College Bills
There is much discussion these days about why people are turned off by college. Perhaps it is cost, debt, and uncertain job prospects. While agreeing with the essential criticism of the business known as higher education, hopefully in this period of deeper analysis of both conventional routes and alternative pathways to a career, the baby – the benefits of a well-earned degree — will not be thrown out with the bath water, the shenanigans with which colleges are engaged.
College bills, for example, are analogous to those received by cable subscribers, a potpourri of different items designed to blur the vision by the time the big number at the bottom appears.
Like the cable company, or the streamers, or the hotel or the airplane, once a business believes they have you as a customer, add-ons of individually small numbers are inevitable. Colleges follow this playbook. Moreover, like their explicitly for-profit counterparts, they use absurdly precise numbers to suggest there is an actual financial justification for a line item. There is not. Pull back the curtain and you will see somebody plugging in a number for the purpose of supporting an overall financial goal, itself typically extracted from the air or a little read strategic plan.
Below is a minor, but indicative, real world example for one semester at a relatively inexpensive public institution.
Excluded is absurdly expensive health insurance, as it can be waived if the student is on their parent’s policy. Note that the student must take action to get this budget item removed as the college uses the negative option approach – you pay unless you act. Also excluded is room and board. Living somewhere and eating periodically are going to cost money no matter what the related academic situation.
Academic Excellence Fee: $262.50 Apparently academic excellence is not something which comes with tuition; you have the bill for your meal but must pay extra for the utensils.
Comprehensive Fee: $1,484.25 You tell me. Is it for the green grass in the quad, the stone architecture, the banned beer hall. The checkwriter has no idea.
Student Activity Fee: $109.00 At least this is clear. If you the student find that classes, homework, and all the drudgery of studying are not conducive to your mental health, you can hit the gym and work up a sweat alongside the tenured professor who is paying zero for the pleasure, and who last week was a no-show for your advisory meeting.
Tuition: $3,535.00 Presumably this covers something akin to educating the student about an array of subjects, many of which will cease to be in their mind once they graduate and pick up their diploma. Yes, the student pays extra to have a gown and walk.
The expense breakdown at the average college will include more line items and larger numbers.
The above commentary nonetheless remains on point.
UBI: A Brief Update
Like Churchill’s description of democracy, maybe a UBI is a terrible idea, but better than the others.
INTRODUCTION
A few years ago, after reading a book with a catchy title, “Basic Income,” I became intrigued with the ’concept of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) program. Subsequently I organized a small group discussion that focused on the different impacts possible with a UBI, the sum of which could be a better society.
In that conversation, in grading two-dozen different topics as to the relevance of a UBI, we concluded that such a program could be connected to beneficial changes in everything from affordable housing to creative expression to entrepreneurial activity to improved healthcare to educational outcomes to income inequality to economic mobility.
Whether the design of current UBI experiments can be scaled sufficiently to move the societal needle overall is a separate issue that is nonetheless completely connected.
As always, in Montaigne’s words, is the game worth the candle?
DEFINITION
In a UBI program, every adult receives monthly either direct payment of a certain amount of money or a debit card entitling them to that money. There are no strings to its usage. The tax liability varies according to jurisdiction and the legislation behind the UBI.
(Note: in the United States, the UBI idea has been modified as a Guaranteed Income (GI) program. This update will use UBI and GI interchangeably as the reasoning process is basically the same.)
BACKDROP
There are about 40 million people living below the poverty line, although it is acknowledged that the definition of poverty is subject to analysis, particularly around in-kind and other welfare receipts.
More positively, let’s assume a UBI of $1,000 per month for every adult. To the lower end of the income scale, this would be a godsend. Would some of them use the money unwisely? Sure, like everybody. Interestingly, the admittedly small UBI experiments to date indicate that the funds are used in very prosaic ways, groceries and retail leading the way.
For middle class families with college age children who are too affluent for programs like FAFSA and too strapped to pay the exorbitant cost of college, the UBI would be welcome for sure. At the very upper end of the income spectrum, the UBI money would be irrelevant. Chump change as it were.
At present, roughly half the population has no net worth, i.e., assets minus debts are zero or worse. UBI would not remotely solve that comparison. There are multiple barriers involved, beginning with inadequate K-12 education and continuing through a long list of historical restrictions, many of them based on racist attitudes, on both home ownership and jobs.
BENEFITS
A UBI or GI is within a growing trend toward giving cash grants: reportedly seven million people in some 37 countries have been beneficiaries. In less developed countries, a reduced death rate for women and children has been one benefit. Improved school attendance, better nutrition, and enhanced use of health services have been noted. An advocate like the Jain Family Institute believes direct payment results include improved school grades, better high school graduation numbers, and increased income.
A study of poor mothers revealed that receiving cash directly has an indirect beneficial impact on brain activity of babies, a similar gain in fact to having a tutor in school.
As privatization has moved different government functions away from the public polls, only large companies and organizations have benefitted. A UBI would put more decision-making in the hands of individuals whose financial pictures are so tightly circumscribed that one could argue they have no true choices in their current situations.
