I am reminded of an old story of two distinguished Senators such as Lodge and Saltonstall sitting in a room awaiting the arrival of the President. When he entered, one stood and the other remained seated saying to the stander "But I thought you disagreed with the President's policies." The standing Senator replied "I do, but I will never fail to stand when the President of the United States enters the room." We could use more of that attitude these days.
"The problem is that relative poverty is inherently difficult to eliminate because the benchmark moves. As incomes rise throughout society, the poverty threshold rises as well. The goalposts never stop moving, which means the finish line can never truly be crossed."
This is 100% truth. The federal poverty level (FPL) is determined by the Census Bureau, and they get it by taking the (relative) cost of a minimum food diet and multiplying it by three (they assume that 1/3 of a typical family's income is spent on food). As of this writing, it's a hair under $16k/year for a single person, and $33k/year for a family of four, but that changes year-to-year.
What is a "minimum food diet" or its cost? *shrug* It's relative, and (to me, at least) appears largely arbitrary. Plus, it's a national average -- the cost of food in Des Moines, Iowa, is not the same as the cost of food in New York City* -- which already makes it B.S. Note that even among the absolute numbers, inflation factors in, as do fuel and energy prices (to grow, process, and transport the food). And, as you point out, as incomes rise, costs rise with them, so nothing remains stable.
But because it's *designed* to be adjusted year-to-year, moving goalposts are hardwired into the system. We can never "eliminate poverty" because there will ALWAYS be someone living below whatever arbitrary line they set. Even establishing a Universal Basic Income will just set the bottom 20% at the same ever-rising level; at that point, determining who's in the "bottom 10%" becomes a coin-flip, since everyone makes the same, down to the penny.
---------
* - Interestingly, food and fuel prices are usually much lower in flyover states than in coastal urban areas, so given the disparity in incomes between the two, you'll likely see more people living at or below FPL in the Midwest than on the coasts, but they'll likely be living -- and eating -- significantly better because their limited dollars go further.
Perhaps the rise within Republican ranks of people who are a little more progressive is helpful in that it forces the knee-jerk Leftists to go FURTHER to the left - which then puts their lunacy more and more clearly on DISPLAY as time goes by. So much so that eventually, even the hardcore liberals have trouble aligning themselves with the ridiculousness of it all and are more and more forced to vote for what they see as the lesser of two evils - and it isn't them, to their own great surprise.
The trouble is that it shifts the Overton Window -- the range of political opinions that are "acceptable" -- to the Left. As moderate Republicans embrace more "Progressive" policies, more and more actual conservatives and Constitutionalists are finding themselves suddenly outside the window, despite not changing their positions at all; they haven't moved, but the window of "acceptability" has.
When the window shifts toward the Left, their crazies seem slightly less crazy, but the traditionalists on the Right seem more crazy because they're further outside the window than they were before.
Politics is always, always, ALWAYS about power. Don't ever deceive yourself about that. Frank Herbert's observation in Dune is clinical: "All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible."
It pairs quite nicely with Madison's "if men were angels there would be no need of government".
We are doomed because we have allowed a significant part of our culture, possibly even the dominant element aspect of it, to believe that government is how we solve problems. Government never solves anything - it can punish those who commit crime but it cannot stop crime from happening. The amelioration of poverty is a brilliant example - a moral crusade that can never end.
Focus on recent years and you lose sight of the long term trends. We had no national security state prior to WWII. Barely anyone alive today was born outside of that frame of reference and so they simply take it for granted. Why is this important? Because there is another relevant quote (from a Progressive no less) - "War is the health of the state".
Had a woman on Threads say we need a new American flag because somehow Stars and Stripes is “Republican”. And you nailed the last part. Have to have a set of core principles that are attuned to the Constitution. Truly sad more about party than country
If a person’s patriotism is a function of who is n office, then that person’s supposed patriotism is a hollow shell, just an easily popped colorful balloon, rather than being based on our Constitution and our shared fight for freedom.
Agreed. I also in response to her said it had 50 stars for the collection of independent but united States. And stripes for history. And not party related. Is and for All Americans.
In literal terms, she's not wrong; the Stars and Stripes is a symbol of our REPUBLIC.
But I see what you mean. People like her still think this is "Our Democracy," and they don't want to use the same symbols as we non-"Progressive" heretics.
Republic doesn’t mean Republican. But yes it’s true even “my” senator is constantly saying “our democracy is threatened by Trump” blah blah blah. An American Senator failing at Civics. Truly sad.
"Republican" as a noun, no. "Republican" as an adjective ("as/of a Republic"), yes. Same as how the U.S. Constitution guarantees that each State should have a "Republican Form of Government" (Art. IV, Sec. 4); not that each State should be run by the Republican Party, but that each State should be a smaller-scale Republic.
