ending poverty

OK, I know that it is highly atypical for me to post twice in one day, let alone one right after the other, but my last post made me remember a shower thought* I had the other day.

For as long as I can remember, "world peace" and "ending poverty" were the classic Miss America desires for all politicians to work towards. Eradication of world hunger usually made the list, too. Whether or not any of the three is truly doable in a real world situation is a matter for debate other than the one that concerned me while lathering. Without further preface, here goes:

If we were to truly end poverty worldwide and bring all people in all nations to a standard of living that the average American/European would find to be basic, what other problems would result? For instance, if all child labor ended as a result of wages being brought up for adults and those children were able to engage in more leisurely activities (school, for one), what would that do to the world's markets? Would enough rice be produced? Would there be a global devaluing of education in a generation akin to what has happened in the United States in the past half century? If all people were given the ability to live in housing that met Western standards, what increases in energy consumption and refuse production would result?

Basically, my shower thought ran a line of reasoning that led me to an uncomfortable conclusion: the world as we currently know it needs poverty to exist, to horrific extents in many places, in order to support the entire population of the globe at current standards of living. To do otherwise invites the major problem with communism: if even a small group of people choose not to comply with the system, the system will collapse.

*I don't know about you, but much of my best thinking takes place during the short amount of time I spend each day depleting the local groundwater supply.

I know what the world needs.

Forget ending poverty or hunger. Forget solving overpopulation and the AIDS epidemic. Forget finding a way to make Rick Astley disappear again.

The world needs another iconic movie series from the 1980s to be revitalized 20 or more years later on the weakest of premises.

letter to Bashas' customer service

Below is the text of an email that I just sent to Bashas' customer service. I expect stupidity from teenaged cashiers, but managers with 36 years in the business...

I just got home from a trip to your Camp Verde store. While there, I had an experience that I think you should be aware of.

While in the produce section, I chose to pick up some cucumber. I looked to see the price and was first pleased, then astounded. It was supposed to be listed for 79¢, but someone had erred and posted .79¢! If I were unscrupulous enough to point this out to a manager and force the issue, I could get 100 cucumbers for the price that one was supposed to cost!

As I headed out of the produce section, I noticed that the same error had been made on kiwi fruit and on honeydew melons. I can only assume that other items were mis-marked as well, but I could have easily obtained several hundred pounds of produce for five dollars or less, according to the posted prices.

I called this to the attention of my cashier, who insisted to me that the decimal was absolutely necessary in order to indicate "cents" (he's very, very wrong). Instead of arguing with a dumb high-schooler, I chose instead to point the issue out to the customer service manager. He made a small excuse or two and seemed similarly unaware of how significant an error in labelling that was. On my way out the door, I noticed that my cucumber (marked at ".79¢ ea.") had actually cost me 89¢! Rather than press the issue, I walked outside and related this story to my wife, who was as amused and disappointed as I.

I don't really know if there is some sort of restitution that I should be asking for here, but I WOULD really appreciate if you could make sure that your employees understand the difference between marking an item as "seventy-nine cents" and marking it as "seventy-nine hundredths of a cent" (or simply stop using the "¢" symbol in your produce section).

Hope this helps!

thank you, Sarah

Between yesterday evening and right now, my total page views jumped nearly 870%. My first thought is that I have to attribute this to Sarah Palin, unless there are a LOT of people who are interested in rhetoric.

Sarah Palin resigns, grammarians breathe sigh of relief?

Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come to put rhetoric back in school curricula.

In her resignation press conference, Palin said:

And so as I thought about this announcement that I wouldn't run for re-election and what it means for Alaska, I thought about how much fun some governors have as lame ducks... travel around the state, to the Lower 48 (maybe), overseas on international trade - as so many politicians do. And then I thought - that's what's wrong - many just accept that lame duck status, hit the road, draw the paycheck, and "milk it".

