"I'm in with the in-crowd."

The cruelty is the point.

The Atlantic's Adam Serwer had the insight. 

Isn't Trump's gratuitous cruelty a mistake, a "bug" in his overall presentation? No. It is a feature. 

His supporters like a winner and the casual cruelty toward the people he dominates. He is picking on someone they dislike, and they are doing it together. Casual cruelty mixes a feeling of superiority with a feeling of belonging to a group--a big group with power. It feels good to be on the winning team. 

The left has its version of bullies. It is a fringe group. As party policy it was rejected when Democrats chose Biden. Biden's "soul of America" talk was about unity. The famous "woke mob" of social media scolds has toeholds of power in academic circles and advocacy groups, but it largely reflects those micro-climates, not the Democratic Party institutionally or its base of voters. The bullying left condemns words and ideas it considers disrespectful to marginalized people.The right's bullying consists of joyful disrespect to the marginalized.

Here is a brief clip from Fox News. Host Jesse Watters is talking with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. They are celebrating. Those "illegals" just got dumped on Martha's Vineyard. The asylum-seekers are collateral damage, not the target. Watters says "This is where the Obamas have a home, Oprah, Beyonce, even James Taylor." Three now-wealthy Blacks and a folk singer. They are the target.

Watch:

Click Here

They are snickering. The trick's on those uppity people in their rich-person island. My point here is not that the treatment of the migrants was so terribly cruel--it isn't--nor that the effect on the residents of Martha's Vineyard was so terrible--they handled it easily. It is, instead, the snickering and one-upmanship itself, directed at those uppity achievers. Obama, Oprah, and Beyonce were top of mind.

I have shared in this blog disturbing photos of the crowds at lynchings. It was a community celebration. Look what we did! Families posed for the camera.

Serwer wrote about Trump in his Atlantic article:

It is that cruelty, and the delight it brings them, that binds his most ardent supporters to him, in shared scorn for those they hate and fear: immigrants, black voters, feminists, and treasonous white men who empathize with any of those who would steal their birthright. The president’s ability to execute that cruelty through word and deed makes them euphoric. It makes them feel good, it makes them feel proud, it makes them feel happy, it makes them feel united.

Watters and Pompeo are in on the joke. They are in the club. Not every Republican likes Trump and his bullying, nor do all Republicans join in the snickering or celebrate the cruelty. Some reject it and wish Trump would go away. More go along, including most candidates, who see what their voters enjoy. They stand in the crowd and cheer quietly. Or don't cheer, but stand in the crowd.

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Easy Sunday: Punking those Migrants

Ron DeSantis sent a planeload of asylum-seekers to Martha's Vineyard and dropped them off unannounced.

Ha! 

It was political theater.  DeSantis could show up those liberal "sanctuary state" governors as sanctimonious hypocrites. The more they complained, the better. Watch liberals cry.

The people seeking asylum from Venezuela were props in the drama. Extras. They were told they were going to Boston where they would get help filling out paperwork so they could get jobs. Fooled!! Suckers!!

Maybe this wasn't just about liberal tears. What about the refugees? What about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, and welcoming the traveler? The migrants are people. Wasn't this cruel to them? Didn't Jesus speak directly to this? 

Matthew 25: 44-46

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment.

The week's events generated revised attention and circulation of this video on YouTube: Republican Jesus.  

Click: "Let's get her to a detention center."

I am not Christian, but I was brought up Christian. I have a moral intuition that gratuitous cruelty is wrong. It was wrong to mislead those people about where they were going and why, wrong to drop them off unannounced and confused in a strange place, wrong to use fellow humans as props. Making the lives of miserable creatures—farm animals, pets, children, adults, the poor, the desperate—even worse and even more miserable? Well, it is simply wrong.

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"No appointments available":

I counted 82 people waiting in line.

It isn't easy to get a TSA-compliant driver's license in Oregon.

The Department of Motor Vehicles was on my mind because my wife's driver's license is expiring in November. A driver's license is the most convenient form of ID. Soon one will need a "REAL ID" that meets TSA standards to get onto an airplane. To acquire it one needs to go to a DMV office in person and show them a passport, a utility bill, and other documents that demonstrate your identity. 

The Medford office is too overworked and backed up to allow any new appointments for a REAL ID, but they do accommodate walk-ups, which they handle as time permits over the course of the day. The DMV closed its office in Ashland, 15 miles away. The office in Grants Pass, 30 miles away, is open but does not have appointments available. Today the closest office with appointments is in Roseburg, 100 miles away. This isn't a disaster, but it is a four-hour round trip inconvenience on a workday, and 200 miles of driving. Or she could wait in line and take her chances.

