There is a foundational philosophy of
our governmental and justice system that underpins the rationale for
our laws and our public relationships with other citizens. Most of
these came from philosophers who were active during the period of
“the enlightenment.” One of the things that I have questioned at
this time is allowing victims or the relatives of victims to testify
at trials when guilt or innocence is yet to be determined. It seems
to me that this would interject an item of emotional content into a
process that depends on the rule of reason and logic rather than
emotion. After all, we are at that time deciding the fate of another
human being and we owe it to that defendant to take all steps to
avoid a wrong decision. In a larger sense we owe it to our country
and ourselves since we allow our peers to decide our fates as well.
There are some who reject the notion of
the “Social Contract” the terms of which govern our relationships
with our fellow citizens. One of the precepts is that we give up
certain prerogatives in order to enjoy the benefits of an orderly
society. One of those prerogatives is that of revenge. By the terms
of the Social Contract crimes against any citizen are considered to be crimes against all the other adherents of that contract. This is why
we have prosecutors to act on our behalves rather than just going out
and taking an eye for an eye.
If that is true then we have an
obligation to be as fair and impartial as possible when meting out
justice. It must not be from emotional stressors or it will no
longer be fair and impartial but will seek an eye for an eye. It is
my reasoning that brings me to the question of whether or not we
should allow victims or relatives to testify to their personal
suffering. At the same time it is permissible to allow those who
were present to testify of such if it can help determine the
accused's state of mind.
On the other hand, at the sentencing
phase such testimony may be allowed in order to help gain an
understanding of the impact of the crime. This may help a judge or
jury assess penalty withing the boundaries set by law.
It is often said and the United States
is renowned world wide for being a nation of laws, not of men and
women. This is to ensure the equitable application of justice.
Sometimes it does not work exactly right.
I don't believe I have ever seen a
gubernatorial race with as many people running and no one saying
anything about what he wants to do. If you listen you may hear that
they are not going to put up with Obama's policies and are going to
undo KyNect and Obamacare. Someone ought to tell them that President
Obama is not running for governor of Kentucky and is unlikely to
having endured 8 years of the most obstinate and unrelenting abuse
that any human should be required to tolerate. Perhaps they also
should take into account the hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians who
have gained insurance coverage for the first time. Of course, they
may believe that the voters either are too ignorant to come to this
realization or that they won't vote anyway.
Tweedledee and Tweedledum
They are still going on about the war
on coal. I would like to think that those candidates are not stupid
people and if that is true then they know that the coal industry in
Eastern Kentucky is not coming back. Not because of something that
EPA or Obama did but because natural gas is cheaper and all the easy
coal in Eastern Kentucky is gone. Well, there might be some on Black
Mountain but folks are pretty intent on keeping it there. This is no
secret. The writing has been on the wall about the demise of the
coal industry for decades. Western Kentucky coal and Wyoming coal
are just cheaper to get to. The candidates are the ones that go on
about allowing free enterprise to work and this is the result of it
working. If any of the candidates really want to talk about
something then they should really talk about how our leaders have
lied to Kentuckians for over 30 years just to keep the money flowing
from the coal barons.
To a man they all deny global warming.
Nine of the hottest years on record have come in the past ten years.
California is running out of water. Farmers on the Great Plains are
depleting the Ogalalla aquifer at an alarming rate. Drought in Texas
has forced the thinning of beef herds and that's just here in the
United States. They will tell you that they really can't say since
they aren't scientists and then proceed to go on and say. Well, if
they aren't scientists then maybe they ought to listen to scientists
who can say. Authoritatively.
They aren't going to raise taxes. At
least one of them says there is still enough waste in Frankfort to
fund government as long as we do it leaner. Everyone that has been
paying attention knows that state government has been cut to the bone
and then had a few bones removed. If you want to know why the state
worker's pension fund is so short funded then look no further. Those
pension contributions meant to fund the retirements of thousands of
workers have been diverted to make it look like our government was
making do with less when it was just making do with those folks
retirement money. They used to think that it was a pretty good deal
to get someone to work cheaply as long as we gave them a decent
retirement. Now that those people are retiring some think that may
not have been such a good idea after all.
As a matter of fact, they are going to
lower taxes. Yes, they are going to balance the budget on less
money. I suggest they take a look at Kansas and how Sam Brownback
has done with that. As I said, I give these guys credit for not
being stupid and if that is the truth then they are just lying.
Given the choice of being a liar or being stupid I'm not sure which
way I would prefer. That old supply side economics chestnut keeps
coming around and it was voodoo economics the first time around. But
it usually gets votes because people just don't like paying taxes and
they still haven't made the connection between taxes and things like
teachers and fire departments.
The thing of it is that these positions
of misdirection that have nothing to do with what it will take to
move Kentucky aheard (I'm speaking of economically and not
basketball). However, they may be enough to win the day. On the
Democratic side the field was left open for Jack Conway but for some
token opposition from soneone no one can remember. However, with
Conway's previous record of pulling defeat from the jaws of victory
in his loss to Rand Paul for the Senate seat he now holds does not
bode well for Kentucky democrats. In that race I watched Jack Conway
run perhaps the worst political campaign that I have ever seen and
the result was that Kentucky now has a candidate for President (and
Senate if he can swing both).
