Good morning to our 2 Paragraphs Family. At the end of this coming July the Libertarian Party of California will be having its annual convention when I anticipate submitting a proposal for its new party platform. A draft of it is now being submitted to you for your thoughts and comments. All feedback is appreciated! Here is the draft:
A friend and neighbor of mine has a bumper sticker on his car that says: “Trump/Vance 2024 Never Surrender.” Flat out, I have no problem with people publicly supporting their political candidates, and in fact appreciate it when they do. But I have a large problem with saying “Never Surrender,” because it strongly implies that we are at war with each other! And this directly contributes to the polarization
What every successful civilization needs is leaders. “Leadership is defined as the ability of an individual or group to influence and guide others towards achieving shared goals. It involves aligning people in a collective direction and enabling them to work together effectively. Key characteristics of good leaders include vision, communication, integrity and the ability to inspire others.” So what does it take to be a leader?
The “Common Wisdom” is that when a President appoints a Justice to the US Supreme Court that the President can count upon that Justice pursuing the President’s agenda. But a close friend of mine, who is truly aware of realities in today’s world, actually sent me a list of Justices in significant cases since 1940 who voted against the Presidents who had appointed them.
There was an editorial in the May 2, 2024 edition of the Orange County Register about which we all should be concerned. It called attention to the fact that a graduate student at Tufts University who is here on a student visa was recently arrested and taken to a Louisiana jail and is being threatened with deportation for doing nothing more than writing a Pro-Palestinian op-ed piece for a local newspaper. The thrust of her column was to protest American support for the war in Gaza. It did not recommend violence or otherwise taking inappropriate action. But if that is not a violation of our Free Speech Rights under our Constitution, I have trouble thinking about what could be a greater threat. So I believe we all should be concerned about this result.
It really is not so hard. In my view, our nation’s immigration policy should be based upon the following five maxims:
1. It is our decision who comes into our country either to visit or to live, and not the visitor’s;
2. One strong reason our country is Great is because over the years so many people from around the world have immigrated here so they can roll up their sleaves and pursue the American Dream. Those who have shown they are a boon to themselves, their families and our country who have not already become citizens should their paths be streamlined to become citizens;
Years ago, 23 men committed offenses that resulted in their eventually being committed to R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility, which is a state prison for men in San Diego near the Mexican border. But now those men have received their Bachelor’s Degree from the University of California at Irvine! Amazingly, they have graduated from a major university while incarcerated! How did this happen?
The June 12, 2024 edition of the Orange County Register told us that the State of California has more than 220,000 full-time employees!~ Of course, that is in addition to hundreds of thousands of government employees at the municipal level, as well as many more who are employed by California’s “Special Districts” like water, transit, mosquito control and sanitation. Out of control?
I have never seen a stronger argument against the minimum wage laws than the one published in the May 8, 2024 edition of the Orange County Register written by Faryal Ahsan and Austin Hamilton. These students cited statistics to show that California has the highest numbers of homeless in the nation, both by sheer numbers as well as per capita. New York state is second, but with less than half of the number of homeless.
We as judges we have two critically important mandates. The first is to do Justice based upon the facts and law of the case and the ethics of our profession. But the second is equally important, and that is for anyone who cares to believe that Justice has been done. Our other law enforcement officers have similar mandates.
Thomas Jefferson was quoted as saying that “We need a revolution every 20 years just to keep the government honest.” He is right, and we now in many ways have a “dishonest” government to prove it. How can I say that? Because without that revolution (which does not have to be bloody) government continues to grow and to serve itself at the expense of “We the People.”
One of my all-time heroes, Dr. Milton Friedman, once said that we should judge our programs by their results, not their good intentions. In an earlier 2 Paragraphs edition I discussed this in relationship to minimum wage laws, saying that it was far more productive for a society to have 100 people working for $15 per hour than 75 people working for $20 per hour.
The idea that “Laws Reflect Society’s Values? is basically true. But it is also true that, in many ways, “We Can’t Legislate Morality.” So in writing last week’s edition of our 2 paragraphs about Costa Rica requiring school uniforms, it started me thinking about other programs in Costa Rica. And one of those is prostitution which, when I was there in the Peace Corps from 1966 to 1968, was totally legal for adults.
People are beginning to think about and discuss incentives! Good! At last! Why is that? Because, as one of my true heroes Dr. Milton Friedman often said, “Incentives matter!” To explain further, he also said, “You get more of what you subsidize and less of what you tax.” And today we are subsidizing victimization and taxing performance.
When I went into the Peace Corps in Costa Rica to teach Physical Education to high school students I requested to be placed in the smallest town in the country that had a high school. And that’s where I was sent. So I spent two years in Palmar Norte, which is in the southern part of the country on the Pacific side. Palmar Norte was a small rural town with most people just getting by financially.
British Journalist Miles Kington purportedly said “Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.” That probably defines the difference between knowledge and wisdom as well as can be done. But how does one obtain wisdom? Mentoring by us older folk “who have been there” is one of the best ways.
Started in 2016, the Jack News provides a pragmatic look at political discussion with some satire. An independent journalistic endeavor, we have no ties to other media outlets or services. We write our own commentary and form our own opinions.
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