The Department says it is a workforce issue. They display this sign at the Medford DMV office where people standing in line can read it:

When the coastal city of Brookings abruptly closed its DMV office in May, DMV spokesperson David House explained that they simply could not staff it any more:

DMV, like so many employers, has been experiencing a staff shortage the past few months. We have not been able to hire and train as fast as we lose people to retirement or just changing jobs. Almost every day now we have to close at least one of the smaller offices where there is no backup available — because nearby offices are understaffed. In Medford, for example, we’re down to six employees from the normal 14 to 18.

Bloomberg News posted an article this week titled "No one wants a government job." They posted this chart.  A million jobs have not been filled.

One of the points of distinction between Democrats and Republicans is the role and efficacy of government. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to support government solutions to problems. In Oregon, Democrats have the advantage and burden of incumbency. Democrats hold the statewide offices and have majorities in both houses of the legislature. Democrats own the successes and failures.

I see Republican campaign advertisements citing encampments of the unhoused and how they are going to get something done. Tents and unhoused people are a conspicuous problem common throughout West Coast states. There are no easy solutions. If Republicans were in office they would be unlikely to cure mental illness, end addictions, make housing inexpensive, or persuade un-persuadable people to go to shelters any faster or better than can Democrats. But it is easy to say, and people want something done.

The DMV workforce issue may not have easy solutions either, but it is more directly the responsibility of the people in charge of operating state government.  Since a government agency demands something, they should staff offices so people can comply. That seems simple. 

I did not hear people in line griping about Democrats. This is 2022, so most people were silently looking at their mobile phones. Still, the wait times and inconvenience from the DMV may be one more source of generalized discontent I sense about state government. That adds to the political vulnerability for Democrats in a state where Democrats are in charge.

Former Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat, said that since Democrats are the party of government, Democrats have the responsibility to be good at governing. No one loves the DMV, but it is best for the party running things if people don’t actively hate the DMV.

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Oregon, Sweet Oregon

Drink up.

Oregon's reputation is changing.

Steve Prefontaine

When I was a college student in Massachusetts back in the 1960s Oregon had a stellar reputation for politics, at least among classmates. We had two Senators opposed to the Vietnam War: Republican Mark Hatfield and Democrat Wayne Morse. In the 1970s Oregon developed other reputations, also good. Oregon had a bottle bill to reduce roadside litter. We had public ownership of ocean beaches. We had a governor who said Oregon was so great it shouldn't get ruined with overcrowding, so visit but don't stay. That was an unusual advertisement for the state. We were quirky but special. Oregon got a reputation as the running and jogging capital of the world. Steve Prefontaine was a celebrity. Oregonians were fit and healthy, or at least working at it.

More recently we gained a reputation as a place that was like California, but less crowded and expensive. Oregon implied "livability." Life was easier here, and better. Californians came here to retire. 

Recently things got darker. NY Times writer Nicholas Kristof writes from Oregon about the multiple dysfunctions of his boyhood home in rural Oregon. Oregon was partly Appalachia. Somehow the same distressed counties were associated with world class pinot noir wines.  Nearby Portland was an over-the-top liberal utopia, parodied in the TV show Portlandia. Somehow Oregon was all three at once.

Jack Mullen spent his youth in Southern Oregon. He lives in Washington, D.C. now. He has been reading stories in the national news that add a new dimension to Oregon as the number one state for drug and alcohol addictions.  

Guest Post by Jack Mullen

 

Oregon’s pristine 20th century image no longer holds sway across the nation.

As a former Oregon resident having grown up in the Rogue Valley, I wince every time I hear downtown Portland referred to as a combat zone. Descriptions of rural Oregon fare no better, with many sordid accounts of the ravages of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and even heroin tearing communities apart.

Perhaps Portland’s reputation as “Beervana”, the nation’s leader in craft breweries, helps seal the town’s culinary reputation as a better restaurant town than San Francisco. But at what cost?

Perhaps all the wineries dotting the Oregon countryside make Oregonians proud when they learn that Oregon ranks second only to California in the number of wineries in a state. But at what cost?

Without sounding too much of a “get off my lawn” type, I can remember spending summers sauntering across the Rogue Valley with Peter Sage, thinning and picking pears. Those orchards, where occasionally I chucked a rotten pear at Peter, as he diligently was plucking off a ripe Anjou, are now growing grapes. Only 12% of the valley’s pear orchards that existed during the 1960’s still exist, having been sold off. I suppose you can say beautiful vineyards make for an even more scenic Rogue River Valley.

