Stop Kicking the Can

 I was returning home from a friend’s house to go to work on 880 North, I had a bad run with a pothole which really messed up my front tires and lead to my delay checking in for work.  Every time I go on the San Francisco Bay Area roads there is broken asphalt, potholes, and cracks which happened to ruin my car’s tires.  I am tired to see roads that come from a third world country.  A lot of people complain on this issue, they should have themselves to blame along with the politicians. The United States Highway System was built for defense businesses in the Cold War in the 1950s as a way to provide fast evacuations in case of a nuclear strike.  The road system resulted in economic benefits and a change in life style for Americans.  It was well funded and provided a quality of infrastructure that made America an economic superpower. However, these roads have stopped being maintained in the last four decades with anti-tax revolts and a dogmatic unwillingness to support these massive highway structures form sea to shining sea. This mentality of kicking the can which is delaying maintenance for future generations to pay for it later has resulted in sub par roads.  As a consequence, roads are decaying to the point that it is costing American lives.  The incident in Minnesota in which a bridge collapsed led to the deaths of many people was no accident. Ironically another bridge that is in similar danger is the Brooklyn Bridge.  I wonder a bridge of that much fame might cause us Americans to recognize that kicking the can mentality will result in more deaths.  We have to acknowledge the can cannot be kicked anymore. If you want good roads, you have to pay for it. It will require higher taxes to pay for the roads and firmer commitment to establishing on the state and federal level to properly deal with the back log of roads that need fixing. However, if we do not change, people will have to pay for it in their car bills, and people will die in horrendous situations that should not have been happening.  I think this a solvable situation.

We just need to show people that spending a little money will do a world of good for their lives and their cars.

Dogmatic

–adjective

of, pertaining to, or of the nature of a dogma or dogmas; doctrinal.

asserting opinions in a doctrinaire or arrogant manner; opinionated.

Horrendous

–adjective

shockingly dreadful; horrible: a horrendous crime.

Amazing Race for the Governorship

I have been watching the race for the California governorship between Meg Whitman, a CEO and founder of EBay, and Jerry Moon Beam Brown who was former governor of California in booming and bustling days in the 1970s. It is turning out to be an interesting tenacious race with two distinct sides. Meg Whitman represents the outsider from Silicon Valley who has expertise to run a big corporation. Furthermore, she is also a tough leader who is renowned for her business reforms. On the other side of the political spectrum, Jerry Brown is symbolic of the old school of politics which is more about the state and governance than it is political points today. In addition, he is a great governing governor in his politics in that he helped balance the budget of California in the 1970s when Proposition 13 was voted in effect by Californians who were sick of high taxes at the time. However, the issue with California today is the deadlock in politics in the State capital of Sacramento, for California to have a budget; it needs to be passed by a two-thirds majority in both houses of State government. The law had good intentions at the time, but it is now a big obstacle in that it allows extremist on both sides to block the budget process. Furthermore, the State has made a lot of commitments over the last few decades such as health care, education, and law enforcement. As a result, most of the California’s budget goes to these commitments with no room on how to cut or adjust the budget. Add to this proposition 13 which severally limits the State to generate funding, it adds up to a State that has a lot of unfunded commitments and no way to generate new significant revenue for the State coffers.  Given the circumstances, I think Jerry Brown will be a better fit for the job.  Meg Whitman is a leader and a good reformer when it comes to business, but she does know a lot when it comes to politics in the State of California. We already had an outsider who is currently trying to get something done in the stubborn ideologues of the State Congress.  I think we need someone with experience who has dealt with such ideologues on the State level. Jerry Brown should be governor of California because his skills, experience, and connections I think to get the job done in fixing our state.

Vocabulary words

Tenacious

Adjective

holding fast; characterized by keeping a firm hold (often fol. by of): a tenacious grip on my arm; tenacious of old habits.

highly retentive; a tenacious memory.

pertinacious, persistent, stubborn, or obstinate.