There is a drug arrest every 25 seconds; half of the population has a family member or friend who is addicted. Hopefully there is an ongoing shift toward treating addiction as a health issue, not as a client list for profit-seeking prisons. The reasons for addiction are multiple; stress is one. The long-term use of antidepressants is associated with an increased risk of having a heart attack. About one in eight of those over twelve years of age took medication in the past month compared with one in twelve twenty years ago. How many ways can you spell stress! Enter a UBI benefit.
A UBI could lessen the issue of on-going stress among those with overly tight budgets. Those with discretionary money handle stress with drugs and alcohol, knowing their jobs are more or less assured. At the lower end of the scale, stress is exacerbated because the power relationship between a typical jobholder in a corporation and his or her boss is completely lopsided. A UBI would be helpful here.
Income, like education, facilitates choice. If all monies received by a person go for immediate needs like rent, food, and transportation, choice is virtually nonexistent, to the benefit of credit card companies or payday loan operators, both of whom charge extremely high interest rates.
Ah yes, some would take UBI money, buy surfboards and head to the beach. The beaches would become crowded and then have to charge for surfing privileges, which would mean the UBI money went for naught. Ridiculous scenario. Some might no longer carry the moniker of starving actor or actress or artist; they would live on the UBI. Okay reader, try living on $1,000 per month. Maybe the money instead would go for acting classes or sessions with successful artists. This is bad?
Since the 2021 expanded child credit reportedly lifted three million kids out of poverty, is it not a bit of a proof point for a well-constructed UBI?
In 2021, the maximum income tax credit per child was lifted from $2,000 to $3,600, payable in cash regardless of the filers tax situation. Many Republicans are in favor of these types of tax credits; the opposition is insistent on everybody working even though some recipients cannot from a health standpoint. Note there is a continuing, somewhat unspoken premise, i.e. that people do not want to work, when the opposite is continually proven to be the case. This does not contradict the desire by all people for respect regardless of their spot in the job pecking order.
Big organizations, whether they be the AMA or NEA or IBEW, are fundamentally about job protection for their members. Overall, in 1950, 10% of employees were in occupations that required licenses; now it is 25%. And reciprocity among states is uneven. While a UBI would not create a level playing field, it would make it more economically feasible for individuals to pay the dues needed to enter certain occupations.
What will be the impact of AI? It is possible that those initially in control of its usage will win economically, as always, while job losses will affect those with limited choice. For certain, this is not clear; many white collar jobs may disappear. Low-paid service jobs will remain – these need a UBI.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Conceptually, a UBI is about figuring out what kind of society we want. That is the overriding question, more substantive and important than the specific monetary details. Yes, a UBI would be hugely expensive, net of cost savings from a reformed and smaller existing welfare system. (So are many other government programs, more than a few of which seem of questionable merit.) Debates will be inevitable on which current entitlements would wither away with a UBI.
When the richest five men in the world double their net worth in four years, nobody worries about the inflationary impact of all those incremental billions. At the same time, there is a valid question about the inflation which could be brought about by a UBI, simply because of its universality. One might ask whether that concern should be greater than the protracted role of the Federal Reserve in pumping money into the system in the everlasting chase for a higher quantitative GDP?
Theorists on both sides of the political spectrum recognize the value of bolstering families, which includes greater aid, e.g., a UBI. Rebuilding families can be synonymous with rebuilding communities.
Amitai Etzioni, recently deceased, advocated a Society built on Community; he labeled himself a “Communitarian.” Because he regarded the family as a moral anchor, he advocated extended child care and parental leave benefits, plus flexible working hours and tougher divorce laws. He was in favor of a national service requirement for young people and wider participation in jury duty and the military. A UBI fits in nicely with this view of how society should function.
The economist Herman Daly challenged the idea of GDP growth being the end-all. For one, its calculation ignores associated costs. If the problems caused by carbon-based energy had been confronted when Daly was prescient in his thoughts, our current climate control dilemma would be slightly less daunting. A UBI speaks to quality of life more so than quantity.
Milton Friedman, famously quoted as saying that the mission of a company is to make money period, used as part of his reasoning that CEOs are no more competent outside of their company than the average person. He noted that if profits come to be considered immoral, then control defaults to the centralized power of government. A UBI is pro-individual, from the janitor to the CEO. It keeps government at a suitable distance from daily decision-making.
**
The year 2023 saw major unionization victories. The number of strikers was reportedly nearly quadruple that of 2022 and almost eight times that of 2021 for the same period. Even healthcare was involved: in October, 75,000 nurses and doctors struck Kaiser Permanente and won not only a 21% wage increase over four years but “improvements in training, professional development and staffing.”
Irritation over the discrepancy between rich corporate profits and resistance to paying a living wage has meant that young people without any prior philosophical allegiance to the concept of unions recognized the logic of coordinated action. And relatively new union leaders were more strategic in their approach.
The hypothetical size of a UBI in theory could have a dampening effect on the trend toward more unionization. Note that the latter is coming from a very low starting point compared with historical levels when the focus was manufacturing jobs, the majority of which have gone elsewhere.
However, both a UBI and unionization are aimed at the same target: unfair differentials in compensation at the vast majority of large organizations. Perhaps they would be complementary pieces of a program.
Some countries have either formal or informal restrictions on the ratio of CEO compensation to the lowest income level in the company. The prevailing American attitude seems to be that the CEO’s out-sized compensation was earned entirely through hard work and personal merit; i.e., the people below the CEO office had nothing to do with the CEO’s success.