What concerns me is Oregon is now referred to as a drinker’s paradise. Oregon has the highest rate of alcohol disorder in the country. The Oregon Health Authority was quoted in the New York Times saying more Oregon residents died of alcohol related deaths than meth, fentanyl and heroin combined. This is not pretty.

American history is resplendent with the tug of war with those trying to control perceived vices. Women founded he Temperance Movement in the late 19th century, which, to its everlasting credit, resulted in giving women the right to vote. The Temperance movement also lead to Prohibition. The former was long overdue, the latter proved to be a disaster.

Temperance Movement descendants later found success when they formed MADD, Mother Against Drunk Driving, resulting in fewer deaths.

Is it possible to lessen alcohol related deaths beyond just drunk driving?

The long-fought battle against Big Tobacco provides an example on how to succeed and save lives. It took increased taxes on a pack of cigarettes, a ban of all television and radio cigarette commercials, and even Hollywood deciding not to glamorize smoking to make a potential smokers think twice about smoking.

The same road to success with alcohol is to tax the producers and sellers, who in turn pass on costs to the consumer. Studies show at least in Illinois and Maryland, increased taxes on producers reduced binge drinking. I’d say that is at least a start.

Oregon 71--Eastern Washington 14

Hubris is dangerous. It offends the gods.

Be careful about running up the score.

I am not just talking about football and Greek literature. I am talking about the 2022 midterms.

I got the willies on behalf of Georgia when they beat Oregon in the season opener 49 to 3. For now it looks good for them. They are ranked number one now, right along with Alabama. I worry it will go to their heads. 

Oregon, shamed, took it out on Eastern Washington in their second game, winning by 57 points in a total mismatch.  At some point a win becomes shameful.

Ducks Celebrate

In the big showdown of heroes in the Iliad, narcissistic and petulant Achilles defeated the noble Hector. Achilles dragged the body of Hector around the battlefield behind his chariot. It was the ancient warfare equivalent of a post-touchdown celebration where a player wiggles his butt at the opposing team. Homer wrote that the gods were disgusted, especially Apollo. He got Zeus involved. Problems ensued.

Midterm elections usually are a referendum on the party in power at the White House. It usually loses seats. Voters want a check on the excess of the newly-elected president and his party. That may still be the case in 2022, but things seem oddly different. The Democratic Party isn't powerful. They are a slow and uncertain three yards and a cloud of dust. They are kept weak by narrow majorities and disagreement in the ranks. In the House the Squad wants a new Great Society or nothing. In the Senate Manchin and Sinema block Democratic boldness. 

The party running up the score is the GOP. They got their Supreme Court Justices and a reversal of Roe v. Wade. The Courts seem ready to find a legal justification for decisions that will please Republican partisans. A Trump-appointed judge ruled to delay investigation of classified documents held at Mar-a-Lago. The Supreme Court allowed the Texas bounty-system to stay in place. It put gay marriage and contraception back on the table. Several judges, and maybe a majority, seem open to state legislatures deciding to overrule the presidential vote in their states to appoint on their own authority their own preferred slate of electors. In red states legislatures were already banning abortion with trigger laws. An Indiana Attorney General sought to prosecute a doctor who gave a 10-year-old rape victim the abortion she wanted. The GOP agenda looks extreme, empowered, and motivated.

Lindsay Graham just made the stakes even higher with proposed federal legislation. It would preserve state-by-state ability to ban abortion from the moment of fertilization, but would ban abortion after 15 weeks in every state. His proposal reminds voters that there is no refuge in blue states. The GOP is on the march.

Meanwhile, this is still the era of Trump. Trump is center stage. He says outrageous things, so of course they are news. He says he should be reinstated as president today. He took documents to Mir-a-Lago and says they are his to take, or that they were planted, or that they are harmless, or that they were searched for by Deep State FBI thugs who prowled through Melania's clothes. He holds rallies condemning his former Cabinet members. He intimidates Republican officeholders and candidates into echoing him. It works. He isn't a has-been. He may be the future that GOP voters demand.

Mitch McConnell sees the peril for the GOP. His complaint about "candidate quality" is a reference to Trump-compliant candidates who headline the GOP. McConnell gets boos at Trump rallies. Trump calls him a weak RINO. It isn't McConnell's party. It is Trump's. Trump's popularity shows that restraint is unnecessary. Go bold. 