On your final point, I agree. It is truly sad that an American Senator should fail at American Civics. What's even more sad, though, is that that seems to no longer be the exception, but has become the norm. It often seems like on any given day, at least 2/3 of Congress would fail a Civics exam, and half of those who don't fail, would barely pass, probably due to sheer luck on multiple-choice or true-false questions.
To understand where we are one has to understand where it all came from; the following is illustrative on multiple levels. Witnessed the trajectory during BJ Clinton, they were on this tract back then: THE 45 STATED GOALS OF COMMUNISM
“Congressional Record–Appendix, pp. A34-A35
January 10, 1963
Current Communist Goals
EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF HON. A. S. HERLONG, JR. OF FLORIDA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, January 10, 1963
Mr. HERLONG. Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Patricia Nordman of De Land, Fla., is an ardent and articulate opponent of communism, and until recently published the De Land Courier, which she dedicated to the purpose of alerting the public to the dangers of communism in America.
At Mrs. Nordman’s request, I include in the RECORD, under unanimous consent, the following “Current Communist Goals,” which she identifies as an excerpt from “The Naked Communist,” by Cleon Skousen:
U. S. Congressional Seal[From “The Naked Communist,” by Cleon Skousen]
CURRENT COMMUNIST GOALS
1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.
3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.
4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.
5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.
6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.
7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.
8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev’s promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.
9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.
10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.
11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)
12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.
13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.
14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.
15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers’ associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
18. Gain control of all student newspapers.
19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.
20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to “eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms.”
23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. “Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art.”
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them “censorship” and a violation of free speech and free press.
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as “normal, natural, healthy.”
27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a “religious crutch.”
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of “separation of church and state.”
29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.
30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the “common man.”
31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the “big picture.” Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.
32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture–education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.
36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.
38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].
39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.
40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use [“]united force[“] to solve economic, political or social problems.
43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.
44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.
45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court”
excellent. and like the contemplative worship, eradicating the foundations of the false self - power and control, esteem and security and survival of the false structure is primary to restoring divine order
You have defined the thoughts I have had for maybe 3 Decades. In 1990s as the GOP had shifted left, leaving smaller government and less spending, and thus, me, behind. So, do you think a new party from the right emerges?
I keep hoping for a Silent Cal, and it seems we keep getting Woodrow Wilsons.
Well a lot of this partisan hostility is also due to the left’s embracing oikophobia - the hatred of one’s own nation and culture.
Groucho said it best…” I have principles. And if you don’t like them I have others”
I am reminded of an old story of two distinguished Senators such as Lodge and Saltonstall sitting in a room awaiting the arrival of the President. When he entered, one stood and the other remained seated saying to the stander "But I thought you disagreed with the President's policies." The standing Senator replied "I do, but I will never fail to stand when the President of the United States enters the room." We could use more of that attitude these days.
In the military, it's proper to salute the rank, not the person.
Similarly, we honor the office, not the man holding it.
Or we used to, at least....
"The problem is that relative poverty is inherently difficult to eliminate because the benchmark moves. As incomes rise throughout society, the poverty threshold rises as well. The goalposts never stop moving, which means the finish line can never truly be crossed."
This is 100% truth. The federal poverty level (FPL) is determined by the Census Bureau, and they get it by taking the (relative) cost of a minimum food diet and multiplying it by three (they assume that 1/3 of a typical family's income is spent on food). As of this writing, it's a hair under $16k/year for a single person, and $33k/year for a family of four, but that changes year-to-year.
What is a "minimum food diet" or its cost? *shrug* It's relative, and (to me, at least) appears largely arbitrary. Plus, it's a national average -- the cost of food in Des Moines, Iowa, is not the same as the cost of food in New York City* -- which already makes it B.S. Note that even among the absolute numbers, inflation factors in, as do fuel and energy prices (to grow, process, and transport the food). And, as you point out, as incomes rise, costs rise with them, so nothing remains stable.
But because it's *designed* to be adjusted year-to-year, moving goalposts are hardwired into the system. We can never "eliminate poverty" because there will ALWAYS be someone living below whatever arbitrary line they set. Even establishing a Universal Basic Income will just set the bottom 20% at the same ever-rising level; at that point, determining who's in the "bottom 10%" becomes a coin-flip, since everyone makes the same, down to the penny.
---------
* - Interestingly, food and fuel prices are usually much lower in flyover states than in coastal urban areas, so given the disparity in incomes between the two, you'll likely see more people living at or below FPL in the Midwest than on the coasts, but they'll likely be living -- and eating -- significantly better because their limited dollars go further.
Perhaps the rise within Republican ranks of people who are a little more progressive is helpful in that it forces the knee-jerk Leftists to go FURTHER to the left - which then puts their lunacy more and more clearly on DISPLAY as time goes by. So much so that eventually, even the hardcore liberals have trouble aligning themselves with the ridiculousness of it all and are more and more forced to vote for what they see as the lesser of two evils - and it isn't them, to their own great surprise.