EXPERIMENTS
Going through the details of each experiment would require a separate, lengthy document. There are no two alike and political considerations mean that forward visibility on the programs is not high. Website information is either incomplete or rather dated. It is clear that the organizers of UBI programs are more focused on daily implementation than on winning plaudits from prospective major donors.
In 2024, there are three dozen cities in the USA with on-going UBI experiments. Full disclosure: the aggregate money involved is less than Apple brings in every day, but still, it’s a start. Maybe it becomes an initial entry on the road where the signs says, “a viable, evidence-based program that puts a slight dent in gross income inequality is … good.”
Pilots are being run using leftover COVID money, $500 or so per person. Conceptually there could be a connection to the temporary child tax credit, which was $250-300 per child per month. An estimated
1.5 million parents (3% of total employment) said they would stop working if that credit was permanent. Looking at the total picture, society could easily be better off with more mothers able to be with their children instead of paying for expensive childcare.
The most widely publicized, in part because it was one of the first, UBI experiments was in Stockton, California in 2019. It provided $500 on a debit card on the 15th of each month; median household income was $46,000. Mayor Tubbs, who began the program, is no longer in that position; instead, he is Special Advisor to California Governor Newsom for Economic Mobility and Opportunity. Tubbs is the founder of the country’s Mayors for Guaranteed Income.
With the federal childcare monies ending, some states are taking up the slack. Colorado is providing $1,200 per year for children under six in households earning less than $35,000. Chicago has recently joined the long list of cities experimenting with a UBI; it encompasses 5,000 participants who will receive $500 a month for one year. Alaska’s Permanent Fund, essentially an oil revenue based UBI, provides money directly to virtually all its residents.
The Newark Movement for Economic Equity experiment with guaranteed income included 400 residents, who received $6,000 for each of two years. Residents were below 200% of the poverty line, over 18 and negatively affected by COVID. The vast majority were black single women. Overall average household income was less than $9,000. Two-thirds of the money received was spent at retail and grocery stores.
**
The Kenya Giving Directly program had an initial design that entailed having it run from 2017 until 2030. Involving 21,000 people, those from two-twelve years of age were to receive $0.75/day; others would get a lump sum. The organization behind this effort has expanded into multiple countries, including the USA with a GI program. Overall it has raised more than $700 million to reach 1.5 million people.
More recently, the current war between Israel and Hamas has brought forth the suggestion of a UBI for Palestinians in Gaza. Raja Khalidi, Director General of the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute stated that $200/month would cost $5 billion to the point of economic recovery, when it would sunset.
COMMENTARY
Thinking about a UBI brings to mind the persistent question: hypocrisy or fundamental change?
At the micro level, the multibillionaire founder of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, offers tuition reimbursement for staff meeting certain criteria. He simultaneously fights any attempt at unionization. He wants total control of his “beneficence.” A UBI alters the control equation somewhat.
If Schultz wanted to help more people instantly, given the apparently addictive nature of his product, he could reduce the price of his coffee. Stunningly, he might actually lose customers as the allure of paying more would be diminished and people would realize a cup of coffee from the place around the corner from Starbucks is just as good. Schultz simply adds a lot of sweeteners, ultimately leading its customers to provide good business for fitness locations.
Taylor, Mick, and Madonna could cut their ticket prices, instead of raking in huge revenues and then making charitable donations. Ah, the loss of control again, democracy run amuck if the masses had money in their pockets instead of it being concentrated in a very few.
Put differently, fabulously wealthy people pick and choose their policy passions: Bezos re homelessness (while he fights unionization), Arnold: drug prices and education; Bloomberg: smoking, sugar, gun control. Perhaps individuals with UBI supplements would like a bit of purchasing independence, in this case to be used for their policy passions.
Newsflash: New York City’s big philanthropists have discovered that their billions cannot solve the city’s multiple problems. Perhaps they might recognize their essentially top-down approach could be beneficially flipped from a power and control standpoint, i.e., a UBI. Nah, who gives up power!
**
Society is being torn apart. Leaving aside the multiple reasons, what are some of the choices of the super-wealthy:
Live totally separate lives – already do
Write periodic big checks for issues of their choosing — already do (some rethinking happening)
Resist any changes to the tax code – already do
Ignore societal problems only addressed in part through higher taxes and loophole closings
Maintain a disbelief that the masses will rise up in violent protest
Philosophically hide behind the historical failures of many government programs
Park their excess money somewhere else, e.g., Swiss bank accounts (or places more exotic)
Promote the erstwhile American Dream in the face of its declining applicability
The Affordable Care Act was funded with a 20% capital gains tax plus a 3.8% levy on investment income. The top income tax rate of 37% remains far below levels of the past.
What would the upper 5% prefer: higher taxes on every form of income, closed loopholes (carried interest, appreciation without taxation on one’s demise), or a UBI?
Maybe the right politically could come to view UBI as philosophically aligned with individualism and an alternative to big government getting into their pocketbooks in a direct and painful way.
Perhaps an equally intriguing question is whether the left politically would prefer a series of new government programs (always its favorite “fix”) or a UBI?
Birthday Cards of 2023
This is a compilation of my monthly Birthday Cards in 2023. Various boxed designs have been deleted and all verbiage has been made flush left for consistency.
