2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #218 "GOVERNMENT-CREATED POVERTY"

     One of the biggest traps of our day that keeps people from prospering is their reliance upon the government.  This may be counter-intuitive, but it is broadly true.  And this is true despite the fact that the federal government alone last year spent about $700 billion on more than 100 separate anti-poverty programs, of which 70 provided numbers of direct benefits to people in lower economic communities.  And this is added to another $300 billion that was spent by various states and local governments.  So since President Lyndon Johnson began his vaunted “War on Poverty” in 1965, we have spent about $26 trillion dollars (in 2018 dollars) fighting poverty.  And what has been the result?  Poverty remains on the increase.

      So what should we do instead?  Except for those with truly special needs, instead of throwing money at people of lower means, we should concentrate upon changing the things that governments do institutionally to make and keep people poor.  First, we should reform the criminal justice system that keeps people who have made mistakes, and paid for them by serving time in jail or prison, from being able to get a job.  (The recidivism rates for former inmates who find employment are five times lower than for those who have not.)  Second, we must bring choice and competition into our public school system – which is deplorably failing children nationwide in mostly the lower economic areas.  Third, we must reduce the cost of housing.  Most estimates show that about 35 percent of the cost of a new house, condominium or apartment is spent in attempting to comply with governmental zoning and land-use regulations and policies.  And fourth, we must reduce the numbers of jobs that require governmental licenses.  Does someone really need a government license to braid hair, trim trees or work at a child care center?  Many of the present licenses also require additional schooling which is not actually necessary to do the job, but they restrict job entry.  And further, many of those licenses automatically disqualify people with criminal convictions.  How can people climb the economic ladder if they are not even able to get up on the first rung?  Instead, require workers to be bonded, which will encourage safety and reliability by bringing the private sector into the mix.   Then let customers decide whether the workers are productive or not.  Throwing money at people simply reinforces a victim mentality.  But this is not an accident with today’s politics, where results don’t really matter.  The only thing that seems to matter is providing promises that continue to get politicians elected – whether the promised approaches work or not. 

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please listen to our weekly radio show entitled “All Rise!  The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray” as we discuss these and other timely issues, and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches.  You can hear it every Friday morning at 7 Pacific/10 Eastern by going to www.VoiceAmerica.com, clicking on the Variety Channel and then upon the word “live.”  You can also hear past shows as well.  And, by the way, these 2 Paragraph columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #217 "WE THINK IN WORDS"

 We all think in words.  Thus if people do not understand the shades of meaning between two (or among three or more) different words, those people do not understand the concepts.  For example, I heard that there are more dialects in languages around the world that do not draw a distinction between the word “enemy” and the word “stranger.”  As a result, if I were to stumble out of the wilderness into your remote village, and you didn’t understand this distinction, I would automatically be your enemy.  Imagine how much needless violence, or at least lost opportunities, have occurred just from this situation alone!  Similarly, when we are driving our cars in the countryside and see the sign “Slow Traffic Keep Right,” what often goes through our minds?  “Oh, I’m not slow traffic, so I’ll stay in the fast lane.”  But if, instead, the sign were to say: “Left Lane Only For Passing,” our thoughts would more likely be: “Oh, I’m not passing, so I’ll move back to the right lane.”  Same intent, but different result.

                Other common but neglected differences in words that I find to be interesting and even fun are:

·         May vs. Can: permission as opposed to ability.

·         Imply vs. Infer: Speakers imply and listeners infer.  So many problems occur when the implications are different than the inferences.

·         Solution vs. Resolution:  Most human problems have no solutions.  If you want a solution, become a mathematician.  Human problems almost always are limited to resolutions, but they allow people to put those problems behind them and move on with their lives.  (I use this illustration often in my mediations.)

·         You’re welcome vs. No problem:  The former implies that the doer was happy to help; the latter implies that if it had been a problem, the doer wouldn’t have done the good deed.

·         Need vs. Want:  We want to be alive, but don’t need to be.  But we do need oxygen to be alive.  (Or, in a political context, a “need” is just a “want” that you should give me.)

·         Love vs. Like:  We can Like many things, but Love is special, and should be thought of in that fashion.  

·         Education vs. Indoctrination:  Upon reflection, that difference should be apparent.

·         Risk vs. Gamble:  Almost all things we do have some risks to them, but they can be controlled – think going for a swim.  Gambles cannot be controlled – think roulette.

·         Rule of Law vs. Rule of Man: The former strives to provide Equal Justice for All; the latter is often used to rewards one’s friends and punishes one’s enemies.

There are many more, and I think they’re both fun and important.  I hope you agree.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

  Quote for the week:  “We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.”  (And speaking of traveling, I will be on vacation for the next two weeks, so there will be an interruption in our series.)  And, BTW, last week I recommended people boycott the movie “Long Shot,” but this week I recommend people see the movie “A Dog’s Purpose.”  It was wonderful, and much redeeming social value!

