Written
Americans really need to be able to step back a bit from the immediate issue addressed in legislation and think about how it relates to our understanding of society’s proper structure. A Rhode Island bill going after self-checkout lanes in retail stores is an excellent case study. Kathy Gregg writes in the Providence Journal: An army…
Oren Cass’s analysis of the weeks required to support a middle-class lifestyle for American Compass raises some interesting points. The study focuses on the income of men and shows that the combined cost of food, housing, health care, transportation, and education surpassed the median male income in the mid-’90s. By 2022, that income was about…
You can watch it happening in particular with advocacy organizations. Where once they had very specifically defined missions — like RI Kids Count keeping track of information about children in the state of Rhode Island — that mission becomes merely a mild flavor differentiation from every other progressive organization. Witness: The divisive racism is bad…
With Lawrence, MA, as my inspiration, I described what I’ve since come to call the “company state” or “government plantation.” Just as big companies used to set up “company towns” which existed mainly to serve the companies, now governments are becoming the central industry and animating force of the regions under their control. Their model…
An omission in Asher Lehrer-Small’s recent article about reforms spearheaded by the state Department of Education puts a spotlight on the reason I’m skeptical and fear the changes are yet another cover-up of incompetence that will put Ocean State students even farther behind. The reasonable hook is this head-scratching finding of a problem that should…
One can hardly doubt that Jessica David means all the best with such sentiments as this: I attempted to explore the specifics with her, but I didn’t get very far. Basically, she believes all variety of sectors ought to take money from all variety of sources to work toward population-wide goals that they and their…
Perhaps the most-challenging thing about good-government reforms is that, for the most part, we’re seeking to develop and implement them on the basis of a shallow political and organizational philosophy. Consider legislation that would change Rhode Island’s Access to Public Records Act (APRA). Some of the adjustments make sense, but I’m not so sure about…
If mainstream media analysts and college professors weren’t overwhelmingly true believers of the Left, they could find fertile ground for analysis and lessons in the interaction of media, labor unions, and parents when it comes to Rhode Island schools. Case study 1 comes in the form of an article by Alexa Gagosz of the Boston Globe,…
Sometimes the lack of response to statements — I mean just an ordinary, slightly skeptical response — is striking. Here’s Warren Town Manager Kate Michaud asking the U.S. Senate to protect the town from an apocalyptic future: “The data analysis concluded that by the year 2100, three hundred and six of the area’s four hundred…
University of Rhode Island Economics Professor Len Lardaro reminds us of the magic by which the state makes its employment numbers look good: To me, the apologists for the status quo are the scariest part. Saying, “Oh, don’t worry. People are just retiring,” completely misses the point. If Rhode Islanders are retiring, shouldn’t their jobs…