How About That Weather?

Chris Mannerino Photo

Saturday's post had Sarge talking about the lovely weather he's having up in Rhode Island. It's interesting how weather is something we all have in common, and we can always talk about it. Not to say we have the same weather of course, but we all have weather and it's something easy to either commiserate on or be happy with.  I was walking my dog yesterday afternoon and a neighbor greeted me with "It's a hot one, isn't it?"  Weather is just easy polite conversation that allows a connection, without actually meaning anything.  I'm quite fortunate here in San Diego to have good weather nearly all year long, never really getting very cold, very wet, and never snowy or icy of course.  We do have the negatives of drought and forest fires though.  The weather is a huge reason I continue to live here, but with that nice weather, it's easy to get soft.  I remember my first visit to Rhode Island one November for a 7-week School to train me up on the Tactical Actions Officer job on board the carrier.  That's the job in combat behind the big blue screens where you defend the ship if necessary.  I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt the morning I left San Diego, and it was in the 30s when I arrived at the base.  Quite a shock to my system, which made me appreciate SanDog more.  And made me consider trading in my leather flight jacket for a pea coat!

TAO on the job

I was semi-estranged from my father for some years after my parents' bad divorce, and when we did talk it was often forced.  Once we finish talking about Navy stuff, something we had in common that was comfortable for both of us, the uncomfortable silence would be quickly filled with talk about the weather.  I can't say it was the most interesting of conversation items, but I suppose it kept us talking till things softened up between us years later.

I'm sure you can tell by my past posts that I'm not a big fan of California, but that is really only regarding our government, crazy taxes, and ineffective leadership.  It's a beautiful state with a very diverse landscape.  Here in San Diego we like to brag that we could ski in the morning and surf in the afternoon, not that I really do either of those though.  I have considered becoming one of those refugees that Juvat speaks of, leaving California for friendlier climes, but it's really isn't feasible for us right now.  Having a special needs son in a group home, and having access to all of his services and medical care sort of anchors us.  Not that we couldn't move and try starting over with a new job, home, and services for my son, but things are stable and comfortable for us right now.  So moving is a big change I'm not willing to take on right now.

Back to my conversations on the weather with my father, it achieved a level of communication that I was satisfied with, although not really doing much to make our relationship better.  I think a lot of the things I grumble about, both here in California and on the federal level is that various policies only achieve a certain level of satisfaction by the policy makers, the people they are supposed to help, and the taxpayers who fund them, but don't improve anything.  There's a lot of emotion behind various programs, that makes people feel good, makes government leaders feel that they are doing something about the problems, but they really don't.  And sometimes they actually have a negative effect.

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For instance, consider our welfare programs?  Do we need them?  Absolutely.  I have no problem with helping people that are down on their luck, unable to work, or struggling to make it.  But does our welfare system do anything to help them get out of trouble, to give them a leg up and out of their need for those benefits?  Or is it too lucrative and easy for those folks to stay on the dole?  Also, does it help contribute to a fatherless society and single motherhood?  Probably.  After her divorce, my sister and her two sons lived in subsidized housing and received food stamps.  She was disturbed by some of the conversations she had with some of her unmarried neighbors who explained to her how she could get more money if she had another kid.  She got through that period of poverty and left that environment, but some others were just taking advantage of the system. These programs are clearly needed and very popular, but they can also be seen as perpetual and just paying people to not work.  

“Aid is just a stop-gap,”  “Entrepreneurial capitalism takes more people out of poverty than aid…. In dealing with poverty here and around the world, welfare and foreign aid are a Band-Aid.  Free enterprise is a cure.”  "Entrepreneurship is the most sure way of development."            - U2 frontman Bono

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What about green energy policies? Should we maximize our use of renewable energy? That's another absolute yes. The more we can do to reduce our impact on the environment, the better. But we, the American people, are also part of that environment. When government policies clearly cause a painful rise in the the cost of all goods and services, hurting nearly everyone in the country except the uber-wealthy, green isn't good. And this administration doesn't seem to care. We are definitely addicted to fossil fuels here in the US, with every ship, truck, train, airplane, and panel truck delivering our goods being reliant on gas or diesel to power their way to us. There's no way we can fully or even partially replace that during a single administration, or even a generation. We can improve our power grid and transportation system over time, but that'll take a few generations. Here in California the Governor issued an executive order requiring sales of all new passenger vehicles to be zero-emission by 2035 and additional measures to eliminate harmful emissions from the transportation sector. That makes no sense, is economically impossible, and isn't supported by current or planned investment in our already strained electrical grid. It also ignores rental homes and apartments which can't support electric charging for every vehicle. The order also ignores the massive amount of raw material required to develop every single battery in those electric cars which isn't very green either. And one last point on renewables- if we're going electric- using coal for that power is another example of doing something that feels good, but doesn't do anything.

Need another example?  There's also the recent trend to declare much of society as racist, and enact policies that supposedly fix that. 

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown privately signed a bill last month ending the requirement for high school students to prove proficiency in reading, writing, and arithmetic before graduation.                                                 Source

That's just dumbing down our system, and our students, not preparing them for the world they'll face once they graduate.  We're essentially giving up on our kids.  Kate Brown and Oregon Democrats might feel good implementing policies like that, but it will eventually hurt those they are trying to help.  This is the same issue I have with CRT, which divides people by race, claiming that society is inherently racist and there's no way out of it.

I'm not expecting perfection with these programs, and we should continue to help those in need, increase usage of renewable energy, and maximize opportunities for everyone, but they seem to have as many negative consequences as they do positive ones.  We have to go the extra step to not only put on the band aid, but check to make sure the wound is healing.  Policies can't just be political theater, and should be based on statistical analysis, vice emotional platitudes.  The band aid might make us feel good, but it's about as useless as me and my dad talking about the weather- it helped a little, but didn't get to the root of the problem.