Each was originally signed, “Peace, Bob.”
JANUARY:
In an uncertain world where personal control is elusive, staying with well-intentioned
New Year’s Eve resolutions is a challenge.
I do an exercise at year-end called “burning your burdens.” I write down a personal shortcoming
to be eliminated. Then I go outside and burn this paper … and have a glass of champagne.
Spoiler alert: sometimes that burned shortcoming has a way of re-appearing the next year. Whoops!
Societally, there is a long list of shortcomings it would be nice to burn, but I won’t enumerate them here.
Regardless of those who focus on the dust on the piano legs rather than the music,
the USA is still the country people move to, not from.
I know you have accomplished much — stay true to your positive values.
You are an inspiration in my life.
FEBRUARY:
Ah, February: love is in the air –
before, during, and after the BIG DAY itself!
Not only is love a wonderful positive all by itself, but focusing on your relationship with loved ones represents a way to stay sane in today’s troubled world.
Negatives abound: on-going discrimination; an inability to construct a logical, humane immigration policy; dishonesty and/or outright corruption at home and abroad; never-ending mass shootings; an unwillingness to consider the other person’s viewpoint. It’s a depressing list, benefiting only drug companies.
So focus on meaningful love and do not be hesitant to tell the other person involved.
There is magic in the initials ILY!
MARCH:
What happens in March that is worth noting?
(1) We add an hour to the clock, for reasons which escape me; (2) Spring begins and complaints about Winter cease; (3) International Women’s Day is celebrated, and (4) skip to the bottom.
Apropos of nothing in particular, did you know that for the white population, 58 is the most common age; for African Americans and Asians, it is 27; and for Hispanics, it is 11!
Of newborns, the United States is already a nation of multiple minorities.
It is time for everyone, of all political persuasions, to fully recognize the evolving blended look
of this unique country.
The answer to #4: March is famous for it being the month of your birth.
APRIL:
Maria Ressa won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for her lifelong fight on behalf of responsible journalism, more specifically, her battles against the dishonesty of the government of the Philippines, her native country and the world’s second-most on-line country.
In her book, “How to Stand up to a Dictator,” she has much to say about the deliberate decision by social media companies to employ their technological wizardry not on the side of defending and communicating facts, but on the side of playing to people’s emotions.
Facebook has the world’s best business model: people give it free information of all kinds. It puts this information through its algorithm grinders and sells it repackaged to eager companies. It knows hate and fabricated posts stimulate traffic to Facebook. Dictators and corrupt individuals take advantage of this, each functioning in their own sphere of power and coercion.
Admittedly, it is not a discovery that negative sells better; conventional network news outlets have known this from the beginning. What is unprecedented is the absence of any serious vetting process for that news item, the speed with which complete lies can gain traction around the world, and the absence of any dynamic tension between journalistic ethics and the business of making money.
Today’s younger generation only knows this Facebook world; historical and contemporary awareness of complexity have been ground into little factoids for ease of consumption while they are smothered by layers of money-making algorithms.
Take time in this month of April Fool’s Day to assess what is real in your life, what is valued, what you love, what makes for a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
MAY:
Many, many years ago, I compiled a long list of sayings, some borrowed (without attribution) and some created. The sayings were posted not on Instagram (yet to be invented) but on our refrigerator. At our daughters’ high school graduations, the insights were typed up and presented as gifts, not because I am unduly cheap and not because I had delusions of being an influencer, but simply because I thought it was a cool thing to do.
The modest list below follows in that tradition: sayings in no order of importance.
*Ask, analyze, assert, accept.
* Any real change implies the break-up of the world as one has always known it, the loss of all that gave one an identity, the end of safety.
*Be quick, but don’t hurry.
*Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
*Dream … plan … build … manage … improve.
*Encourage, enlighten, empower.
*Footprints do not begin in the middle of the snow.
*How can you love somebody yet want to manage the amount of happiness that a person is allowed.
*In a competition, you either win or learn.
*It will be impossible (for the world) to build an ecological future while still maintaining our system of unrestrained material consumption.
*Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
*Kisses are a better fate than wisdom.
*More laughter equals fewer heart attacks.
*Own your actions.
*Our grandparents had careers. Our parents had jobs. We complete tasks.
*Recognize a problem, engage in a problem-solving process, stay focused until the problem is resolved.
*Sometimes the wrong train takes you to the right destination.
*Try to not use either “like” (if you are under 30 years of age) or “but” (if you are older) in your conversation; it’s a challenge!
*We can’t exchange these people for other people. We have what we have.
*You did not know that people could dictate life. You were used to accepting what life gave you.
*You know, I never think of Americans as having brothers and sisters. They always seem so alone in the world, so individual, so … self-absorbed.
MAY/UVALDE:
The 24th marks one year from the day when 19 kids and 2 adults at an elementary school in the small town of Uvalde, Texas had their lives – and those who loved them — destroyed by a gunman. I have been to Uvalde, an hour’s drive from the Mexican border, talking with and supporting mental health professionals attempting to provide solace to shattered families.
Today, in your state, more than two people will die by guns. Tomorrow, another two-plus. The following twenty-four hours, the same. In fact, to be exact and using national averages, in 2022, 2.6 people died by guns every day in every state.
