The Economics of Classical Performance

Opera is all about the fat lady. Ballet is all about the skinny girl. Economists call this specialization.

The Rise Of Authoritarianism

When I look at the United States today, I don’t see a country that’s drifting closer to autocracy. I see a country that is speeding toward fascism at 120 miles per hour.

Does that sound like hyperbole? Is it alarmist? Consider the following.

In every jurisdiction where authoritarians have unchecked power, such as partisan trifectas or legislative supermajorities, they are enshrining authoritarianism into law.

- Laws that make it more difficult to vote.

- Laws that ban books and accurate accounts of history.

- Laws that promote voter intimidation as a civic service.

- Laws that flood the nation with firearms.

- Laws that perpetuate minority rule by partisan gerrymandering.

- Laws that prevent citizens from accessing critically vital healthcare.

- Laws that dehumanize vulnerable populations.

- Laws that threaten doctors with felony charges.

- Laws that take away rights from citizens based not on what they do but on who they are.

Here is the critical question. Do you see any signs that such actions are slowing down, any at all? Or is this behavior becoming more prevalent, more brazen, and more extreme?

Why is this happening? It’s happening because resistance to authoritarianism has thus far been slow and disorganized.

There is no national law or standard to protect voting rights.

There is no national law or standard to protect women’s rights.

There is no national law or standard to protect the rights of the LGBTQ population.

There is no national law or standard to keep the most powerful weapons away from the most irresponsible and dangerous people.

There is no national law or standard against domestic terrorism.

American democracy has been inflicted with gaping wounds, and when we treat those wounds at all, we’re covering them with bandaids. The system is not going to be able to handle attacks of this magnitude for much longer.

Me and Ted

True story: I receive a lot of fundraising texts and emails from Democratic politicians. I have contributed to candidates in past elections, and the party loves to come back to ask for more money.

One day, a Republican fundraising organization must have accessed the wrong list, because I received a text message from “Ted Cruz.”

Ted (we’re on a first name basis now that we’re texting) was expressing his typical outrage over some bad thing that the Democrats were doing. “They have to be stopped!” the senator insisted. “Make a contribution.”

Normally, I delete these fundraising messages immediately, but I decided to have a little fun.

I sent a three-word response, quoting a nickname coined by certain former president: “Lying Ted Cruz!”

I have never received another fundraising request from Republicans.

When To Change

Don’t change for others. Change for yourself. Change when change will lead to greater fulfillment and better results.

The Forbin Project

I had a flashback to a movie that fascinated me when I saw it on television many years ago. Fearing that human error or a lack of judgment might trigger armageddon, the government puts its nuclear arsenal under the control of a sophisticated computer system. Unfortunately, the computers quickly outwit their designers and, realizing that they have the power to exterminate all life on the planet, hold mankind hostage.

The premise of “Colossus: The Forbin Project” (1970) has new relevance today for a variety of reasons.

- The ascendance of Artificial Intelligence is raising practical and ethical concerns.

- The world’s two nuclear super powers are at odds over a hot war in Europe. (The Soviets play a key role in the movie, but I won’t give it away.)

- The chief scientist in charge of designing the computer system was played brilliantly by actor Eric Braedon, who went on to have a long and celebrated career in daytime dramas. Mr. Braedon, now 82, recently announced that he is battling cancer. My thoughts are with him.

I wasn’t yet a teenager when I first watched “The Forbin Project” on television. I had no idea that I would have a career working with computers. I had never even seen a computer; they had not yet become ubiquitous.

Nevertheless, the story made a powerful impression. I hope that mankind will make wiser decisions in real life than they did in the story, but given the integral role of computer systems in our day to day lives, something that could not have been imagined in 1970, I fear that we may be facing a perilous future.

Corporate Embarrassment

That moment when you decide that it will be less painful to pay $800 million than let your CEO testify about your dishonest business practices.

Judgment

People who react negatively to abortion, gay marriage, drag queens, and transsexuals should stop worrying about what happens in other people’s bedrooms and figure out what’s not working in theirs.

Easter Reflection

Jesus fed the hungry. What’s your position on assistance to the poor?

Jesus healed the sick. What’s your position on healthcare for all?

Jesus condemned institutionalized greed. What’s your position on tax cuts for the wealthy?

Jesus sought refuge in a strange land as a child, when staying in his homeland was too dangerous. What’s your position on asylum seekers and immigrant children?

Jesus saved a woman from a vengeful mob. What’s your position on women’s rights?

Jesus never condemned a person for being gay. What’s your position on LGBTQ rights?

Jesus’s best friend was a prostitute. How do you treat the most marginalized members of society?

4/4/23

4/4/23

- Finland is joining NATO today.

- This is the 55th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

- The politically significant state of Wisconsin is holding an important election.

- For the first time in history, a former US president will be arraigned on criminal charges.

- The date 4/4/23 means the same day internationally, where they use the D/M/Y date format, as it does in the US, where dates are expressed as M/D/Y.

Laws Discriminating Against The Transgender Community

Transgender children struggle for acceptance in ways that most people cannot imagine. Laws that target transgender children reinforce their pain by offering concrete evidence that they are officially unwelcome due to what makes them different.

What if legislators in some state introduced a bill to ban handicapped children from restaurants? Sponsors of the bill claim that restaurant owners feel that the presence of handicapped people is bad for business: the cost of access ramps and special bathroom facilities is too high, and some customers feel uncomfortable around them. The proposed “solution” is to pass a law that would exclude handicapped minors from all restaurants across the state. Do you see how such a law would be hurtful and discriminatory toward handicapped people and their families?

What if a law prevented autistic children from going to public parks? Proponents of the law argue that autistic kids might wander off, so this measure is simply for their own safety. Can you see how such a law would be hurtful and marginalizing?

What if a law banned children with intellectual disabilities from going into retail stores and shopping malls? Do you see how that would stigmatize them and place undue burdens on their families? At a minimum, parents would need to hire a caregiver every time they need to go to the grocery store.

Transgender children have become an easy target for hate groups, misguided citizens, and opportunistic politicians. According to NPR, at least 150 laws that would negatively impact the transgender community have been filed by state legislators. Interesting fact: every legislator who has introduced one of these laws is a Republican. The transgender community has become a political bogeyman for the Right.

Does this sound familiar, a political party trying to gain power by openly targeting a vulnerable minority? It should. And it should worry all of us, not just because it’s blatantly unfair to the rights of the citizens who have been so targeted, but because it signals the overreach of a rising authoritarian movement in the US and abroad.