Voyagers, as to the education systems in “blue” states and the decline of “gifted” programs, I can relate. I was in a “gifted program” that no longer exists.
This is an absolute travesty and reflects the bonkers logic of “equity”
I suspect this goes back to entropy, it’s easier to tear something down than it is to build something up.
The goal of “equity,” in theory, is to uplift those who have fallen behind. An idealistic goal to be sure. In reality, however, the easier path is to hold those who are ahead down.
After the election the Democratic Party (my party) must rethink many of its policies as it ponders its future.
To be entrusted with power again Democrats must start listening to the concerns of the working class for a change. As a lifelong moderate Democrat I share their disdain for many of the insane positions advocated by my party.
Democrat politicians defy biology by believing that men can actually become women and belong in women’s sports, rest rooms, locker rooms and prisons and that children should be mutilated in pursuit of the impossible.
They believe borders should be open to millions of illegals which undermines workers’ wages and the affordability of housing when we can’t house our own citizens.
They discriminate against whites, Asians and men in a vain effort to counter past discrimination against others and undermine our economy by abandoning merit selection of students and employees.
Democratic mayors allow homelessness to destroy our beautiful cities because they won't say no to destructive behavior. No you can’t camp in this city. No you can’t shit in our streets. No you can’t shoot up and leave your used needles everywhere. Many of our prosecutors will not take action against shoplifting unless a $1000 of goods are stolen leading to gangs destroying retail stores. They release criminals without bond to rob and murder again.
The average voter knows this is happening and outright reject our party. Enough.
Such a well reasoned article. I like your discussion at the end about NIMBYism. I had never thought of it that way, but if I’m being honest that’s definitely my own feelings towards growth too close to my own home. Though I do live in CO and we have plenty of our own problems. I’ve like Polis, but he can allow local governments to be the ones to take things too far without much pushback from his office.
1) part of the issue is that the blue states positives are basically unrelated to their governance. They have huge demographic and institutional advantages due to history and often past Republican governance.
2) the sunbelt traditionally has lots of blacks, not the best whites, lost the civil war, and was more or less uninhabitable until air conditioning was invented.
3) in the sunbelt whites vote 2/3rd GOP, as a result they have managed to absorb lots of Hispanics without becoming a one party dem state. In addition that strong right wing culture among the whites does more to assimilate the Hispanics to be more right wing.
In blue states the white electorate was close to 50/50 or only slightly conservative and so once you got a lot of Hispanics it became a one party state where no matter how bad they govern they can still turn out enough Hispanics in exchange for welfare payments.
4) I don’t know if this can be changed and I wouldn’t bet on it personally. I’m moving to a red state and tell everyone the same.
“Wanting to win” in the context of a one party state means winning the Dem primary. So the median voter is the median Dem primary voter, not the true median voter. And of course institutional power is to the left of that.
I of course wish you good luck. But I have lived in polities where bad leads to bad leads to more bad with no self correction. You don’t want to be the last person to exit that situation.
I disagree with Nimbyism being a desire to avoid disorder or being about crime fears. Nimbyism is always and everywhere a desire to avoid the uncomfortable impacts of change, most of which have nothing to do with crime. They’re usually about a generalized fear of change and a desire for control. Nimbyism happens as much in wealthy communities adding new wealthy amenities as it does in poorer communities. The simple reason that red states have less impacts from Nimbyism is that they have more permissive building laws that provide fewer avenues for citizens to object. It’s not that they have fewer NIMBY’s. It’s just that NIMBY’s are disempowered. The problem for blue states is their inherent desire for participatory democracy has been turned into a tool to block progress itself. That’s what started happening in the 1970s. A lot of people looked at the recent past and decided that the problem had been modern progress itself. We had “paved paradise.” A show like “This Old House,” which I think has been popular across the political spectrum, was emblematic of the idea of holding on to beautiful old things instead of tearing them down. That’s been a powerful ethos in the second half of the 20th century. It just ran into a demographic boom from millennial household formation, which is why we’ve seen the past 10 years play out this way. We underbuilt housing and we simply have to fix that.
Texas and Florida have been misgoverned as well, mostly by Republicans, for the opposite reason—blind neglect of the welfare of state residents, a core function of government at every level.
Look no further than Texas’ refusal to winterize its electric grid and Florida’s home insurance & building code crises. Neither state has taken the ACA expansion of Medicaid, even though it would make their residents healthier and more productive.
Meanwhile, when violent crime rates are taken into account, Miami and Houston are far more dangerous cities than NYC and Los Angeles. And those “little blue dots” on the US election map? They account for nearly 70% of the economic output of this country.
Voyagers, as to the education systems in “blue” states and the decline of “gifted” programs, I can relate. I was in a “gifted program” that no longer exists.
This is an absolute travesty and reflects the bonkers logic of “equity”
I suspect this goes back to entropy, it’s easier to tear something down than it is to build something up.
