Since being listed on hitchitch.com recently (due to no effort of mine) this blog has many new readers. I probably owe it to them to tell them about this blog so they don't waste their time.
This is not one more RV blog that discusses where the blogger is today, whether he got the oil changed at Walmart, or whether RV toilet paper should be one ply or two. Nor am I interested in selling you solar panels, LED lights, etc. Presumably you don't need me to tell you that there is 'breathtakingly beautiful' scenery in XYZ national park.
I don't want more readers -- I want better readers and commenters. So then, let's put our newbie readers through a sink-or-swim test by depriving them of the travel escapism and eye candy that they expect.
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Anyone who reads a lot of editorials and opinion on the internet must feel frustrated much of the time. So it is a pleasure to announce a rare victory: an editorial that is worth rehashing. Naturally it pertains to the recent Wisconsin recall election.
Perhaps you think you've heard enough about that already. But most of that was probably just partisan cliches and shibboleths, left versus right. It is far more interesting to read editorials that are written with some historical perspective.
Via realclearpolitics.com I ran into this editorial in the ever-shrinking New York Times, by Ross Douthat:
According to Jay Cost, the great American "share-out" is over. Politics is likely to become nastier. The end of any era is worth thinking about.
This is not one more RV blog that discusses where the blogger is today, whether he got the oil changed at Walmart, or whether RV toilet paper should be one ply or two. Nor am I interested in selling you solar panels, LED lights, etc. Presumably you don't need me to tell you that there is 'breathtakingly beautiful' scenery in XYZ national park.
I don't want more readers -- I want better readers and commenters. So then, let's put our newbie readers through a sink-or-swim test by depriving them of the travel escapism and eye candy that they expect.
_______________________________________
Anyone who reads a lot of editorials and opinion on the internet must feel frustrated much of the time. So it is a pleasure to announce a rare victory: an editorial that is worth rehashing. Naturally it pertains to the recent Wisconsin recall election.
Perhaps you think you've heard enough about that already. But most of that was probably just partisan cliches and shibboleths, left versus right. It is far more interesting to read editorials that are written with some historical perspective.
Via realclearpolitics.com I ran into this editorial in the ever-shrinking New York Times, by Ross Douthat:
To understand the broader trends at work, a useful place to turn is Jay Cost’s essay on “The Politics of Loss” in the latest issue of National Affairs. For most of the post-World War II era, Cost argues, our debates over taxing and spending have taken place in an atmosphere of surplus. The operative question has been how best to divide a growing pie, which has enabled politicians in both parties to practice a kind of ideologically-flexible profligacy.
But not anymore. Between our slowing growth and our unsustainable spending commitments, “the days when lawmakers could give to some Americans without shortchanging others are over; the politics of deciding who loses what, and when and how, is upon us.” In this era, debates will be increasingly zero-sum...
According to Jay Cost, the great American "share-out" is over. Politics is likely to become nastier. The end of any era is worth thinking about.
Comments
These things seem to take time however, so we may remain in a state of flux for quite a while.
Whatever happens our first responsibility is to ourselves and our families, and making sure we are taken care of regardless of what the government does or does not provide.
Carl
If not for their huge voting block, seniors would be right behind the Unions. "I got mIne, fend for yourself".
We will bankrupt our grandchildren before the Boomers move through the turnstiles. I'm afraid the "Era" is not ending until then.
PS... I love how you disparage and discourage newbie readers :))
mark
Not sure if politics can get much nastier or non-productive.
I consider myself an independent since I would be too ashamed to associate with either party anymore. Moreover, I find that labeling each other is the first step to ignoring, denigrating and vilifying each other.
Mr. Costs article was thought provoking and more balanced than I expected. That said, some of what he says is open to interpretation and he is offering his. That doesn't mean it is correct.
For example his comment about the appointment of Cordray by Obama. The person that probably should have been appointed, Elizabeth Warren, was a non-starter for republicans. In fact, anyone that would have been effective would not have made it.
My biggest concern is our economy and since the unraveling of effective regulation which began in the 80's it has been a downhill slide. Dodd-Frank is weak at best. The SEC is ineffective and both sides of congress have been co-opted.
I recommend further reading at these two sites.
http://sidschwab.blogspot.com/
http://baselinescenario.com/
Jim