Triumph feels so good. Republicans see the opportunity to roll back cultural changes of the past sixty years. Georgia football could not contain itself on opening day. Oregon could not contain itself in game two. Trump can never contain himself. He inspires a GOP without limits.

Homer warned us about hubris. It offends the gods. Here on earth now, Republican hubris frightens voters. It is the nature of hubris that humans do not take the warning.

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Why College? Part Three: Trade School Kid

Vocational education is not "high school for dummies."

It is liberating to know how to do something useful.

Today's Guest Post is from John Coster. He graduated from Nashoba Valley Technical High School in the northern suburbs of Boston, near the New Hampshire border. It now calls itself "Your Skills Focused Public High School." Back when it was founded in the 1960s it was called a "Vocational" High School. It had some classes in the typical things taught in high school--English, math, civics--but its primary emphasis was on teaching students practical things in hands-on shop-type classes. I knew the school's first principal. He was proud of the distinction between his vocational school and "regular" high schools. His high school graduates would have "learned a trade and could go right into industry." Not so in the high schools of the kind I attended, he would remind me.

Yesterday's post noted the value of college as a time of exploration. People are free to find out what really interests them. There is another approach to entering young adulthood. Be employable, which gives you the financial and psychological wherewithal to explore the opportunities that present themselves in life. Coster took that tack. Over his 40-year career, he owned and operated electrical contracting companies. That evolved into work overseeing the design and construction of multimillion-dollar projects for Amazon, Microsoft, T-Mobile, CenturyLink, and Toyota.

Coster

Guest Post by John Coster

I have been told over the years that my career trajectory is an anomaly.  The narrative was that the “trade school kid” beat all odds and leapfrogged into a successful professional career without any college. Numerous studies show a strong correlation between education level and earnings, and that seems to be the unquestioned basis for people going to college. But are these data over-generalized and misleading when it comes to making decisions about everyone’s career path?  

I realize the following examples are anecdotal, but I think they also tell an important story. Many readers probably know similar stories. 

•        My cousin studied carpentry in vocational high school and has done amazingly well building his high-end residential cabinet/millwork business, providing a good living for his family and good-paying jobs for his employees and business to his suppliers. 
•        A guy in my church started as a framing carpenter, became a spec, then a custom (Street of Dreams) home builder. He learned that land development had different cycles for risk and profit potential so he became a land and commercial real estate developer. He and his sons now develop, own, and manage a large and growing portfolio of commercial mixed-use space. He has enough savvy and financial headroom to land-bank property until the market timing is right. He never went to college.
•        Another friend started with a small cabinet shop in his garage and grew it to a $50 million business, providing prosperity to his family (and a foundation), a legacy to his children, (he just passed it on to his sons), and good and valuable jobs for his employees. He also never went to college. 
•        The owners of the electrical engineering and construction contractor where I worked for over 10 years were “mere” electricians who built a $100M business. Also, no college. Not even business school. They hired college-educated accountants, attorneys, and engineers. 

Since I know each of these people, I can tell you they would not likely have done well in formal book learning, test-taking, paper-writing, and academic settings. None of them care about arguing abstract theories, fancy titles, or publishing papers that are cited by their peers. They would never read this blog. They are all optimistic, opportunistic, risk-taking doers. Several of them faced near insolvency at some point and fought their way back with grit and determination (and a little luck).

Okay, we can say these are examples of creative entrepreneurs who had some luck. So, what about the earning potential of the non-college-educated worker-bee? Here are some numbers.  The IBEW Local 46 (electrical union) here in Seattle will take in a starting electrical apprentice with no skills at $24/hour + benefits, health, and pension, growing to $57/hour after 4 years as a journeyman. If they oversee a crew, they can make up to $69/hour. That’s almost $140/k per year for just 40 hours a week. They get paid Time+1/2 over 8 hours and Saturday work and double time on Sundays. It’s not difficult for just a working guy to pull $150k and a general foreman to clear $200k without a sweat. Oh, and all the training is paid for. 

According to the welding trade magazine, Fabricator, the median wage in 2019 for welders is $35/hour. That’s still $70k a year at 40 hours per week, and many companies like Seattle City Light offer free training and certification. It’s not for everyone but it’s a great fit for many who would otherwise be working at Pizza Hut or driving for Uber. Plus there is always ample side work. 

What many people miss is that these kinds of jobs are mostly “off-shore” proof and not easily replaced by automation. There’s a short supply and big demand and it takes years to build the skills needed to be proficient. The talent supply is not fluid.