Please listen to our weekly radio show entitled “All Rise!  The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray” as we discuss these and other timely issues, and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches.  You can hear it every Friday morning at 7 Pacific/10 Eastern by going to www.VoiceAmerica.com, clicking on the Variety Channel and then upon the word “live.”  You can also hear past shows as well.  And, by the way, these 2 Paragraph columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #216 "BOYCOTT THIS MOVIE!"

     Recently my wife and I saw the movie “Long Shot” with Charlize Theron, who starred as a young, attractive and single U.S. Secretary of State, and Seth Rogen, who starred as an intelligent and caring but socially inept nerd.  We found the movie to be about 60 percent creative, novel, interesting and well done which, for me, is high praise.  Another 25 percent of the movie was routine but moved the plot along.  But the remaining 15 percent was totally without socially redeeming value, which directly results in my recommendation – in the name of Liberty – to boycott this movie.  And what was so wrong with this segment?  After the two stars became attracted to each other, but added gratuitously for no particular purpose to further the plot, they both intentionally decided to go out in public and get drunk.  This they did to excess, with alcohol and ostensibly some other mind-altering substance.  And then while still in this condition, some crisis came up which the Secretary of State was able to resolve on the telephone, all the while sitting on the floor and giggling.

      What a message!  What kind of impact will this make subconsciously upon people of all ages – especially the young!  Is this what life is about?  Is getting drunk to be promoted and glorified?  As a Libertarian I would not censure films of this kind.  But Liberty gives me the right – and maybe the obligation – to encourage as many people as I can to express our disapproval of such messages by withholding our monetary support.  We have every right to vote with our pocketbooks and, in this situation, that is exactly what we should do.  Now that is a message worth hearing!

Quote for the week, found on a napkin at a specialty sandwich shop: “Food for Thought: Our goal is to steer clear of ingredients that use processing, storage or preparation methods that extend shelf-life or simplify preparation.  That’s why we take pride in what isn’t in our food as much as what is.  If we can’t say it, we avoid using it.”  Food for Thought Indeed!

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please listen to our weekly radio show entitled “All Rise!  The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray” as we discuss these and other timely issues, and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches.  You can hear it every Friday morning at 7 Pacific/10 Eastern by going to www.VoiceAmerica.com, clicking on the Variety Channel and then upon the word “live.”  You can also hear past shows as well.  And, by the way, these 2 Paragraph columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #215 "WHAT A LEGACY!"

               Depending upon whose statistics are used, today nationwide we have unfunded government employees’ pension liability somewhere between one and six trillion dollars!  Even at the lower amount, that is a debt of about $10,000 for every man, woman and child in our country!  Mostly you and I will be all right, but our children are in deep financial trouble – and our grandchildren are almost certainly bankrupt!  And this is just using the lower numbers!  So what is the threat?  Consider that in 2008 the City of Vallejo, California, with a population of only 100,000, had a pension debt of more than $83 million, and that debt threw the city into bankruptcy.   As a result, the City of Vallejo had to cut employee salaries, raise its pension contributions, close its fire stations and lay off 40 percent of its police force.  By 2014, one-third of its fire stations remained closed and crime rates had increased, including a tripling of the homicide rates.  What a legacy we are leaving for our descendants!  So what is the answer?  The Libertarian values of open and honest discussion, and financial responsibility!

                According to the Reason Foundation, addressing pension reforms is much like attempting to lose weight.  First you must recognize the need, and then you must actually do the necessary work to shed the fat.  On the positive side, and with the Reason Foundation’s help, the entire State of Michigan offers us all some hope.  After an in-depth analysis of its problems, the state now has embraced a new program that, first, places all new teachers into an auto-enrolled and defined contribution plan similar to the private sector’s 401K programs and, second, is accelerating the pay-down of tens of billions of dollars in unfunded liabilities.  So Michigan is successfully facing its problems.  And now Reason is also working with the State of Arizona toward similar ends.  The reality is that our system of government gives elected politicians little or no incentive to be concerned about the future – just about the next election.  So it takes public pressure to change that reality.  But all caring people should demand that we join the Reason Foundation’s efforts and face this financial irresponsibility immediately!  Our Legacy is at stake!

Quote for the week: A former stewardess for Southwest Airlines told me that on those few occasions in which their Boeing 737 airplane had a hard landing, and most of the people in the first few rows had stunned looks on their faces, she would grab the microphone and say: “Okay, I know that was a hard bump.  But it’s not the crew’s fault, and it’s not the airplane’s fault.  It’s the asphalt.”

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please listen to our weekly radio show entitled “All Rise!  The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray” as we discuss these and other timely issues, and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches.  You can hear it every Friday morning at 7 Pacific/10 Eastern by going to www.VoiceAmerica.com, clicking on the Variety Channel and then upon the word “live.”  You can also hear past shows as well.  And, by the way, these 2 Paragraph columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.