Other Plans

 

“And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.”- Genesis 11:6

Thousands of years ago, our ancient ancestors came up with a big plan. They had become more than just primitive hunter gathers who had learned how to use fire and make weapons from wood and stone.  These people had learned how to design and manufacture complex products.  They had developed the intelligence and the materials to build ever greater structures.  So, they decided it was time to make a name for themselves by building a tower that reached to the heavens.  But so often as it turns out, God had other plans.

Thousands of years later, we have come up with a new plan. A plan which captures and uses all recorded human knowledge and experience in more powerful and creative ways than ever imagined.  A plan which will create digital genies who can answer every question and someday soon grant every wish.  

Intelligent machines will do the heavy lifting as well as the delicate work of replacing an arthritic knee or repairing a damaged heart.  Robots will conduct massive research projects at unprecedented speeds to find cures for whatever ails us.  Eventually we will not have to ask questions, the genie will just know what we want and when we want it.  Life for flesh and blood human beings will become effortless. 

Perhaps the genies can make life go on forever or so some might wish. But I don’t want to live in a world where my dog walks me, or fish jump in the boat, or reading a book just feels like too much work.  I need to know that things are difficult and some are impossible, but still worth the effort.  It is good for me to solve problems and find the answers on my own.  Oh, I will accept and embrace Artificial Intelligence up to a point.  But A.I. will not make me smarter or feel more alive or draw me closer to God.  Besides, He still has other plans.

The Measure

Something's just not right.

That young man in the high school yearbook 

Is an old man now and dead.

I don't want to know how he looks.

It only reminds me of what's ahead.

 

Inside of us it's the 60's

We are still kids like we were back then

Was it real or just a dream?

At best it was a race against time.

Running past the life that was in between.

 

What’s past is not forgotten.

Would that I could repair,

But I don’t know how.

What’s left of us is never enough.

Regrets are the measure from then to now.

 

Something’s just not right.

The young are old and soon to be gone.

So very much we should have done.

But listen now to the fading voices,

And take one last look at the setting sun.

 

It’s the Economy Stupid…

 

“With audacity one can undertake anything, but not do everything.” – Napolean Bonaparte

The Republicans just won the White House and both houses of Congress on the economy (inflation) and immigration, mostly on the economy.  Sure, there are the culture wars, DEI, gender issues, “wokeism”, etc.  But ultimately, it’s about the economy and how government decisions and policies impact real people in their everyday lives. When it comes to the economy, timing is everything.  And, for the most part, whether it’s the Republicans or the Democrats in control; Washington finds a way to get it wrong.

The Republicans, specifically Trump and his team, have been given the greatest opportunity to positively impact the future of the United States since the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.  And they are blowing it…big time.  First of all, they are just flat wrong on tariffs. Secondly, while cutting government spending is a must and they are to be applauded for making it a priority; they are going about it the wrong way.  Most of these federal government agencies, as bloated and inefficient as they may be, actually do some good and necessary work.  Third, shutting down illegal immigration and deporting violent criminals, drug dealers and sex traffickers is the right thing to do.  Setting off panic among those undocumented immigrants who are here working and behaving themselves will have negative consequences for many industries.

More to the point on the immigration issue.  No question we must clean up the mess of the last four years.  But if the objective is to clean up “the mess” of the last 75 years, by deporting all those who are here illegally, that is a fool’s errand.  Time and money would be better spent establishing rational immigration policies and providing resources to manage it, including a pathway to citizenship for those who have been here for a long time quietly working and staying out of trouble.  

The DOGE project to cut government waste and reduce spending is long overdue and well-intended.  But its approach and methods are ill-advised.  We consider some corporations as being “too big to fail” knowing that if they did, it would have a catastrophic domino effect on the entire global economy.  The fact of the matter is that the U.S. Federal Government is by far the largest institution on the planet.  Its budget dwarfs those of the world’s largest corporations.  Shutting down entire agencies or pulling all funding from them will create unnecessary hardships for millions of people around the world.  The mess that is our federal bureaucracy was created over decades and some of it for good reasons. Attempting to undo it in a matter of weeks is a recipe for disaster.  My advice to DOGE: “Measure twice, cut once”… and realize that while the government is not a charitable organization, it’s not the same as a business either.

And then there are the tariffs. In general tariffs are a bad idea.  When a country is not cost competitive in their domestic production and distribution of a product, placing tariffs on foreign producers only hurts your domestic consumers.  If we had excess capacity (plants, equipment and workers) it might make some sense even if it raised prices on the product in the short run.  If we were not deep in debt and could afford to subsidize domestic producers until they were competitive with foreign producers, it might make sense.  But for now, we are dependent on foreign producers; far too dependent.  It’s a hole we’ve dug for ourselves since the end of WW2.  It may take a generation to restore domestic manufacturing to a level which makes us less dependent on foreign producers.  In the meantime, we could use tariffs selectively in cases where other nations are clearly dumping products to gain market share, stealing technology or engaged in unfair trade practices.  But just because we have a negative trade balance with some other nation doesn’t mean it’s their fault or necessarily a bad thing.

Republicans would do well to understand that if their crusade to correct for all the bad policies and programs established by those Democrats AND Republicans who came before them ends up creating the next Great Recession, they might not win another election for 20 years.  And even worse, the ones who take their place will likely double down on the same old bad policies that got us into this mess in the first place.