I remember touring college campuses around the country with my kids, how each school sold itself as “The place” for preparing and unleashing my student’s full potential; preparing each one for a rich and flourishing life – which presumably meant a prosperous livelihood if they choose. We bought it, and while we don’t regret that we underwrote our kids’ educations, I am convinced that it was overhyped and would rethink it today. 

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Why college? Part two

Guest Post:     

"I hadn’t chosen a profession, but at least I had set a direction."

Yesterday I said the American college system was broken. It persists in present form because it serves some purposes. It gives young people who have no idea what to do with themselves time to explore, experiment, and find their way.

The traditional liberal arts four-year education is intended to create an educated person, with a curious, informed intellect able to reason well in all matters. A "university," is a place that congregates a universe of areas of study. Faculty typically requires students to take classes in multiple areas. An educated person has exposure to the wide world of people and ideas. The college's goal is broader than job training. It is life training. 

Teenagers will state an occupational interest because adults expect it. It is a more satisfactory answer than "I have no idea." College gives permission for students to look around. To change majors. This period of exploration is an expensive luxury. Its value isn't efficiency. Its value is fitness and long-term happiness.

Today's Guest Post was written by college classmate Sandford Borins, a Professor of Public Management Emeritus at the University of Toronto. His story exemplifies the value of this period of exposure to diverse, new things. In retirement he maintains a blog of his own: https://www.sandfordborins.com

Guest Post by Sandford Borins

I teach a fourth-year undergraduate seminar in strategic management.  I asked the students to spend the time reflecting on their soon-to-be-completed undergraduate experience. Specifically, I asked each of them to give a short oral answer to the following question: “Looking back on your years as an undergraduate student, what did you learn or experience that you think will be valuable in your future?”

Here are the most common answers in this year’s seminar.

The students think that an undergraduate business program with frequent assignments has taught them how to set priorities and manage their time.

Second, they feel they have learned how to work effectively in groups. One student argued that he much prefers working in groups to working solo. Another said group work helped him in the areas he was weak and allowed him to help others in the areas he was strong. Quite a few immigrated while in high school and said that group work helped them to overcome shyness.

Third, the students, especially those who were not recent immigrants, see diversity as a great strength. They recognize that there was much to learn from people whose backgrounds and experiences are greatly different from their own. 

Fourth, many students observed that they did not begin the business program intending to major in strategic management. They moved to strategic management because it fit their emerging interests better than the more high-profile fields (accounting, finance, marketing) they thought they would major in. Their generalized conclusion from this experience is that it is important to be flexible and to adapt to changing circumstances.

I began the class with my own answer to the question of what I learned as an undergraduate that proved to be valuable in subsequent years. My undergraduate education – emphasizing individual work, with fewer deadlines, and spent living in residence with a much less diverse group of students, though – was very different than theirs. The times were also different, with a stronger labor market and less concern about job-readiness.

I entered university thinking I would make a career in law and/or politics. I found out that economics and political science fascinated me more than sociology (which had been taken over by radical leftists), anthropology (due to my reluctance to do fieldwork) or law (thanks to a boring summer job). I went on to a graduate degree in Public Policy. I hadn’t chosen a profession, but at least I had set a direction.

I had considerable free time at my disposal and spent much of it watching movies at the Brattle theatre, going to plays, learning about classical music, and visiting the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. My undergraduate years shaped my cultural interests for the rest of my life, and I retain a lively interest in film, art, opera, and music.

In addition to recounting these major influences, I made the point, which those who spoke about flexibility would understand, that life has many surprises and ironies, and I mentioned three.

I was active in sports in high school, but in university chose to be an intellectual rather than a jock. At a time when jogging was becoming popular, I realized that the dichotomy between intellectual and jock was false. I became interested in cardio sports (running, swimming, cycling, cross-country) and this interest has become lifelong and fulfilling.

One of the fields I explored in university was architecture. The Bauhaus, which had strong links to Harvard, particularly fascinated me.  I realized I didn’t have the necessary artistic talent. 

Finally, I was an undergraduate in the United States during the height of the protests against the war in Vietnam, which fulfilled the full measure of the Chinese curse about living in “interesting times.” It was a period of great anxiety. My undergraduate class was publicly referred to by Harvard’s then-President as its “worst class ever.” Despite, or maybe it was because of that moniker, we developed great esprit-de-corps, with an active daily list-serve, record turnout at reunions, and many ongoing deep and fulfilling friendships. What a wonderful irony.