In the specific category of mass shootings of schoolchildren, this country has no peers in the world. It is willing to see kids die rather than face up to the need for gun reform. With all due respect to the Constitution, it is not possible for words put on paper at a certain time in history to anticipate change in an evolving world. In the words of author Geoff Canada, violence has escalated: fist, stick, knife, gun. Only the latter has a high rate of finality to the person on the other end.
Changes under the heading of gun reform are (1) minimum age for a license,
(2) restrictions on the type of gun which can be purchased without a background check, (3) legal limits on where a concealed gun can be carried, and (4) increased urgency among mental health professionals to invoke red flag warnings that indicate a possible shooter.
Arming teachers and instructing kids with active shooter drills will do nothing to alleviate the mental health situation of our young people, nor of their parents and guardians, jumping when a call from the school comes during class hours.
For a thoughtful, pragmatic approach to gun reform, I highly recommend reading “A Smarter Way to Reduce Gun Deaths,” by Nicholas Kristof. It appeared on page four of the Sunday Opinion section of the New York Times, January 29, 2023.
JUNE:
Welcome to Summer: trips to the beach for swimming (a little), volleyball (if there is space), sun (lots), reading (maybe — nothing strenuous), food (especially of the junk variety), and legal beverages (within limits of course).
The month of June, in which we should all take Pride, includes Flag Day, probably little noticed by anybody under a certain age; Father’s Day, always less commercialized than Mother’s Day; and Juneteenth, an important commemoration unfortunately not readily identifiable by many people.
Alas, the fun and holidays of June do not contradict the economic necessity of having a job. Bills must be paid and credit card debt is expensive. Hopefully you like your current employment situation. If not, it seems that “we’re hiring” signs are omnipresent.
Whatever you are planning for the month, take time today to have a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
JULY:
If you grew up in a warm weather climate, July must feel like you have done something right and gone to heaven.
For others, it’s too hot. There is a temptation to move north before all the ice caps have melted.
A full moon takes place on the third of the month. For unknown reasons, when everybody seems to be acting a little crazy, it is common for an observer to suggest that “it must be a full moon tonight.”
The Holiday Heart of the month is July 4, which is still America’s Independence Day unless it has fallen victim to cancel culture.
Whatever you celebrate this month, make sure it includes a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
AUGUST:
August is named after a Roman noble who has not yet been culturally cancelled.
It is often an insufferably hot month, but then July was not exactly cool.
Contrary to conventional belief, the month has numerous holidays. There is
National Ice Cream Sandwich Day on the second, Book Lovers Day on the ninth, and National Fajita Day on the 18th.
Only a cynic would believe that customer-seeking businesses are behind the creation and promotion of these holidays.
My favorite, because there is no mercenary motivation, has to be National Just Because Day on the 27th.
SEPTEMBER:
Students are back to school, which makes some happy.
Celebrating Labor Day, a huge event when manufacturing unions were strong, now is without much participation.
Business activity picks up usually; people return from vacations and spend money in a normal fashion.
There will be at least one Presidential debate (don’t ask!)
Mental health is under pressure. It is more important than ever to have fun
whenever possible – like today, your BIRTHDAY!
OCTOBER:
October is an unusual mixture.
Half of it completes Hispanic Heritage month.
The clocks get changed, time falling an hour.
The weather is a healthy combination
of cool air and warm sun.
Alas, now students must make those
loan repayments which were not required
during the COVID hiatus. Sorry for the reminder.
Will the list of prominent indictees lengthen?
We already have Trump, Menendez, and Biden’s son.
Makes you want to go apple-picking
instead of checking the news.
Meanwhile, regardless of the calendar
or the climate or any semblance of a coordinated
immigration program, people are pouring into the country.
Apropos, I found this quote to be on point:
”To have a parent from another country
is to know how little you can take for granted,
to understand how deeply we have been shaped
by families and cultures,
and to see how easily we could be another person.”
Today is your special day, be yourself.
Have a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
NOVEMBER: A Time to give Thanks
For the cry of a newborn
Not for babies slain in wars
For the beautiful sunrise
Not for the possible sunset of our planet
For aspirations
Not for the cost of higher education
For basketball
Not for age and injuries
For the ability to vote
Not for the quality of our candidates
For welcoming immigrants
Not for the absence of a comprehensive program
For literature of all types
Not for book banning
For open discourse
Not for ignoring facts
For judicial impartiality
Not for reliance on 200 year-old precedents
For art
Not for high prices at museums
For suburban parks
Not for urban parks being scarce
For beauty
Not for crudeness
For peace
Not for how hard it is to find
DECEMBER
What can I say about December that has not been written elsewhere, in greater quantity and quality.
Maybe I should simply
take a walk down memory lane:
On Christmas Day, my father standing at the base of the staircase and announcing that Santa had not come this year. He was kidding, thank goodness.
In my Wall Street days, writing an extensive report on American Greetings that was labeled the best ever on that particular industry.
Family creating our own Holiday card
and stamping it Howmark instead of Hallmark.
Whatever your special memories are,
you have the opportunity to create new ones.
Pray for peace — for all,
not only for those with whom you agree.
Juxtapositions
Traditional: gambling, alcohol, smoking – all aggressively promoted. With warnings language attached.
Work zones are semi-chaotic. The expenditure sign for government funds is to the penny.
