"Privatize It"
The purpose of a government agency is to provide a service. The purpose of a business is to make a profit. When public services are privatized, the quantity and quality of the service is reduced in order to maximize profit.
In a free market, you can leave a business that provides bad products and services. When a business has a government contract, you don't have that choice, and you are paying (through taxes) for that bad service.
Let Them Consider Cake
One of my elementary school teachers told this story.
A woman had three daughters. She was determined to show no favoritism, and had dedicated herself to treating them equally and fairly at all times.
One day, the mother baked a beautiful chocolate cake, and served it for dessert. She carefully cut three identical pieces and gave one to each of her daughters. The first daughter considered chocolate cake to be about as good as any other dessert, so she thanked her mother and ate her slice. Chocolate cake was the second daughter's absolute all-time favorite. She ate her slice with intense enjoyment, and still craved more. When she asked for another piece, the mother refused because it wouldn't be fair to give one daughter more than the others. The third daughter thought chocolate was about as yummy as cardboard. She set her piece aside and asked her mother for something different. But the mother refused because it wouldn't be right not to treat the girls equally.
How often do you suppose these girls felt that Mom was treating them fairly?
Random Thoughts
Illustration: "Such Visions Have...." (1804-20), William Blake What they don't like about "DEI" is "D" - diversity, because that means seeing and hearing people who are different from you. Another thing they don't like about it is "E" - equity, because that means fairness rather than allowing some people to start with special privileges and advantages. They also don't like "I" - inclusion, because making places and institutions accessible might require a small amount of effort, and it would certainly make Diversity and Equity more likely.
One day, the body stops working. Do something before that day.
One place I worked had a big common area surrounded by small offices. The common area had a motion-activated lighting system. If there was no movement for a time, the lights would go out. When some entered the area, the movement caused the lights to come on. Sometimes I'd be working early in the morning or late in the afternoon, when no one else was around. I got used to the area outside my office being dark. But it was really eerie when the lights would snap on and no one was there.
U.S. citizens have always been proud that we don't have to carry "papers" to show at random to enforcers on the street. That will change, as more citizens start carrying papers to avoid being deported in mass raids.
I suspect my fingerprints of wearing out. When I try to pick up small objects, they slip away from my fingers.
If you hire an irresponsible, unreliable, unqualified substance abuser to water the plants, the worst thing that happens is that some of the plants die. Put that guy in charge of national defense and the worst thing that happens is that people die, and wars are lost.
Certain people have fallen in love with the word "tribunal". They don't just want a trial for those they dislike, they want a tribunal! Their posts suggest they believe a tribunal always leads to execution, and they are eager to execute as many people as possible. There are cultists who spend a lot of time dreaming about locking up anyone who ever opposed or even mildly disagreed with the cult leader. They fantasize about killing people, and post messages about longed-for executions. Of course, they want to imprison or kill all Democratic politicians. Their bloodlust extends to Republicans who are insufficiently subservient, and to former trump administration members for reasons I don't understand. I saw one recently, advocating execution for Dr. Deborah Birx, apparently because they hated her scarves.
The ads for prescription drugs and their horrible side effects are fascinating. I particularly like the ads for drugs whose purpose is to fix the side effects from the other drugs.
Most of the drug ads seem to say, "It'll make you feel a little better for a while, but then it'll probably ruin your life and possibly kill you." Kinda like heroin.
What kind of country puts a government monitor into a television network to make sure news and opinions are in alignment with the current regime?
If I were the absolute ruler of a nation, I would want the populace to be generally happy, well-fed, healthy, educated, secure in their homes and communities. I'd want them to feel optimistic about the future. To me, this would be success. If large numbers of people were poor, or if many people felt anxious and threatened, if law enforcement agencies terrified people, if entire communities were unable to recover from disasters, if babies were cut off from health care, if the majority agreed that everything I did was wrong, if people dreaded the future -- that would be failure.
They're Looking at You
"Gestapo men", public domain, Wikipedia
ICE is now a huge military force, with a budget bigger than the militaries of most nations. It isn't part of our national defense. It operates only within this country's borders. It does not track down drug cartels or violent gangs. It isn't looking for bank robbers, rapists, or murderers. It will now be receiving from Medicaid and the IRS information that used to be considered private and confidential. Ask yourself what history tells us about countries that have huge internal militarized police forces with operatives whose identities are concealed, arresting people without warrants, moving them to undisclosed locations, imprisoning people without trials, and accumulating vast dossiers of information on the entire population.
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