Loose Change

Change can be disagreeable yet seems inevitable. Mentioned how in minuscule Rhode Island it can easily be hastened, though seldom results in advisable improvements. With a third casino in Tiverton to join Lincoln and Newport, more discretionary cash will be siphoned away from sensible spending upon clothing, durable goods and other products for which state was once famous. Only 1,477 manufacturers persist, who employ 41,600 workers at a decent annual per capita compensation of $67,500, roughly $18K or 27% more than other non-farm businesses. You’d think elected officials would want to expand that number by whatever means. Service and tourism industry cannot sustain unless core industries remain to add value and produce profits. Ignorance and stupidity doom residents who lack good sense to settle elsewhere.


Labann insists, "Diversity is humanity's great survival mechanism." But what of demographics? Minorities carry that label because each collectively constitute a small percentage of total population. Which you choose to belong to will always be a personal decision, and shouldn’t be swayed by how people you meet pigeonhole you by place of birth, outward appearance, or previous reputation. Labann doesn't even identify with bicyclists met, since most were conservative sybarites, road hogs, or weekend sportifs, not courteous commuters or jejune activists, quite unlike rest of world who are grateful for not having to walk to expand horizons. But does every conference need minority members in numbers reflecting their community percentage? Some only claim to speak for everyone who might be affected by a decision or policy.

But having representatives weigh in on what would affect their communities does instill fairness and trust, unless participants happen to particularly suspect anyone who's not a clone of themselves. After all, wariness has been ingrained in tribes who lived in inbred villages for millennia before transportation across wilderness to separate settlements wasn't so life threatening. Once bicycles appeared and delivered affordable transportation, gene pool resumed expansion, and ideas of inalienable freedom and rights bloomed.

Diversity between hunter/warrior males and gathering/nesting females worked well since time immemorially. Specialization based upon physique makes logical sense. Yet high risk stalking seem to be compensated more than stalwart repeating upon which society survives. “Equal pay for equal work despite gender,” only sounds politically correct yet carries sexist labels into a new context. Gender and race blindness ought to precede hiring decisions and law enforcement. Women are equally capable of committing crimes, too. Female felons seem fewer, but is that because of male bias?

Once one minority gains recognition, congress cannot exclude another, for example, workers 55+ years old, against whom companies routinely discriminate. Successful corporations acknowledge an elder’s wealth of experience. But age alone doesn't guarantee good judgment, as current POTUS demonstrates. Expect all to do what they assume is in their best interest. Despite, a few always feel compelled to do what's right rather than follow a promised garden path never fulfilled.

What you can’t trust is spam email. Internet offers all sorts of opportunities for scam assail that undermines official websites and real notifications. Some users totally lack confidence in computer transactions of any type. Relaying undisputed facts or saying what’s on your mind either in person or via blog entail enormous peril. Unless completely disconnected and turned off, cell phones expose users to cyberstalking, data theft, robot-calling, and secret listening tantamount to unenforced crime, since it can originate from any rogue nation on any continent. Privacy has no chance in an overcrowded world with cameras everywhere and cards recording every transaction.

There’s no going backward. Past is immutable. Making any state great requires buy-in from every citizen derived by offering opportunities for all, reasonable accommodation for the afflicted, and simple respect for residents and visitors. Prisons are already full with those who think otherwise. What bad policy puts beggars on highway exits and high traffic intersections? How can anyone act as if this is normal and tolerable? Might as well say, “Give up. Grant billionaires license to do whatever they want. Let losers die and rest suffer consequences of resigning to status quo.” The insane homeless are just another unrepresented minority, after all. And business primarily means small business, which state policies crush.

The change America needs is incorruptible representatives of every stripe serving in office and you acting responsibly to vote them in, such as getting to know them personally by working on campaigns, or tuning in instead of pulling a lever like a puppet. Informed whistleblowers create scandals that hopefully purge candidate pool. Unfortunately in Rhode Island, citizens’ will in referenda means nothing, since whatever decision they didn’t expect to lose is simply sidestepped, and worst incompetents run for office hand picked by ruling party. Democracy can lead to embarrassing results, diversity inconsistencies. Elections have been reduced to an expensive farce for which you pay big bucks, not loose change.

The business of governance is too important to be left to career politicians and inbred imbeciles. Business regulation, child education, criminal incarceration, environmental protection, home security, revenue collection, road renewal, safe water, sanitation, and waste disposal are all complex necessities beyond an individual's ability to deliver. Community needs a diverse team, not divisive leaders acting unilaterally. Better get busy making sure that happens.