The trouble is that it shifts the Overton Window -- the range of political opinions that are "acceptable" -- to the Left. As moderate Republicans embrace more "Progressive" policies, more and more actual conservatives and Constitutionalists are finding themselves suddenly outside the window, despite not changing their positions at all; they haven't moved, but the window of "acceptability" has.
When the window shifts toward the Left, their crazies seem slightly less crazy, but the traditionalists on the Right seem more crazy because they're further outside the window than they were before.
Politics is always, always, ALWAYS about power. Don't ever deceive yourself about that. Frank Herbert's observation in Dune is clinical: "All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible."
It pairs quite nicely with Madison's "if men were angels there would be no need of government".
We are doomed because we have allowed a significant part of our culture, possibly even the dominant element aspect of it, to believe that government is how we solve problems. Government never solves anything - it can punish those who commit crime but it cannot stop crime from happening. The amelioration of poverty is a brilliant example - a moral crusade that can never end.
Focus on recent years and you lose sight of the long term trends. We had no national security state prior to WWII. Barely anyone alive today was born outside of that frame of reference and so they simply take it for granted. Why is this important? Because there is another relevant quote (from a Progressive no less) - "War is the health of the state".
MSM spreads TDS daily. The midterm election of Graham Platner will. prove my point.
Had a woman on Threads say we need a new American flag because somehow Stars and Stripes is “Republican”. And you nailed the last part. Have to have a set of core principles that are attuned to the Constitution. Truly sad more about party than country
If a person’s patriotism is a function of who is n office, then that person’s supposed patriotism is a hollow shell, just an easily popped colorful balloon, rather than being based on our Constitution and our shared fight for freedom.
Agreed. I also in response to her said it had 50 stars for the collection of independent but united States. And stripes for history. And not party related. Is and for All Americans.
In literal terms, she's not wrong; the Stars and Stripes is a symbol of our REPUBLIC.
But I see what you mean. People like her still think this is "Our Democracy," and they don't want to use the same symbols as we non-"Progressive" heretics.
Republic doesn’t mean Republican. But yes it’s true even “my” senator is constantly saying “our democracy is threatened by Trump” blah blah blah. An American Senator failing at Civics. Truly sad.
"Republican" as a noun, no. "Republican" as an adjective ("as/of a Republic"), yes. Same as how the U.S. Constitution guarantees that each State should have a "Republican Form of Government" (Art. IV, Sec. 4); not that each State should be run by the Republican Party, but that each State should be a smaller-scale Republic.
On your final point, I agree. It is truly sad that an American Senator should fail at American Civics. What's even more sad, though, is that that seems to no longer be the exception, but has become the norm. It often seems like on any given day, at least 2/3 of Congress would fail a Civics exam, and half of those who don't fail, would barely pass, probably due to sheer luck on multiple-choice or true-false questions.
Excellent essay. Thank you.
Spot on yet again.
To understand where we are one has to understand where it all came from; the following is illustrative on multiple levels. Witnessed the trajectory during BJ Clinton, they were on this tract back then: THE 45 STATED GOALS OF COMMUNISM
“Congressional Record–Appendix, pp. A34-A35
January 10, 1963
Current Communist Goals
EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF HON. A. S. HERLONG, JR. OF FLORIDA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, January 10, 1963
Mr. HERLONG. Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Patricia Nordman of De Land, Fla., is an ardent and articulate opponent of communism, and until recently published the De Land Courier, which she dedicated to the purpose of alerting the public to the dangers of communism in America.
At Mrs. Nordman’s request, I include in the RECORD, under unanimous consent, the following “Current Communist Goals,” which she identifies as an excerpt from “The Naked Communist,” by Cleon Skousen:
U. S. Congressional Seal[From “The Naked Communist,” by Cleon Skousen]
CURRENT COMMUNIST GOALS
1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.
3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.
4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.
5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.
6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.
7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.
8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev’s promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.
9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.
10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.
11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)
12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.
13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.
14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.
15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers’ associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
18. Gain control of all student newspapers.
19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.
20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to “eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms.”
23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. “Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art.”
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them “censorship” and a violation of free speech and free press.
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as “normal, natural, healthy.”
27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a “religious crutch.”
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of “separation of church and state.”
29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.
30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the “common man.”
31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the “big picture.” Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.
32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture–education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.
36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.
38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].
39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.
40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use [“]united force[“] to solve economic, political or social problems.
43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.
44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.
45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court”
Link: https://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/watchwomanonthewall/2011/04/the-45-communist-goals-as-read-into-the-congressional-record-1963.html
excellent. and like the contemplative worship, eradicating the foundations of the false self - power and control, esteem and security and survival of the false structure is primary to restoring divine order
Great column, Michael.
You have defined the thoughts I have had for maybe 3 Decades. In 1990s as the GOP had shifted left, leaving smaller government and less spending, and thus, me, behind. So, do you think a new party from the right emerges?
I keep hoping for a Silent Cal, and it seems we keep getting Woodrow Wilsons.