  

holding together; cohesive; not easily pulled asunder; tough

Spectrum

Noun

A broad range of varied but related ideas or objects

The Grass is always Greener

     While I was doing  legal research for one of my classes, I managed to find an article on happiness which confirms that more money does not buy more happiness. It can buy some happiness, but for a lot of people they need more than just money in order to be happy. For many people who want happiness, it is not just money that makes a person content.  For people, it could be affectionate happiness, security happiness, and social status happiness. Affectionate happiness is when a person who receives love and care from others such as relatives, wives, and lovers.  For some people, their estimation is that they will likely give up the material or monetary wealth if they found a person who actually cares and loves them.  This gives a sort of satisfying feeling to the person. As for the security happiness, it is more on safety from being harmed or being abused from forces beyond their control. For people from the developed world such as the United States and Europe, it can be hard to understand. However, people from the war ravage zones or from third-world countries which have problems of rampant corruption and crime security is considered a luxury. They tend to get abused by soldiers in war zones or by criminals who are not deterred by the few corrupt cops who are meant to protect the people, so in a country where there is no war or little to no crime it can be considered happy for them from being harmed by anybody. Even though people might be happy with these two conditions, they might be still unhappy with their social status or social happiness. This is when a person feels happiness on their social order of life or lacking any happiness. A worker from a fast food chain provides a good example: they get paid low wages, they get disrespected by customers, and they are not valued by their boss who treats them as rather expendable pawns.  Compare this to doctors who are generally respected, are paid high wages and are very valued by society in general.  In sum of all these conditions for happiness, it is very rarely that people achieve all four categories. Even though a human being can be happy in all four categories, we are rarely content. We often push for more of everything wealth, love, security, and status.  It is in our very nature to want more and to push for greater happiness. In other words, the grass is always greener mentally in that your next door neighbor always has a nicer house than you, and the other guy always makes more money than you. However, I think people should try to relax and be glad on what they have whether it is wealth, love, money, or status in the context of their lives. Sometimes the greatest happiness is realizing how fortunate you really are with the gifts of your life.

Vocabulary Words

Ravage

verb (used with object)

1.

to work havoc upon; damage or mar by ravages: a face ravaged by grief.

–verb (used without object)

2.

to work havoc; do ruinous damage.

–noun

3.

havoc; ruinous damage: the ravages of war.

4.

devastating or destructive action.

Expendable

–adjective

1.

capable of being expended.

2.

(of an item of equipment or supply) consumed in use or not reusable.

3.

considered to be not worth keeping or maintaining.

4.

Military . (of personnel, equipment, or supplies) capable of being sacrificed in order to accomplish a military objective.

–noun

5.

Usually, expendables. an expendable person or thing.

Déjà Vu

    Ever since grade school, I have been taught that to, read history is to learn the lessons of our ancestors in the hopes of avoiding their mistakes. However, I see many of our leaders whether presidents or Congress seem to repeat the same failures of previous Administrations. The Two wars in the Middle East are a good example of this. The United States has two Armies on foreign soil in the hopes of spreading democracy while a raging insurgency is bent on getting the Americans off its soil. Most people would think this falls under the Vietnam War era, but I think it is more reminiscent of the U.S. occupation in the Philippines at the start of the 20^th century. After defeating the Spanish Empire in the Spanish American war, the U.S. had gain several territories such as Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the island chain of the Philippines. At first, The U.S. government was content letting the Philippines declare its independence. Afterwards, it shifted its focus from one of friendly democratic nation to one where the crusade of reforming the country on American terms and to protect American national and security interests. Therefore, the occupation, which was ultimately successful, cost much treasure and many American’s lives in order to subdue the insurgency to reform the Nation of the Philippines and to protect American interests. Another more relevant example is the forgotten panics of 1903, 1893,and 1873. Before the Great Depression, which forced the federal government to become more active to regulate the markets from such panics, the “Panics” or economic crisis that almost, happened on regular bases in the 19^thcentury. At the time, laissez-faire capitalism was universally popular, and government regulation on the markets was little or nothing at all. Because of the lack of restraints on market forces, the economy suffered a rather painful depression, which in today’s world would be considered a crisis that made many people poor. It was not until the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed which forced government to install economic protections in order to prevent another depression in the future. The President and the Congress in the 1930s recognized that this could not continue if the country is to be prosperous in the future. The current leadership seems to forget the mistakes and the lessons of their predecessors. The current struggle of trying to impose an American Style democratic state is at best implausible. As for the economy, the current leaders are advocating again getting rid of new laws that will protect the nation from the repeat of the Great Recession. I think a history lesson or two might help our leaders to become more astute on history in making decisions for this country. Maybe after this lesson on history, we may stop the costly and obscene mistakes of the past from destroying our future.
　
Vocabulary Words
Astute
adjective having or showing an ability to accurately assess situations or people and turn this to one's advantage:an astute businessman
Reminiscent
adjective
tending to remind one of something:the sights were reminiscent of my childhood suggesting something by resemblance:

Riding the Waves of Fortune

      For many people, the future looks bleak. Unemployment is sky high with no clear signs that it is going down.  Credit is tight so almost nobody can get a loan, and people who over leverage themselves are under a sea of red ink with their less than valuable homes.  The fear and despair has become so prevalent that many students and families are considering this a permanent malaise which is strangely reminiscent to the late 1970’s in which America was in a dramatic economic stagflation of high oil prices, little economic activity, and a lot of loss manufacturing jobs to Japan. Back then people thought that the American economy was in a depression. Even the President at the time, Jimmy Carter made his infamous “Malaise Speech” in which he described a “crisis of confidence”. However, after the malaise, the country experienced unprecedented growth in the 1980s and the 1990s.  This fear tends to blind a lot of people to put the economy in perspective.  Ever since World War II, the United States economy has gone through several major contractions or recessions from the relatively mild 2001 recession to the rather painful double-dip recessions of 81 and 82.  Even though people generally are fearful of recessions, they are necessary. Recessions’ help get rid of excesses in the market such as the housing market, and it also expedites changes in the market such as news papers moving from the printed word to the digital web. It also forces companies to become more efficient in their business operations. Try as we might, it will always happen, fortunes will go up and fortunes will go down. This is the case of the business cycle. One recession helps spark the next economic expansion, and no recession no matter how severe lasts forever. It is comparable to a passing storm; it creates havoc and leaves just as soon as it arrives while leaving a mess that result in a cleanup and reorganization.  As for the people who view their future as very bleak, they should take heart in that markets will recover, the credit markets will loosen, and jobs will slowly come back. It is just a matter of riding the waves of fortune.

Vocabulary Words

Havoc

–noun

1.

great destruction or devastation; ruinous damage.

–verb (used with object)

2.

to work havoc upon; devastate.

–verb (used without object)

3.

to work havoc: The fire havocked throughout the house.

—Idioms

4.

cry havoc, to warn of danger or disaster.

5.

play havoc with,

a.

to create confusion or disorder in: The wind played havoc with the papers on the desk.

b.

to destroy; ruin: The bad weather played havoc with our vacation plans.

Expedite

verb, -dit·ed, -dit·ing, adjective

–verb (used with object)

1.

to speed up the progress of; hasten: to expedite shipments.

2.

to accomplish promptly, as a piece of business; dispatch: to expedite one's duties.

3.

to issue or dispatch, as an official document or letter.

–adjective

4.

Obsolete . ready for action; alert.

