Switching Horses

Switching Horses

I have often said that as the City of Somerset goes, so goes the county. It just can't be ignored that the City influences and, in some cases, sets the agenda for the County. For me, from this point of view, what happens in the City of Somerset is cause for attention from the residents of the County. The mayoral race this fall is a prime example. Those of us in the County don't have a vote in this race but we do have an axe to grind. When the City is influential in attracting business to the area it is not only City residents that benefit and who work at these places. It is also County and that should give us a right to be interested even if we can't vote.

One of the issues facing the voters is one that is dear to County residents also. The City Council and the Mayor established a fuel center in order to provide respite from the recurring spikes in gasoline prices. That drew quite a bit of criticism from those who don't like any kind of government competition with private business. It's a matter of ideology for conservatives but I'll bet quite a few of them have taken advantage of gas prices when they have jumped 30 cents or 40 cents per gallon overnight. Personally, I think that if there is a way that government can protect citizens from predatory practices then doing so is a proper use of governmental prerogative. Mr. Keck has said that he would not move to close the facility since that power is held by the city council but there are some on the city council who did not want to see the facility opened and who would join him in closing it. My preference is for government to serve the average Joe rather than serve the business interests. In this case all that is being done is to provide an alternative when businesses take advantage of a captive market.

Mayor Girdler has caught a lot of flak from many who were of the opinion that Somerset did not need a new City Hall and that the new building has been a boondoggle. I don't think that most people understand the capabilities that became available with the new building. Prior to the building the gas service had someone else handle the billing and some other functions. The Somerset Gas Service is quite a massive operation and the new facility provided the ability to monitor the system and make changes in house. It also gave the City the ability to handle its own billings. Through the operation of the City owned gas service it has been possible for the City to make other services more affordable to its citizens. A question that I would have is that if the City Fuel Center is opposed would there be opposition to the City owning this business?

Mayor Girdler has announced that a large new company is going to locate on one of the old properties that has closed in Ferguson. The City will be providing massive amounts of natural gas from which the profits will flow to the City. The jobs will flow to both the City and County. This plant would not have been possible without the resources in the new City Hall building.

I have not had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Keck. I know quite a few people who have and from all accounts he is a great guy and I have no doubt that is true. People often point out that he is a Christian man and is very involved in charitable efforts and other civic actions. All of those things are important to me and it is also important that government be conducted in a transparent manner which he has pledged to do. From his appearance before the Democratic Women's Club we know that one of his goals is to maximize benefits from tourism and I can support that without question. Somerset lacks direct access to Lake Cumberland which is the tourism draw so the options are limited. Besides lodging and dining it seems that entertainment when not on the lake would be the only avenues open to development and I am unaware of any shortage of any of those venues. Perhaps more advertisement in surrounding cities could be helpful.

With Mayor Girdler there is a lengthy record of government service to be examined. That can be a good thing and sometimes a bad thing. With Mr. Keck there is not so much of a public record to be examined. In my opinion Mayor Girdler has done a pretty good job but certainly not without ruffling some feathers. He can be a little prickly to deal with but usually ends up on the right side of issues. There are a few issues where some have had some serious differences with him but that is one of the dangers of having to run on your record. With Mr. Keck one has to look at some other things such as business associations which include some of the major developers of the areas you see on South 27. He has been known to count the Governor among his friends and if his inclinations are anything like the Governor's it may make a difference to you. If you are a teacher this could be an indicator of his political leanings. There is just not as much history to look at.

My Take? From my perspective Mayor Girdler has done a good job and deserves to be reelected. I believe that absent any compelling reason to vote against him there is no reason to switch horses.

rmoore@somerset-kentucky.com

Mea Culpa

I hope that I am at least a little bit wiser than I was as a young man. Of course, that guy was an expert on about everything but still lacked wisdom.

I suppose that from the time that I became aware of the differences between boys and girls up until the time that I found my wife that one of my major pursuits was to convince girls to see things my way. Often drinking alcohol was part of that plan and it was sort of a game that I tried very hard to win but alcohol also impairs judgement. I do not recall ever even trying to force a female to acquiesce to my wishes or to simply overpower her. At some point no meant no. Disappointing but still the rules of the game. Where on earth is the fun in taking advantage of a woman who is unable to play the game? I think this is familiar territory for many of us both male and female. This is not the way that Judge Kavanaugh acted. He has stated that he did not experience sexual relations until what some of us would consider an advanced age but if his accuser's statements are true then he achieved sexual relations in a different way by forcing himself on women even though they were apparently able to fend him off. His methods were awkward and did not consider the wishes of the woman at all. To him she was simply a foil on which he could perform his acts for the enjoyment of others. To me that is despicable.

No doubt I have been guilty of less than honorable treatment of some of the women I have known but, if so, I am truly repentant just as I am a wiser man and can see nuance. If I were accused, as Judge Kavanaugh is, I would readily ask for forgiveness for any transgressions and hope that my request would be granted. Judge Kavanaugh's use of force and his lack of consideration of the will of the woman makes the incidents more than the usual sexual play. With his denial of the incidents he has counted as nothing the years of pain and the other psychological burdens that go with them. That is not acceptable and his lies as an adult make him unfit to serve at the highest levels of our government where he would exercise power over others who have been taken down this road. The path that he has chosen shows us that he considers his needs paramount and the needs of others less so. That is not the kind of person that is suited for the Supreme Court. In fact, if so, then he has already acceded far past what he deserves.

