citizens. For those who supported President Trump, it was a day of rejoicing. However for more than half of those who voted (popular vote) it was a day that filled many with a scary sense of uncertainty about our leadership. While I do hope that President Trump turns outs to be good for the country, he certainly has not inspired my confidence up to this point. However, just because I did not vote for him, I do agree with the notion that we all need to hope and pray that he succeeds. I agree with the assessment that if he does well, we all do well.
I did listen to his inaugural speech today and I have to say that is was for me a depressing listen. He painted a picture of doom and did nothing to encourage all of us to come together. I felt like it was just another campaign rally speech mean to appeal to his core supporters. During the campaign and again today I have really tried to find positive things in his messages. I simply cannot. Try as I might, I do not feel confident about our country after listening to him.
With that being said, what really stuck with me today was a quote from the Washington Post article from January 20, 2017 titled "In Deep Blue Wisconsin Village, 'You Could Feel it Coming'" by Jenna Johnson. The article is about the community of Tempealeau, Wisconsin and how they flipped from voting Democrat to Republican. The article quotes a local citizen who twice voted for Obama and then flipped to vote for Trump. I feel like this quote captured the mood of many in our country and why they voted the way they did.
The article quotes David Samb, a retired printing union worker as saying, "I'm just tired of where everything is going in the country. It's like we're giving everything away, and we're not getting anywhere." He further stated "I just kind of want to get the country back to the way it was."
This last sentence was the telling line for me. I have seen this same sentiment echoed in other stories and by friends. I'm still trying to understand exactly what a person means by "back to the way it was". Is this just a complaint about the loss of manufacturing jobs? Is it a complaint regarding the increasing diversity in our population? Is it a complaint about government overreach? Is it a complaint about the conservative election rally cry against Obamacare? Is it all of the above?
All I know is that we can't go back in time. Globalization and automation are here to stay. There aren't enough trade wars, taxes etc to change those forces. Our population is going to continue to become more wonderfully diverse. Obamacare--well, your guess is as good as mine but it seems like we all like the idea of the government attempting to help solve the problems of crazy health care costs in the country without creating a national health care system.
And while we complain about government overreach, I suspect that there will be plenty of outcry as the Trump administration attempts to make drastic budget cuts or regulatory changes. I have already seen articles indicating that President Trump wants to drastically cut the budget and according to the article from The Hill (link below) that will include getting rid of things like the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. In addition, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting will be privatized. Surely we don't want to go "back the way it was" and give up on these things. Nor do I believe that we want to do away with EPA regulations to the detriment of our own health.
http://thehill.com/policy/finance/314991-trump-team-prepares-dramatic-cuts
My point here is that rather than lamenting about a by-gone era, we need to pick ourselves up and adapt. Our President cannot wave a magic wand and make instant changes. It's up to ALL of us to take on the tough work of improving our lives and communities. We don't have to go back in time to have a prosperous future.
I did listen to his inaugural speech today and I have to say that is was for me a depressing listen. He painted a picture of doom and did nothing to encourage all of us to come together. I felt like it was just another campaign rally speech mean to appeal to his core supporters. During the campaign and again today I have really tried to find positive things in his messages. I simply cannot. Try as I might, I do not feel confident about our country after listening to him.
With that being said, what really stuck with me today was a quote from the Washington Post article from January 20, 2017 titled "In Deep Blue Wisconsin Village, 'You Could Feel it Coming'" by Jenna Johnson. The article is about the community of Tempealeau, Wisconsin and how they flipped from voting Democrat to Republican. The article quotes a local citizen who twice voted for Obama and then flipped to vote for Trump. I feel like this quote captured the mood of many in our country and why they voted the way they did.
The article quotes David Samb, a retired printing union worker as saying, "I'm just tired of where everything is going in the country. It's like we're giving everything away, and we're not getting anywhere." He further stated "I just kind of want to get the country back to the way it was."
This last sentence was the telling line for me. I have seen this same sentiment echoed in other stories and by friends. I'm still trying to understand exactly what a person means by "back to the way it was". Is this just a complaint about the loss of manufacturing jobs? Is it a complaint regarding the increasing diversity in our population? Is it a complaint about government overreach? Is it a complaint about the conservative election rally cry against Obamacare? Is it all of the above?
All I know is that we can't go back in time. Globalization and automation are here to stay. There aren't enough trade wars, taxes etc to change those forces. Our population is going to continue to become more wonderfully diverse. Obamacare--well, your guess is as good as mine but it seems like we all like the idea of the government attempting to help solve the problems of crazy health care costs in the country without creating a national health care system.
And while we complain about government overreach, I suspect that there will be plenty of outcry as the Trump administration attempts to make drastic budget cuts or regulatory changes. I have already seen articles indicating that President Trump wants to drastically cut the budget and according to the article from The Hill (link below) that will include getting rid of things like the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. In addition, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting will be privatized. Surely we don't want to go "back the way it was" and give up on these things. Nor do I believe that we want to do away with EPA regulations to the detriment of our own health.
http://thehill.com/policy/finance/314991-trump-team-prepares-dramatic-cuts
My point here is that rather than lamenting about a by-gone era, we need to pick ourselves up and adapt. Our President cannot wave a magic wand and make instant changes. It's up to ALL of us to take on the tough work of improving our lives and communities. We don't have to go back in time to have a prosperous future.
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