When discussing school choice, a phrase you hear a lot is some version of ‘the money should follow the student’ (as opposed to being allocated to a school). This is often followed by assurances that not every family will take advantage of whatever program is being proposed, so it won’t lead to the destruction of the public school system.
Ian Underwood
The Seinfeld Award for Award Integrity
The recent announcement by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that there will be diversity requirements for Best Picture nominees starting in 2024 reminded me of the following piece, which I wrote a while back but never published…
How do you know when a politician is lying?
Or pandering? Or just saying something stupid? The usual answer is: His lips are moving.
Do We Really Want To Get Our Leadership From San Francisco?
The San Francisco Bay Area is home to powerful progressive politicians. There’s House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Governor Gavin Newsom. Yes, and don’t forget U.S. Senator and vice-presidential hopeful Kamala Harris. It’s producing a disproportionate number of influential political actors, all leftists.
A victory for liberty, or the judiciary?
After reading Norm Silber’s piece, A Small Victory for Liberty, I want to make sure I’ve got this straight. Previously, the judiciary ruled that its ability to control its internal procedures allowed it to violate the fundamental constitutional right to keep and bear arms by forbidding people from bringing guns into courtrooms. The Speaker argued … Read more
Anyone else have this dream?
On the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, it seems appropriate to ask to what extent that dream is coming true.
COVID-19 simply accelerated a process that was already in motion
There are a few videos that I watch once a year, for inspiration and insight. One of them is a TED talk by Mike Rowe. The title is Learning from Dirty Jobs, but I always think of it as ‘that talk about how maybe safety is actually Job Three’.
Anyway, I got my yearly reminder for it today, and in light of recent events surrounding the COVID-19 virus, it seemed like a good time to share it.
What Replaces Police Once They Are Defunded?
What replaces police as the defund the police movement defines its goal. It believes police officers are the agents of violence in the community. Their solution is to eliminate police. It never stops to ask why institute policing in the first place? It also assumes there are no anti-social people. The defunders are very unclear … Read more
If Andru Volinsky wants to Cut Property Taxes, He Should Become a School Superintendent
Andru Volinsky, a candidate for governor of New Hampshire, has a problem understanding how property taxes are paid in the Granite State. He has lived here long enough to know that property taxes are paid at the local level and we have had, for several hundred years, Town Meetings where annual budgets are voted on … Read more
‘Public Health Trumps Everything’ Is ‘Cancel Culture’ in Disguise
I finally got around to listening to President Trump’s Mount Rushmore speech, and pretty early into it, he said that ‘cancel culture’ is about driving people from their jobs, shaming dissenters, and demanding total submission from anyone who disagrees. This is the very definition of totalitarianism, and it completely alien to our culture and to … Read more
Four Ways to Spend Money on Education
As we consider just what we’ll be getting from our schools this fall, and what we’ll be paying for that, we should remind ourselves now of just why we’re all going to feel so disappointed later.
Innocent until being arrested
Not too long ago, a Grok post made a couple of interesting claims. First, that ‘people are not innocent victims if they are injured in the struggle to arrest them’. Second, that ‘to protect the public, police are charged to complete an arrest even if there is resistance’.
I beg to differ with both claims.
GoGovernMe
Recently, Reason published an article based on this analogy: ‘If a Walmart doesn’t reopen, families can take their food stamps elsewhere. If a school doesn’t reopen, families should similarly be able to take their education dollars elsewhere.’
Would William Tell wear a mask?
Although he was Swiss, I think Americans have always seen William Tell as a kindred spirit, a person who would refuse to bow to arbitrary authority, no matter how high the stakes. So it seems natural to wonder: If William Tell were alive today, and if he were commanded to put on a mask rather than take off a hat, would he comply?
Slash and burn politics
One of the few things I remember from my elementary school social studies classes was learning about ‘slash-and-burn agriculture’. I was thinking about that today, as a friend was lamenting all the progressives who are fleeing cities where ‘peaceful protests’ are taking place, and heading for rural areas… like my friend’s town in New Hampshire. … Read more
Downfund, not defund
BLM is creating an opportunity where policing is concerned, in much the same way that COVID-19 is creating an opportunity where public schooling is concerned. Each is an opportunity for systemic restructuring of an institution that over time has been turned, not just away from its legitimate purpose, but against that purpose.
Could ISO 9000 save America?
Recently, I was talking with a friend who used to work at a company that obtained ISO 9000 certification. Before certification, knowledge would be passed on informally, from old employees to new ones. For example, if you knew how to run a machine, or implement a process, you would teach what you knew to your replacement. But ISO 9000 certification changed that.
Separation of teaching and testing
In software companies, the people who develop programs are not the same as the people who test programs to see if they work. These groups are kept separate, because they have very different incentives.
Potemkin knowledge
Once upon a time, a Russian empress (Catherine II) had to journey across her country. To keep her from realizing just how poorly that country was faring, one of her ministers (Grigory Potemkin) arranged to have a portable false village constructed, consisting only of facades, like a Hollywood film lot. After she would pass through the village, it would be disassembled, moved ahead of her, and reassembled. This allowed her to believe that she was passing through a whole series of apparently prosperous towns.
Grace’s Paradox
One of my dogs, Grace, can only jump up onto our bed if she’s trying to go over it, to get to something on the other side. When her goal is to end up on the bed, she can’t seem to figure out how to make that happen. Which always makes me think of one of Zeno’s famous paradoxes.