Month: September 2017

The Perils of Non-Conformity

Ours is a conformist society.  Social media has made it even more so.  The vast majority of us are afraid to appear different from our peers.  Social media allows us to create and enforce peer standards that bind us to (locally) acceptable thoughts and behaviors.  We do what we must to fit in.  Woe to s/he who doesn’t.

The non-conformist exists primarily because there are still people so stubbornly independent that they cannot conform, and couldn’t even if they wanted to, which they don’t.  This would be okay  if society hadn’t organized itself to stamp out non-conformity wherever it appears.  Society is very good at this because society is composed of individual people, each acting in accord with the belief systems of their peers.  It’s as though society was a splintered mirror with millions of shards!  The non-conformist finds that through their atypical thoughts or behavior, they have taken on an army of others who exist (seemingly) to make sure nothing is said or done that isn’t part of the group catechism of proper thinking. Read More

An Easy Solution to the Healthcare Problem

Every time an employer issues a paycheck, they record two sets of deductions: one for Social Security and the other for Medicare. There’s actually a third deduction for federal tax but that one doesn’t matter for our purposes. What I’m getting at is that every employer already takes out money from employees’ check for social programs. We’re used to this system and guess what? it sort of works. So if health care is so important that every single person must have it no matter what, then why not treat basic health care the same way we do Social Security and Medicare, and just deduct it, proportionate to how much each person makes, from their pay. Read More

Magazines as Influencers and Data Merchants

Five days ago, my former favorite magazine Nylon, a young woman’s fashion magazine out of NYC, announced that they are ending their print edition, of which I am a subscriber.  According to their press release, they will concentrate their (increasingly confused) efforts on their web and social media presence in their new role as “influencers.” Read More

DACA and the Dreamers — Let Them Be Americans

I’ve never been a supporter of wide open immigration.  Without some controls over who comes to our country and how many, there’s simply no way workers aren’t going to be hurt — American and immigrant alike. But the case of DACA and the Dreamers is different, for all the reasons we’ve heard, not least of which is that they’re here, have been here, and will continue to be here whether we give them legal status or not.  Immigration policy prior to Obama’s DACA order was to deport them.  After DACA, the government backed off deportation and instead gave them work permits.  Neither is a real solution — one is draconian, the other temporary.  A more effective response to their situation would not be to deport them or relegate them to long term resident status but for them to become naturalized citizens. And therein lies the rub — according to current immigration law, they can’t. Read More