Kentucky and Kentuckians deserve
better. This is the state that gave the United States people like
Henry Clay, Abraham Lincoln, Alben Barkley and our own Senator John
Sherman Cooper. Men who stood tall and stood for things that
actually meant something other than just getting a portrait on a wall
somewhere. Kentucky is desperate for visionary leadership that looks
into the future and sees solutions rather that tired old policies
that peer backward into some imagined more fruitful time.
My Take is this. In order for Kentucky
to make progress on behalf of its citizens our state will have to
come up with a better crop than we have before us. I can't recall
when I have ever seen a weaker field with no ideas at all. Hard
times are a' knockin' at the door. We can only hope it doesn't mean
good night.
What would it be like if companies paid
their workers as much as they could rather than as little as they
can? This is a big step past Capitalism 101 but it is still free
market. It just places a higher value on the well-being of the
worker than on corporate wealth or some hedge fund manager who
contributes nothing. It is also a patriotic position because it
values the good of the nation above personal wealth. We tend to
think of capitalism as getting the most you can get for as little as
you can but there is no rule that mandates that. Valuing the lives
and well-being of employees is not socialism in any sense of the
word. It is just taking care of your workers in a way that allows
them to have meaningful lives free from financial hardship. It is
all about your value system. If you think this is crazy then
consider this. Dan Price who founded Gravity Systems in Washington
recently took a pay cut from $1,000,000 per year to $70,000 per year
to help fund a pay raise for his employees that lifted them from
about $48,000 per year to $70,000 per year. The boss will be making
the same as the employees. Oh, sure. No doubt he has equity in the
company and other investments but the gesture he makes is dramatic.
By comparison it is estimated that
companies based in the United States are sitting on two trillion
dollars in cash that they are desperately holding on to praying for a
political climate to emerge that will allow them to keep this money
with a lower tax burden. This is money that the free market people
tell us is to be used to “create jobs and employ workers.” Right
now all it is doing is sitting in money funds that attempt to offset
inflation which is very low at this time. If those companies were as
patriotic as Mr. Price they could raise the compensation packages for
millions of workers who could pay taxes and fund the rebuilding of
the infrastructure that buttresses our economy. But that would
require thinking more of their workers and the welfare of the United
States than the multi-million dollar compensation packages and golden
parachutes that have created an oligarchy. An oligarchy that is self
perpetuating by its ability to buy elections and lobbyists to direct
favorable legislation.
Into this toxic brew comes Dan Price,
entrepreneur and millionaire, who shows his appreciation for the
workers by putting his money where his mouth is. No claims of being
a self made man or libertarian concepts to justify keeping it all.
Can anyone argue that it is beneficial to his workers to receive a
greater portion of the fruits of their labor? Is there any dispute
that the distribution of higher wages will have a stimulative effect
on the local economy and help create a secure future for the just
recipients of this event? These people talk of starting a family or
being able to rent or purchase a place of their own. What they speak
of is what we used to call the American Dream, the dream that is
dying a slow and painful death.
In truth, these are the things that we
speak of when we refer to the greatness of America and the love that
people have for their home. So, how can Mr. Dan Price be wrong? Or
could we hold him up as a classic example of the good that exists in
the hearts of some people? Could he be an example of the
selflessness that we so treasure in others but find so rarely in the
hearts of the Captains of Finance and Industry? And if we find it so
valuable and pleasurable then should we not encourage people to
emulate the example for the good of the people and the good of the
country? Dan Price could just as easily found a good hedge fund
manager that would have used the money to finance arcane instruments
that are little more than legalized gambling, making bets on what
institution will fail at their endeavor. In the end his money could
have been used for no good end or for creation of anything other than
more wealth. But it was not used for no good end, it was used for a
very excellent end and that was to improve the lives of the people
who worked to generate it.
I saw a graphic the other day that
showed that there are 80 people, less than 100 people, in the world
that control more wealth than the bottom 50% of all humanity on the
globe. Pause just a moment to allow that to sink in. That half is
about 4 billion people compared to 80. And we now have
representatives of those people hard at work to influence legislators
to allow them to take more.
I am a capitalist. I believe that
allowing people to create and keep the profits from the products of
their creation is necessary to motivate economic prosperity. I don't
say growth because I don't think that infinite growth is possible.
At some point we have to move to sustainability. Capitalism is our
economic model but it is far from perfect and that is the role of
regulation. Without regulation to benefit the rest of society
capitalism is avaricious. There has to be regulation or all of the
wealth ends up in the hands of a very few.
I am also a socialist. I firmly
believe in the value of social programs such as Medicare, Social
Security and, yes, Obamacare. I believe in a tax system that funds
the essential services that only government can deliver and make
available to all. I believe that here in our country we are all in
league together and that means not allowing the least of us to do
without.
I imagine that at this time there are
millionaires everywhere who are saying, “Oh crap, look what that
Dan Price has done. He's going to get everyone stirred up and now
they are going to expect us to do be good to our workers and spend
our money.”