The goal of “equity,” in theory, is to uplift those who have fallen behind. An idealistic goal to be sure. In reality, however, the easier path is to hold those who are ahead down.
Equity breeds laziness and entitlement mentality. Equal opportunities is where we find success, we have to work hard and be focused.
My take:
After the election the Democratic Party (my party) must rethink many of its policies as it ponders its future.
To be entrusted with power again Democrats must start listening to the concerns of the working class for a change. As a lifelong moderate Democrat I share their disdain for many of the insane positions advocated by my party.
Democrat politicians defy biology by believing that men can actually become women and belong in women’s sports, rest rooms, locker rooms and prisons and that children should be mutilated in pursuit of the impossible.
They believe borders should be open to millions of illegals which undermines workers’ wages and the affordability of housing when we can’t house our own citizens.
They discriminate against whites, Asians and men in a vain effort to counter past discrimination against others and undermine our economy by abandoning merit selection of students and employees.
Democratic mayors allow homelessness to destroy our beautiful cities because they won't say no to destructive behavior. No you can’t camp in this city. No you can’t shit in our streets. No you can’t shoot up and leave your used needles everywhere. Many of our prosecutors will not take action against shoplifting unless a $1000 of goods are stolen leading to gangs destroying retail stores. They release criminals without bond to rob and murder again.
The average voter knows this is happening and outright reject our party. Enough.
XXX
Such a well reasoned article. I like your discussion at the end about NIMBYism. I had never thought of it that way, but if I’m being honest that’s definitely my own feelings towards growth too close to my own home. Though I do live in CO and we have plenty of our own problems. I’ve like Polis, but he can allow local governments to be the ones to take things too far without much pushback from his office.
Thanks! Yeah it’s a huge problem since it’s sensitive so people come up with elaborate other excuses for why it’s a bad idea.
“Oh the building will cast shade on a tree. We can’t do that”
1) part of the issue is that the blue states positives are basically unrelated to their governance. They have huge demographic and institutional advantages due to history and often past Republican governance.
2) the sunbelt traditionally has lots of blacks, not the best whites, lost the civil war, and was more or less uninhabitable until air conditioning was invented.
3) in the sunbelt whites vote 2/3rd GOP, as a result they have managed to absorb lots of Hispanics without becoming a one party dem state. In addition that strong right wing culture among the whites does more to assimilate the Hispanics to be more right wing.
In blue states the white electorate was close to 50/50 or only slightly conservative and so once you got a lot of Hispanics it became a one party state where no matter how bad they govern they can still turn out enough Hispanics in exchange for welfare payments.
4) I don’t know if this can be changed and I wouldn’t bet on it personally. I’m moving to a red state and tell everyone the same.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
I'm less doomer than you are on this. Democrats want to win and I'm, cautiously, optimistic they will improve governance.
“Wanting to win” in the context of a one party state means winning the Dem primary. So the median voter is the median Dem primary voter, not the true median voter. And of course institutional power is to the left of that.
I of course wish you good luck. But I have lived in polities where bad leads to bad leads to more bad with no self correction. You don’t want to be the last person to exit that situation.
I disagree with Nimbyism being a desire to avoid disorder or being about crime fears. Nimbyism is always and everywhere a desire to avoid the uncomfortable impacts of change, most of which have nothing to do with crime. They’re usually about a generalized fear of change and a desire for control. Nimbyism happens as much in wealthy communities adding new wealthy amenities as it does in poorer communities. The simple reason that red states have less impacts from Nimbyism is that they have more permissive building laws that provide fewer avenues for citizens to object. It’s not that they have fewer NIMBY’s. It’s just that NIMBY’s are disempowered. The problem for blue states is their inherent desire for participatory democracy has been turned into a tool to block progress itself. That’s what started happening in the 1970s. A lot of people looked at the recent past and decided that the problem had been modern progress itself. We had “paved paradise.” A show like “This Old House,” which I think has been popular across the political spectrum, was emblematic of the idea of holding on to beautiful old things instead of tearing them down. That’s been a powerful ethos in the second half of the 20th century. It just ran into a demographic boom from millennial household formation, which is why we’ve seen the past 10 years play out this way. We underbuilt housing and we simply have to fix that.
Texas and Florida have been misgoverned as well, mostly by Republicans, for the opposite reason—blind neglect of the welfare of state residents, a core function of government at every level.
Look no further than Texas’ refusal to winterize its electric grid and Florida’s home insurance & building code crises. Neither state has taken the ACA expansion of Medicaid, even though it would make their residents healthier and more productive.
Meanwhile, when violent crime rates are taken into account, Miami and Houston are far more dangerous cities than NYC and Los Angeles. And those “little blue dots” on the US election map? They account for nearly 70% of the economic output of this country.
Nope. Blocked.