Several transcript paragraphs later, she mentioned having just returned from a trip to Europe where she was visiting with Alaskan soldiers. Before that trip, she was notably in New York City, where she was able to catch a Yankees game. She's also made it to Indiana for a fundraiser, DC for some dumb Alfalfa dinner, DC again for a major GOP fundraiser, and Auburn, New York. For a governor whose state has suffered earthquakes, volcanoes, mudslides, and food shortages (all since January), it sure seems that she's managed to do a decent amount of traveling to "the Lower 48" as well as overseas. Oddly enough, though she's drawing the paycheck, letting Alaska foot the bill for her ethics investigations, hitting the road, and milking it, she's not yet managed to travel around her own state. She has been notably absent from Emmonak, despite the fact that their lack of salmon for subsistence and profit has gotten national attention.

OK, I can't really read any more stuff about Sarah Palin. The woman has always driven me crazy. It's not that I mind women in positions of power; the last two states I've lived in have had female governors. It's not that I can't deal with people espousing political positions I find idiotic; I live in Arizona and read the local paper. It's that she talks like idiocy is a virtue. She may not be a moron, but you wouldn't know it from listening to her or observing from a distance. For further reading on Alaskan politics and how Sarah Palin failsed as a governor, check out The Mudflats.

Who advocates for the young?

Ten years ago, I was getting ready to go to college. As many of my cohort did, I selected a school that matched my interests and would provide me with opportunities to learn and grow and to change my mind. While there, I received training that prepared me for my selected occupation and then went out into the wide, wide world. What I found was a shock.

You see, when I was in high school, counsellors and career experts told me (and most others my age) that there would be a remarkable hiring frenzy when we got out of college. The Baby Boom generation was reaching retirement age, and hundreds of thousands of teachers, doctors, lawyers, nurses, and other public servants would be leaving the workforce. They would need replaced, and my generation would be the ones to do it! Unfortunately, in the early part of the 21st Century, the economy of the United States started to falter. As it did so, those Baby Boomers made a pragmatic decision: they didn't stop working. To be fair, some retired, but they then moved to other jobs or got rehired to the positions they were working before retirement. Though I don't question their right to still be drawing their retirement payments, this practice of double-dipping has hurt their children and grandchildren and the country as a whole.

When I graduated from college, I spent half a year looking for a job. At first, I sent carefully prepared resumes and cover letters to districts in Michigan and Ohio, as those were the states I knew best and I wanted to stay near family and friends. As time progressed, I stopped spending the time to prepare individual cover letters and began sending more applications online. My search broadened, and I eventually moved 1800 miles ten days after accepting a job offer, site and sight unseen. The pay for this job was relatively generous for a new teacher, but still far beneath what most people would consider a reasonable salary for someone with a college education. Though I considered myself somewhat unfortunate for waiting as long as I did and then going through such hoops to get a job, I was far better off than many who have graduated in the ensuing years.

My reason for relating this story is that it is but one example of the young being victimized by their elders in our society. Legally excluded from the legislative bodies that could make changes to the system, teenagers and young adults are unable to work on their own behalf. Powerful lobbying groups work for the elderly, but no such groups exist for the young. Insurance companies offer group rates that are charitable to those with high risk but devastating to those in good health. Social Security payments made by workers of all ages today to support those of retirement age will not exist when the youth of today are of an age to draw those benefits. Student loan debt is the only type that cannot be forgiven through bankruptcy, yet many people in their twenties are drawing more debt to stay in school when they cannot find jobs.

It seems that someone, somewhere must speak for the young. Someone must raise a voice and champion the cause of youth and protect the future of our society from the present. Who will it be?

I'm a whore

OK, so it's been a good six months since I've touched this blog and I'm sure that nobody has read it, nor that anybody will read it, but I have signed up for AdSense. This will (I hope) have three consequences:

1. That I will post more frequently in order to bolster reading.
2. That I will be able to monitor site traffic, such as it is.
3. Oh, man, money.