No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

      The United States is in serious debt. The U.S government owes trillions and trillions of dollars to support its obligations to social security and Medicare. In this year alone, the U.S. Government debt is going to top 13 trillion dollars. However, this explosion of debt did not happen overnight. It started in the 1980s when the Regan administration slashed the taxes from the high taxes of the Carter era. It was at this time that the deficit and public debt was rising significantly because of higher defense spending and the lowering of taxes. However, Regan who was worried about the U.S. public debt toward the end of his term raised taxes in hopes of reducing the deficit. After the Regan Presidency, the U.S. public debt became a concern in the early 1990s in the post defense hangover, George Herbert Bush or Bush 41 tried to cut spending and raise taxes in order to reduce the growing gap of U.S. spending and its tax receipts. However, after the debacle of his “Read my lips” speech, along with his disconnect with the voters, Bill Clinton defeated him in the 1992 Presidential election. In mid to late 90s, Clinton along with the Republican Congress manage to strike a deal of keeping spending in check and using pay as you go rules which requires a Senator or Representative to either cut money out of a program or raise taxes to fund a new program or initiative. The pay as you go rules and a booming economy of the late 90s help created a surplus. However, by the start of the 2000’s, this surplus would end with a recession of in 2001, a massive trillion-dollar Bush tax, and two long expensive wars. The pay as you go rules also expired around the early 2000s, which leads the U.S. into its current problems with debt.
      Fortunately, this massive debt problem is solvable, but for some people it will require the dreaded word “sacrifice”. The system cannot sustain the Bush tax cuts while keeping current entitlements the way they were. This would require higher taxes and cutting entitlement spending. Many people think it cannot be done, but it can be done. In the early 1980s, the very conservative Ronald Regan and the very liberal, at the time, Congress were able to make a deal on adjusting Social Security benefits to keep it sufficient for decades. In addition, we also have to recognize that taxes have to come up in order to make up the rest of the deficit. It may require a reforming the tax system including raising taxes in order to raise a significant amount of income for the Federal Government. In addition, the Congress needs to go back to "Pay as you go" Even though in the media presents that the U.S. is drowning in a sea full of red ink, this massive debt problem can be solved. It is only a matter of time whether this will be solved in a crisis or bargaining between the President and the Congress. In order for the U.S. to continue its great prosperity, it must make adjustments on its entitlements, taxes, and pay down the debt that we so much to the world. As I said, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Vocabulary Word
Initiative noun
1.
an introductory act or step; leading action: to take the initiative in making friends.
2.
readiness and ability in initiating action; enterprise: to lack initiative.
3.
one's personal, responsible decision: to act on one's own initiative.
4.
Government .
a.
a procedure by which a specified number of voters may propose a statute, constitutional amendment, or ordinance, and compel a popular vote on its adoption.
b.
the general right or ability to present a new bill or measure, as in a legislature.
　
Sufficientadjective
1.
adequate for the purpose; enough: sufficient proof; sufficient protection.
2.
Logic . (of a condition) such that its existence leads to the occurrence of a given event or the existence of a given thing.

The Fog of History

     The average person tends to view history in rather clear cut views. We generally accept the history when we are taught through our teachers from grade school through college. For example, most Americans know of the simplistic view of the American Revolution, in that the Founding Fathers such as George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, etc were the ones who started, fought, and won the Revolution. Furthermore, the general belief that the people who fought for the revolution where rich, white, Anglo-Saxon farmers. However, the American Revolution was fought by people of all classes, sexes, and races. For example, Margaret Corbin was a woman who fought in the American Revolution. She fought along side her husband in defending Fort Washington. Corbin went so far as to firing a cannon in the middle of a battle in order to defend the fort. After her death in 1800, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) made a mural to remember the Margaret Corbin for her heroics in the American Revolutionary War. Another example is the penniless Ezekiel Brown. In the book, The Unknown American Revolution by Gary Nash, Nash described Brown as “ ‘ With little or nothing to lose,’ as he (brown) later related, joined up. Landless before the Revolution, a foot soldier in the army of ‘Strolling Poor’. Half of the sixteen men who signed up from Concord in the first five years of the war were much like Ezekiel Brown.” ( Nash,  218). A lot of the minute men were not always rich, white men. Much of these men were of different nature stateless drifting from town to town with no real purpose until the Revolution came along. While the white colonist wanted to protect their independence from oppression from Great Britain, others wanted to gain their freedom by proving themselves in battle. Salem Poor is another example. Poor was a slave who joined the Continental Army Army with his master in the hopes of earning his freedom(Nash, 225). Poor earned an impressive record of battle. He fought in such battles as Bunker Hill and White Plains. After the war, his comrades fought to grant Poor his freedom which he received. He savored his last days as a free farming man(Nash, 225). We often admire the people who do such great things in life and in history, but some of the greatest stories and tales are the ones that are not told. The American Revolution did not just involve the white or the rich . It was a Revolution that consisted of many a people of varied backgrounds who wanted a dream of freedom from oppression, freedom from fear, and the freedom to decide their own fate in this New World.

Work Cited

Nash, B Gary. The Unknown American Revolution. New York: Penguin Books, 2005.

     Profile of Margaret Corbin. Find a Grave. 7 Sept. 2010

         <http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=231>

Vocabulary Words

Heroics

–adjective



suitable to the character of a hero in size or concept; daring; noble: a heroic ambition.



having or displaying the character or attributes of a hero; extraordinarily bold, altruistic, determined, etc.: a heroic explorer.



having or involving recourse to boldness, daring, or extreme measures: Heroic measures were taken to save his life.



Simplistic

–adjective

characterized by extreme simplism; oversimplified: a simplistic notion of good and bad.