Academic scores at a record low. The ability to click to get information is at an all-time high.
Smoke Shops are popping up everywhere. Urgent Care buildings are on the next corner.
St. Barnabas Orthopedics, a first class hospital. It is a major sponsor of Rutgers football.
Six year-olds with football helmets learning how to hit people hard. More CTE studies being released.
There are more ways to communicate than ever. We have fewer friends.
Real estate advertisements are everywhere. Some tout their ethics.
Is it philosophy which brings people together. No, it is some combination of babies, dogs, and football.
A child sniffles in frame one of the ad. The last frame is that of the insurance company.
People are overloaded with imagery. There are ads in the corner of every televised sporting event.
Almost every tennis player has his country identified. Russians get a blank.
The Pope preaches peace. He cannot recognize a war in front of his eyes.
High fat and sugary food and drink advertisements. In the same show, Ozempic is pitched.
Marijuana is promoted. Vaping is illegal.
Blue cities are business partners of Red, crop-growing areas. Each side vilifies the other’s cultural norms.
Escalating credit card usage and fees. When cash is used in large amounts, suspicion is immediate.
Who can sing which rap song lyrics out loud? Apparently it depends on your ethnicity.
Our headlong emphasis on economic growth. Negative ecological externalities are ignored.
Multi-capability devices that can do everything but slice bread. The directions are anything but simple.
New college graduates have a middle-class mentality. Their initial income is in stark contrast.
Which is to be the role of humanity? Did God give them “dominion over” or “stewardship of?”
Long discussion with a cardiologist. Not a question about diet, where one lived, or how one lived.
CBS News. Exactly the same “news” story on consecutive days, i.e., no lead-in, no interpretation.
A Google phone picture, among others: reality altered with a swipe.
An ad for Insinkerator: food thrown away that would be a meal for a billion people or so.
Urgency to get a Call Alert button: two-week delivery.
Smith & Wesson ad labeling its gun an “Equalizer.” Actually it can blow away dozens at a time.
Andrea becomes a Judge
(My comments at Andrea’s swearing-in ceremony)
It’s hard to believe, but I have known Andrea Mazzula for over 30 years.
Since this is a courtroom, I am obligated to provide evidence to support my statement.
I will now pass the evidence around for your examination:
A photo from 1994 that indicates Andrea is skilled at eating. Exhibit A
A photo from 2000 indicating that she did actually go to college and graduate. Exhibit A
Written documentation that Andrea once wrote for a publication called MIDtropolis news. Exhibit B
More documentation that she was organized, a characteristic not common to young people. Exhibit C
Written documentation that at an early age, Andrea wanted to be a lawyer. A great example of foresight and dedication to a long challenging road. Exhibit D
More photos as Andrea took her case to a higher court – I means school – and graduated. Exhibit E
Much later, testimony from Andrea on how she felt about high school and college education. Exhibit F
As you can tell, one of the joys of my life has been to see Andrea move ahead – with education, with her career, with her family.
Along the way, she helped me do a real estate transaction. The result was an Ecuadorian family now slept in their own house instead of on couches at a friend’s place.
Her intelligence, professionalism, attention to detail, her forthrightness – all were on display.
Andrea helped me do a second real estate transaction, this time with a Colombian family. They are now in their first house in this country.
To say that thirty years had no bumps would be misleading. Growth often is stimulated by adversity.
I have documentation that 30 years ago, she had a goal of staying out of trouble. Exhibit G
She also said OJ was innocent. It’s right there in Exhibit H.
She also got mad at me once. I had been falsely accused of drunk driving and handcuffed. I was so traumatized that I neglected to call and wake her up in the middle of the night.
Later, Andrea recommended the book about trauma called “The Body keeps the Score.”
I read it and then gave away a half-dozen copies to professionals who interact with those who have experienced trauma. Depending on your definition, that pretty much includes most of us.
When I was in grade school, there was a quiet kid named Richard Naven who had earned some prize. The teacher asked him to say a few words. He stood up, said “a few words” and sat down.
I have topped him so it’s time to sit down. This is a wonderful occasion and Andrea is a wonderful woman it has been my pleasure to have known. Yes, for over 30 years.
I love you Andrea.
Random thoughts from a hot and humid week in Texas
*In visiting multiple people who formerly lived in New Jersey, I cannot begin to say how proud I am to see WKBJ alumni with families, houses, children, education, careers, functioning in diverse surroundings.
*My laptop was never touched; instead I read “The Attic Child.” Physical newspapers (my addiction continues) awaited my return to New Jersey and the sight of leaves which had fallen in my absence.
*Israel, at war, has declared that “every city resident will be able to get an armament license.” What is needed are the following: medical approval, police approval, and passing an exam for carrying private firearms. In the USA, supposedly at peace unless you check the mass shooting data, you can walk into a gun store and for $800 or so come out with an AR-15 killing device.
*One point of contention in Uvalde is whether to maintain, seemingly in perpetuity, the plaza memorial to the 18 students and three teachers slain on May 24, 2022 or erect a memorial at the new school being built to replace Robb Elementary, where the massacre took place. Many therapists believe there needs to be a shift toward a focus on the mental health of those in affected families, friends, and the community at large, recognizing that there is no closure.
