In American high schools, the age of the book may be fading.
Many teenagers are assigned few full books to read from beginning to end — often just one or two per year, according to researchers and thousands of responses to an informal reader survey by The New York Times.
Twelfth-grade reading scores are at historic lows, and college professors, even at elite schools, are increasingly reporting difficulties in getting students to engage with lengthy or complex texts.
I was listening to Terry Gross’ interview of Andrew Ross, whose new book, 1929, chronicles the economic history of the Great Depression and parallels to today, close to 100 years later. We’ve learned a lot, as a society, over the past 100 years, we no longer believe inaction or careful measured responses are only solution to an economic crisis. Still, every crisis is a new, and with the extensive borrowing practiced in recent decades after the 2009 economic meltdown and the 2020 there are reasons to worry.
Earlier in he day, I was checking my various savings, investments and retirement accounts while doing some back of envelope calculations of my pension. Another year of maximizing my retirement accounts and trying to match it in my investment account, I have a lot to pat myself in the back about. Though, honestly I should give the outstanding markets we lived though yet another year much of the credit. I’ve not bought a lot of stocks though in recent years, as I’ve been trying to boost my portfolio of bonds to have a more balanced portfolio as I get older and need more stability as the time horizon shortens. But I still worry. Maybe not practically, but how a major recession would impact my mind, seeing what is just a number not real locked in gains fade away should the market dip, 20, 30, or even 50 percent.
I have my doubts that the politicians would ignore an economic crisis or all the solutions learned over the past 100 years to bring economic growth back to the economy as soon as possible. But new challenges linger in the future, namely climate change ruining the insurance and property market, social security insolvency, and exploding federal debt. While solutions exists, they are going to be hard and controversial, as they involve definately winners or losers. That said, I still am inclined to believe that most of the risk of bad times ahead are more psychological and practical, and it sure feels good to add all those numbers up at the year draws to a close.
Money is ultimately a means and ways of getting things done, both hiring out services and experience, but also buying land and equipment. It buys dirt, it buys tractors and implements, livestock and solar panels. Sometimes though skill and one own hands can replace actual money, still you need some of both. It buys freedom to own guns, burn trash, have hogs and other livestock, land to grow shit on and explore. Knifes for butchering and manure spreaders, inverters and pickup trucks. And even that old oil drum where the yogurt containers and wrappers are converted in flames and that ever so pungent smoke.
Politicians are mostly self-interested, and while they would like their party and ideology to succeed, they are primarily interested in their own re-elections. While you can revise lines to crack and pack Democrats, the flipside is you’re also doing it to Republicans at the same time.
Redistricting to maximize seats for Republicans, means that safe Republican seats become less safe. And that is not just a theoretical possibility. It’s the nature of adjusting the lines. Politicians don’t want their own seats to become less safe, as especially in a potential wave year it could mean they could loose and be voted out of office. You have no power when you’re out of office. And even if you don’t loose, a close election means an expensive uphill battle campaigning, with all the rubber chicken dinners, hand shaking, ralleys and going door-to-door which can be reduced by keeping a relatively safe seat as it is.
Moreover, redistricting opens a real wildcard to politics. Every election has different demographics that vote, the turn out of voters in a mid-term are fundamentally different then Presidental election. Many Presidential voters don’t necessarily come out on mid-terms, and aren’t inclined to fill out down ballot races, being disinterested or uniformed about the candidates further down the ballot. Just because you make a seat look good in a Presidential year, for a Presidential candidate is little comfort for a Congressman down ballot.