That so many still can't see the truth and reason in this is a sad indictment.

Drastic Measures Indicated

What Now?

The other day I went to my bank. I pulled up to my drive-through as usual to deposit some checks and noticed that I couldn't see into the bank through the window. As I was sitting there confused a young man came up to me and explained that they no longer had humans that would assist me. Instead they had installed machines on which I could see an image of a human (I suppose) in Lexington (as if that would awe me with WOW factor and assuage my concerns) who would assist me far better than a real personal person could. I told him I didn't think so and that I would park and go inside. After all, we used to do that all the time. So, I did that and expressed my dissatisfaction to the teller who tried to tell me it would be all better. I noted that there were two tellers and six windows and I had to wait.

I should have seen it coming. After all, they made it so that I could perform almost all of my banking functions on my cell phone. Also, it has been quite a while now since Wal-Mart installed “speedy checkout” machines. They also have perhaps two or three registers open for people who want a personal experience and who are curmudgeons who don't want to talk to machines.

Shortly after I turned 18 I got a job at a service station. Remember those things. We pumped gas, checked oil and water, washed the windshield and offered to check air pressure. Inside we could do oil changes and light repair such as fixing flats and sometimes we'd get to sell some big ticket item. I absolutely loved that job. It was during summer and I worked 80 or 90 hours a week. I'm sure I wasn't making much better than three bucks and hour but it was more money than I'd ever had. Plus, the drag cars would all gas up with the high octane and that did WOW me. In addition it was a great place to meet girls. I got kind of caught up in a time loop there but there is no place like that now. You even have to pump your own gas and it costs about ten times as much. No one there to ask you how you're doing and would you like those tires checked.

Now you can even order at a “kiosk” at McDonald's for your convenience. Is it convenient when you're standing there trying to figure out how to operate the “kiosk” while a line of millenials or evenyounger people are standing behind you looking at you like you're some kind of anachronism (which, of course, you are).

No matter how much of a curmudgeon I am there is no way I'm going to turn back the onslaught of automation. This is probably how the blacksmith felt when the automobile came along. What did the blacksmiths do for a job when that happened? One thing we older folks remember are the stories our parents told us of The Great Depression and what our history teachers told us of the Gilded Age and the birth of labor unions that restored a bit of hope to the laborer.

Where am I going with this? Here it is. What are all of these people who are losing these menial jobs going to do to earn a living, desperate though it may be? How will we, as a nation, deal with this new demographic that is unequipped to move along with the technology to a superior job. Where will your kids get summer jobs? Where will those who can't subsist on Social Security find additional income? Where will those who are too old to retrain and are undesirable to companies fill the void until their Social Security and Medicare kick in find the income they need?

I hear “experts” say that we will have jobs in the new economy. The “experts” also tell us that there will be jobs in the skilled trades for many. Both of these are true but not for the people that I have described. Right now we are creating a new underclass made up of the former middle class. Blue collar jobs as well as labor jobs are automating and putting people out of jobs. There is a whole underclass of Americans who innately know this but feel better blaming NAFTA and those immigrants because they can put a face on that. Those people are going to make an impact and they already have by electing a President who rails at them with false accusations to reinforce their anger. Make no mistake, this is a real change in the economic life of the United States. It is massive and no one is proposing solutions.

There are solutions but reasonable people are going to have to articulate them in order for them to take place. They are solutions that will require changing the fabric of society but the alternative for our citizens is to fall into the trap of fascism and demagoguery. The is the path that Germany took following WWI and it was ugly. It can't happen here? Don't be naive.

I'm going to offer a few. If you have alternatives feel free to express them. The skilled trades are a very good option. These are jobs that are in short supply and that can't be exported. Many of them will require robots to be far more sophisticated than they are now to do. More training and education in the technical fields such as coding and research and development. For a time the medical fields will be looking for employees but that won't last forever. Have you noticed what is missing? That's right. What about the people over fifty who won't have time to retrain or find anyone to hire them?

One of the ideas that is being tossed about is providing everyone with a Guaranteed Minimum Income. Many will rail about paying people who don't work or can't make enough to live. Many will say that we can't afford it and we can't if we continue to handle our economy the way we do. The cost will be massive and where will it come from?

Roughly speaking, the top 10% of families own 80% of the wealth in the United States. That disparity is greater than it was during the Gilded Age and we have just endured another round of tax cuts for the wealthy. Spending power for what used to be the middle class has been flat since the presidency of Ronald Reagan. 35 years. The wealth of the top 10% is another story entirely because that is where the money went.

My Take is that we've got to go where the money is. There's a lot of ways to do it but that is an inescapable fact. That light in the distance? That's the future and it's coming fast.

rmoore@somerset-kentucky.com

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