*Is the slope of TechnoWorld’s penetration into our lives terribly dissimilar from increases in single-parent families or teenage suicides?
*It appears there are at least four issues where one can win a debate and change nobody’s mind:guns, immigration, charter schools, and abortion.
*An interesting, and chilling, book is “End of the Myth,” about the country’s continuous redefinition of what a border has meant, and the dominant negative pathology behind the process.
*An Amazon truck is inscribed: “that thing you want, it’s in here.” Tangible stuff defines us. Yup.
*As we add highway lanes, humungous warehouses, and individual storage centers, do we make offsetting financial contributions to all the “we must save the planet” organizations?
*Is it the USA or the world overall that is like a Slinky or an Achilles tendon? You can stretch them carefully and they will return to their normal states, no problem. However, if you stretch a Slinky too far, you have a mangled mess. When you stretch an Achilles too far, the resultant rupture is painful.
Demographics and the Big Agreement
(Premise: nobody is up for dialogue, so the affluent simply leave a tip on the table for all the social service/education providers and their clients, and then call it a day.)
Years back, when I got hooked on demographics, I began assuring anxious Hispanic students with whom I was interacting that the diversity trend was in their favor. Overall, the United States would be a country of multiple minorities sometime before 2050. (P.S. At birth, it already is.)
I then added with a wry smile, “the only question is whether power transfers peacefully.”
We both agreed that was a huge, and incredibly challenging, question.
Note that when I make reference to demographic change that statistically shows minority population growth and white stagnation or decline, this is a numerical observation, not to be construed as somehow philosophically connected to those who regard this as “white displacement.” In fact, the United States has the opportunity through education and entrepreneurial flexibility to be not only the first nation of multiple minorities, but one which could facilitate their upward mobility –if it can get its act together and if racial antagonism does not prove to be an irreversible cancer.
Today, the demographic diversity pyramid in colleges, businesses, and a lengthy list of organizations has the greatest percentage dispersion of ethnicities at the lowest level. This percentage declines at the middle level and dwindles to a small number at the executive level. Change in the composition of this pyramid is practically inevitable given fertility rates and the composition of women of child-bearing age.
This expectation has nothing to do with the current surge in immigration, nor with any future fluctuations in its numbers. It is a here-and-now extrapolation.
Maybe the Big Agreement to be described below is not directly related to these comments on demographics, but indirectly it is: income and ethnic strata overlap. I confess up front that I have taken a bit of creative license, conflating and combining stereotypes and data skews and documentable assertions. (Isn’t writing fun when you control the Send button!)
Time-out for a trigger warning which maybe explains everything. At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Gouverneur Morris, who represented Pennsylvania, rendered this opinion, “The Rich will strive to establish their dominion and enslave the rest. They always did and they always will.”
More calmly put, at times it can seem like there is a Big Agreement between affluent America (AA; no distinctions made for luck, inheritance, or intelligence) and non-affluent America (NA, includes the welfare system, those serving it, and tax-avoidance foundations; no connotation or connection intended to bad luck, poverty at birth, or intelligence).
AA has the luxury of choosing: personal, direct involvement in the hard work of developing policies that structurally would address the widening fissures within our country – or – the equivalent of leaving a tip, money for NA to do with what they wish – which on the record is to fund an elaborate potpourri of social service programs which typically defy evidence-based analysis using mutually agreed upon tools.
If AA desires a policy dialogue and raises for discussion issues like family formation, work ethic, deferred consumption, or education reform, the AA messenger is immediately attacked. NA shouts out, “what about reforming – the police, drug policy, prisons!” And then comes the conversation ender: “AA is white, male, racist. Therefore AA has no standing in our fight for social justice.”
The voice of AA becomes difficult to hear; it is only the sound of money (now soundless in the age of TechnoWorld) which resonates in the Big Agreement, the gratuity left to NA.
Contrary to what is often alleged, AA is aware of history, when white males with hypocritical (at best) views “confused” this country by combining a cogent governance structure with two incredible blemishes: acceptance of both slavery and second-class status for women.
All these years later, anything that AA suggests about certain components of moving from NA to AA is rendered useless by those two stupendous errors. Relatives of those mistakes have continued to plague the country to this day, even as significant change has occurred. Neither racial minorities nor women are remotely proportionally represented in AA.
While AA is not credible – in the popular view – they do have, uh, that asset called money. In its frustration – or maybe glee in being able to opt out of what you might call regular life — AA signs off on a Big Agreement. When it checks out, It is willing to click on the 20% box instead of 15% but it will not whip out its platinum card and convey a serious chunk of its net worth to a collective NA which overall has little interest in discussing a different way of living. The 20% tip itself has no negative impact on the lifestyle of AA. Ironically, sadly, the tip seemingly does little to move the needle for NA.
The AA-NA relationship holds regardless of unfolding demographic change or the continuing evolution of TechnoWorld or the comings and goings in other countries. In fact, none of the trends elsewhere – Europe with problems; Russia and China gaining in influence, despite the former’s invasion of Ukraine and the faltering Chinese economy; Japan aging out; and India trying to balance economic growth with religious divisiveness — send a message to AA or NA, a communication that might read – ‘you need to take care of your internal issues if you are to have any chance of peacefully maintaining a leading voice in world politics.’ The USA being a beacon for those seeking jobs is insufficient; if anything, the AA-NA equation is exacerbated.
