Camping at Powley Place #10

Don't get up to this campsite much these days, mainly because I like my space, and this campsite is near other ones, and this one is often taken in the summer months. But weekdays in September, it's pretty quiet except maybe for a few passing by hunters.

I like the idea of paying for the infrastructure bill by a $250 per year tax on every parking space in America.

I like the idea of paying for the infrastructure bill by a $250 per year tax on every parking space in America.

I think this is a very fair and progressive tax. Most people have one or two parking spaces but wealthy businesses and large cities often have thousands. So the rich pay more but all pay some.

There are two billion parking spaces in America so this tax would raise 500 billion a year. That’s a nice chunk of money to spend on infrastructure each year.

Food Fight

Food Fight

Humans have always depended on the sea. For as long as there have been fishermen, there have been conflicts over fish. And though it may seem anachronistic, the odds that a squabble over fishing rights could turn into a major armed conflict are rising. The return of great-power competition has actually increased the likelihood of a war over fish. The past 17 years of the fight against terrorism, and Washington’s renewed focus on developing high-end capabilities to prepare for great-power conflict, have led to a lack of preparation for a low-end, seemingly mundane but increasingly likely source of conflict in the world: food.

As incomes rise around the world, so too does the demand for food—especially protein. The United Nations currently estimates that between mid-2017 and 2050, the number of humans on Earth will rise by 29 percent, from 7.6 billion to 9.8 billion. Most of that population growth will occur in Asia, Africa, and Latin America—areas where millions of people have recently risen from deep poverty to the middle class. Part of a middle-class lifestyle is a middle-class diet, which includes far more protein than poor people consume. As a result of that shift, the global demand for protein will outpace population growth, increasing between 32 and 78 percent, according to some estimates. Meeting that demand could require an additional 62 to 159 million metric tons of protein per year. To maintain political support at home, leaders must ensure access to the high-quality food that is part of a middle-class lifestyle.