TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Happy Labor Day. I hope you'll get out enjoy yourself, as we will. The main parade ground at The Presidio may never be the same again.
Despite the new SF resident Ol' Purple Label saying Adam Grant is not that cool (the big-shot executive met him personally - of course she did), I still enjoyed his book "Think Again" and its encouragement to be more of a scientist, vs. a preacher, prosecutor, or politician. In other words, ask questions and inquire about the thinking of others on a given topic, before lecturing, indicting, or pretending.
And I've tried. I've really tried. But there are subjects where I am frankly tired of asking questions. Fed up. Bored. Angry. And mostly, wondering where the hell you get your information, because the subjects that follow strike me as similar to discussions of a flat Earth.
If there is anyone out there that can present the proverbial "other side" on any one (let alone two) of these issues, not only will I print it without comment (and anonymously, if you prefer), I will send you a set of steak knives.
Climate Change My favorite! To me, this requires a WWII, all-hands-on-deck effort. Ban oil and gas extraction, let alone subsidizing the big oil companies and fighting wars for them. Implement a carbon tax. We must lead the world on electrifying our economy.
Or is this still a ruse for guys in lab coats to sell books? Guns These should be treated exactly like cars. Licensed. Registered. Insured. I wrote a whole thing on this.
Question: if more guns make you and your family safe, shouldn't America be the safest country on Earth?
Wealth Inequality Just how much more money do you need? Wealth in America is now distorted beyond anything resembling historical norms.
Taxes should be raised immediately on individuals to what they were when Clinton left office. Perhaps a one-time wealth surcharge is in order. Maybe a transaction tax to quell the unbridled growth of usury and rent-seeking in the financial sector. A global corporate tax regime should be implemented.
As an individual, what is the difference between having $300 million or $350 million? Exactly. Justice Inequality End the prison industrial complex now. No sane person says "defund the police" but many rightly demand we "reform the police function in America."
We must also end the hyper-militarization of our local constables. Not every situation calls for the SWAT team, or even a person in uniform.
I will again quote John Rawls: "Would you join a society if you didn't know your standing in it?"
Immigration America is the greatest in large part because it is about an idea, not a tribe. The US consists of people whose family origins span the globe. It is our diversity that makes us unique and strongest among countries.
Hyper-Wokeness This one hit my life directly. Enough with your feelings and safe space and moral panic. Please take the personal pronouns on your LinkedIn page and signature block and file them under "garbage".
Because there's never been a better time to be black, gay, trans, or anything in America. Or a white male of privilege. We have farther to go, but we've made real progress. And please: you can't be more outraged over a given topic than are the aggrieved party themselves. Masking/Vaccines My God, it's fucking science. The end. Governors Ron and Greg need to beat the rush and get on a cruise ship to hell immediately.
Health Care Staying mentally and physically healthy is a right, not a privilege, for everyone. The United States stands alone among OECD countries in not having universal health care for its citizens.
Because if it's a privilege, who decides who gets health care? Mental and physical health care must be treated differently than other products - the capitalism component needs to be removed, just this once.
Military Spending Isn't this almost a cliché at this point? Don't we all know we spend more on stupid death tools than something like the next 7 or 8 countries combined? And many of those are our allies?
Let's acknowledge our military industrial complex for what it is: a middle class welfare program. Great, but wouldn't it be fun if the people presently designing drones that kill civilians in faraway lands turned their attention next to high-speed rail and real broadband from coast to coast, right here?
Election Integrity There is no evidence of any outcome of any election at any level ever being impacted by voter fraud. It has been studied, and studied again. And again.
That includes the 2020 presidential election, the most transparent and the most adjudicated in American history. Joe Biden won the election comfortably and fairly.
1/6/21 I think I speak for quite a few when I say that day was as dark for me as an American as 9/11/01.
So I find it puzzling that Republicans in Congress are resisting a complete and transparent investigation of the events of that awful day, and those leading up to it. Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz and their ilk really should know better.
Or is that whole "peaceful transfer of power" thing passé?
It's an ugly world. But only some parts - let's wrap with the beauty of my wife, the canine-like accessory Silly, and their vision in pink. This was Friday.
FROM THE UNWASHED MASSES I want to thank Professor Howard Blum Esq. for an absolutely Textbook afternoon and evening Saturday, which revolved - however loosely - around his Diamond Certified Giants seats. The Giants lost, but my night was made when Prof. Blum showered praise - as only he can - on my writing here.
Thank you to any one that is reading this blog newsletter.
KLUF Here's something with which you're perhaps not familiar, but it certainly fits: Cracker and "The Golden Age", a sardonic jolt from 1996.
Remember the mid-1990's? It was pre-everything. Clinton impeachment. Bush v. Gore. 9/11. Climate crisis. Internet. Cell phones. Afghanistan and Iraq. Trump. 1/6/21. Global pandemic.
Get off my lawn, and please take me back to that dreamy time. Sure, only straight white men had real power and privilege, but look how great everything's turned out. Oh.