Okay, there is inherent cynicism in describing anything like a Big Agreement. Maybe it’s the refuge of a scoundrel writer. But with President Biden’s son, Presidential candidate Trump, and New Jersey Senator Menendez all under indictment, how could anybody be cynical!
Amusing? Addendum
Imagine if Trump had a speechwriting assistant who wrote the following: “everybody knows China’s credibility with numbers and contracts is sub-optimal; most realize that NATO countries are not putting in their fair share of funding; immigration is in need of an overhaul, inclusive of a border strategy; despite its intentions, the UN has done little to prevent aggression throughout the world.”
In each case, Trump’s personal choice of verbiage on the issue buried fundamentally accurate observations with so much stylistic negativity that no serious two-party discussion was feasible. On racial matters and those of diversity, both his substance and his style were so off-putting that even a skilled speechwriter could not make it acceptable to more than a percentage of people, alas, a percentage that was greater than most would wish.
Meanwhile, a bit of analysis by Trump supporters would disclose that they are no more immune to the AA-NA imagery than anybody else. Fundamentally his disciples do not know where they are, or why, to which one unarticulated response is an increased suicide rate among older white men.
(This blog was written before Hamas attacked Israel and the latter responded.)
The Green and Gold Society
Everyone will agree that people should be treated equally, regardless of their circumstances. Hence each of these color-blind policy dictates and requirements is to be applied across the board, no exceptions.
*In order to help save the planet, all people shall either own an electric vehicle or use public transportation. Approximately 80% of Green and 20% of Gold are able to buy a vehicle.
*In the belief that owning a house is correlated with a more stable society and that reducing the debt load is conducive to maintaining that ownership, all buyers must put down 10% cash when they purchase a house. About 70% of Green and 10% of Gold are able to buy a house.
*Clothing stores at the nation’s malls have instituted a policy of random searches in order to combat shoplifting. Some 50% of those searched are Green and 50% are Gold.
*All school systems within a given state shall receive the same per-pupil funding allotment. Allowable non-school spending for educational add-ons: private lessons, trips, summer camps, etc. shall be capped at 25% of the school allotment. 50% of Green and 10% of Gold are able to use some or all of this benefit.
*In order to most economically deploy local police department personnel in combatting street drug traffic, they will focus entirely on urban areas; 15% of Green and 75% of Gold will be affected.
*Mental health is an issue of growing concern, with well-known personalities going public with their situations. Studies have indicated that interaction with a psychologist of their own ethnicity is favorable for a patient. Green connects on 95% and Gold on 5%.
*The state police have cracked down on speeders on interstate highways: the issuance of tickets has been 50% Green and 50% Gold.
*Creating the most cost-effective route for the urban portion of an interstate highway requires the relocation of some people. Around 15% of Green and 50% of Gold are affected by the route.
At what point is it reasonable for Gold to think the deck is stacked against them, perhaps even reflecting a bit of antagonism by Green toward Gold? Can a technically impartial policy or requirement be in fact a convenient, legally enforceable way for Green to keep Gold subservient?
P.S. Why are the 50%-50% outcomes above unfair?
Non-communication
Most people I know are either good communicators or at least have an understandable pattern in their response to an inquiry. Occasionally, an exemplary individual lapses into a mode of non-communication.
In trying to figure out the reason for this non-communication, below I have listed a baker’s dozen of possibilities in alphabetical order:
Embarrassment
Family problem
Friend situation
Health issue
Homework comes first
In jail
Making a Complete Change in one’s life and deferring communication until all the details are in place
No Internet available
Out of the Country
Phone and laptop both out of service
Saving Good News for another time
Self-description as being a disappointment to others
Taking a break to work and save money for the next phase of life
Question: which of these reasons make it impossible for person X to respond to an inquiry from person Y with a two sentence informative communication?
Personality and Process Profile
On Wall Street, I was a partner in a relatively small, but highly regarded, money management and institutional research firm. In December of 2022, the founder and managing partner passed away at the age of 96. My last lunch with him was shortly before the onset of the pandemic. We ate in his office; he was mentally sharp while struggling a bit physically. We had kept in touch over the thirty years since I left the firm to initiate my education foundation endeavors.
Back in the day, as we would pore over all the facets of a company and its top executives, it became evident that there was a personality and process profile worth noting. I put together the following succinct list. It should be apparent as to our preference.
Long studies Short memos
Fluff Facts
Egotistical Self-deprecating
Spender Innovative capital expenditures
Average Health Physically fit
Spread out Concentrated
Gourmet Simple eater
Speechmaker Questioner
Long Answers Short
Imprecise Articulate
Conceptual Concrete
Earnings Cash Flow
Methodical Energetic
Serious Engaging
Staff Individual
Overhead Money Product and marketing money
Calculus Simple math
Growth Wealth creation
Manager Owner
Philosophical Numerical
Fuzzy Pay Big incentives
Small Talkers Business talk
Political Direct
Flashy Conservative
Reward Risk
Even with the advent of social media and the centrality of TechnoWorld, the list above seems useful. As Warren (you know his last name) says, investing is not like baseball where three strikes and you are out. With investing, you can wait, sometimes for a lengthy period, until you find the people and company with whom you want to be associated as a long-term shareholder.