My Take on this is that we need to put
up a monument to this guy. Not only has he shown that private
enterprise can have a heart but he showed us where his is. It is
also My Take that if we had more Dan Prices that unions would not be
necessary.
When I was a kid, ten or so, Dad would
take Mom to the A&P store about once a month to do the
supermarket shopping. The rest of the time we did our shopping at
Sandidge's at Eubank but there were just some things at the A&P
that Sandidge's didn't carry. I have stopped several times to look
at that building, now gone, and have marveled at how much larger it
was in the eyes of my memory. It was HUGE and had so much stuff in
it. I have always been a boy and now a man that seriously loves to
eat. Food is one of my major loves. Seeing all those choices just
made my mouth water but what enthralled me the most was lettuce. I
love lettuce. Salads are very high on my list. I am probably the
only person in the world that can gain weight eating salads. Lettuce
at that time was a rarity out of season. In season, which was
dreadfully short, one had the black seeded Simpson that could be made
into a delectable delight with some green onions and bacon grease.
That was before we knew that stuff would make your blood ooze through
your arteries rather than flow. Dang it was good!
If the budget allowed it Mom would buy
one head of lettuce on our trip to the A&P and I would be
ecstatic. I could never persuade her to buy more of it because it
just was not practical enough. The same went for Miracle Whip. She
would never buy the name brand and always bought the store brand.
What it the world was that name? I swore to her that when I grew up
there would always be lettuce and Miracle Whip in the fridge and so
it has been.
Now, I can make a sandwich without
Miracle Whip if I have mustard but without lettuce to give a sandwich
that crunch it is just something to fill the hole in one's stomach.
With lettuce it becomes something much more exotic. But those were
different times and the interstate highway system and interstate
commerce are so much more developed that those garden delights that
once were only available in season are now available the year around.
The presence of those fresh vegetables have become so ubiquitous
that we take them for granted. Would you like some spaghetti squash
in January? No problem. Cucumbers for Christmas? Just put it on
the list. We all know that nothing beats the taste of a garden
tomato but in the dark of winter we will be very accepting of one
that is tasteless and hard as a brick. Back when I discovered
gardening as a joy rather than a chore broccoli was practically
unknown in these parts. I'm pretty sure that I was growing it before
it ever showed up in the supermarket. Having lived the urbane
lifestyle while in Lexington I had discovered it and developed quite
a fondness for it. I also found that there were several other
delights that it was possible to grow in the home garden and that
changed the whole face of gardening for me.
Most people never think about where
that stuff comes from or how it gets here but that is about to
change. Governor Brown in California just issued restrictions on
water usage that is to cut the volume by 25%. That is the water that
grows the lettuce and broccoli that graces your table. The Central
Valley in California supplies a very large percentage of the fresh
vegetables in the produce aisle at Kroger. In California the
reservoirs are at a fraction of their volume and the snow pack that
provides water all year long is less than 15% of normal. Many
farmers have already taken ground out of production to save water for
other crops. The almond industry is one of California's largest
exporters but it takes 200 gallons of water to produce a pound of
almonds. Farmers are pumping water from the aquifers but they have
pumped so much that the ground is subsiding. Well drillers are
scheduled out weeks and months ahead because they no sooner drill a
well than they have to come back and deepen it because the aquifer
has receded.
Climatologists say this is the worst
drought in at least 150 years, maybe 500 years. Some negative
nannies say we are facing a drought in the Southwest not seen for a millennia
or more. I'm sure you've noticed that beef prices are
through the roof. My family has cut beef consumption to the point
that we now consider it a luxury item and will agonize for hours over
how to cook it without messing it up. Remember “Beef, it's what's
for dinner?” Well, no it's not. The reason for the price uptick
is drought conditions that have forced the large beef ranches to cut
the herd to hold down feed costs. This results in a tighter market
and the free market says that is what causes prices to rise. But we
have coped with not having beef as a common meal. We still have
chickens and pigs and I really love vegetables so life is still good.
I went to Kroger a couple of days ago and got about $40 worth of
fresh produce. But what happens when that $40 becomes $80? There
will be hard choices to make.
When I was a kid we always canned green
beans and tomatoes. We always stored potatoes in some cool place but
it was inevitable that sometime after the New Year they would become
wrinkled and rubbery. That is something one can live with but we
haven't for a while. We still can a lot of beans and tomatoes but we
don't even have a good place to store potatoes.
Times are a-changing. Resources are
stretched thinner, people are more abundant and the family farm is
nearing extinction. The climate is changing, you can blame whatever
you want but your stomach won't care. With water food can be grown,
without water it can't. Doesn't it seem like a good idea to seek
solutions before need and want set in or will our slavish obedience
to the free market allow people to begin starving to decrease demand?
We can already reclaim waste water to a drinkable purity. It may
seem gross but running out of water is worse. I'm not even going to
go on about global warming because the fact is that the associated
costs are coming due with it or without it.
My Take is this. If lettuce goes to $3
a head I will have to make a hard decision. I'd rather not do that.
