Probably a bit but some professions need credentials and training. If you are going to be doing something that can cause injury to a person somehow, you should be credentialed.
This includes law (bad legal advice can be disastorous and there are plenty of bad lawyers with law schools and credentials), medicine, and some aesthetics work (applying chemicals or wax to the human body and massage, or do old-school shaves). It probably should not include people who strictly cut hair, taxi drivers, and people who do manicures/pedicures.
Plus as my brother points out, there is plenty of unofficial credentialism in fields that do not require it by law. Dance Studios are a good example. The government does not require a license to run a dance studio but there is a private association that seems to be join or die. As in if you are not approved by said group, you will not find employees or students.
By big government, I basically meant the welfare state. I think universal healthcare, universal pre-K/pre-school and other safety net programs can encourage more risk taking by people economically.
The general conservative/libertarian points against social safety net/welfare state policies is that such policies destroy communities. During the healthcare debates, many conservatives pitched an alternative of friends, families, and neighbors looking out for each other. Tom Coburn did this in a town hall.
We see that the Republican Party is essentially an exurban/rural party now. They control the least urban parts of the United States. Many seem to still have the pathological fear of cities that drove the 1928 election against Al Smith. Many seem to believe in the fantasy of small-town America still.
However, we are no longer a nation of small towns and walking to work in a very small area. We drive 30-40 minutes if not more to work in cities, office parks, other towns, etc. These are not jobs where you can go home for lunch. Often they are not jobs that allow people free time to do errands in the middle of the day.
The modern economy is complicated and demands a lot from people. So much that I believe we do not have the time to be Mayberry anymore. If someone suffers a dehabilitating stroke, it is simply not possible to have neighbors look after him the same way. Also medicine is much more complicated and Doctors largely no longer make housecalls. Medicine was cheaper when it did less.
So I think free trade is fine but that it needs to be backed with a social safety net that only the government can provide. Private charity cannot help. Things are a little better for people who can work remotely.
In short, I think we can have a capitalist economy that offers nice things like European economies do like universal pre-school. I'm rather tired of the conservative arguments on how this is "tyranny"
Luckily, I think the election shows that people are starting to feel the same way. Sadly the Republican Party refuses to break their fever dream
Unlike some people on the far left, I generally do believe that trade and credit are net goods and that globalization is a bit of an inevitability.
That being said my problem with many conservatives and some libertarians is that they want globalization without anything to impact the damage caused. Some to many seem to extoll the virtues of a Jeffersonian-Agarian state: lots of self-sufficient yeoman farmers/producers and small towns where people look out for each other without realizing that globalization requires big cities, people who spend much time at work, and not a lot of self-sufficient yeomanery. The Jefferosian ideal is great for small government and no welfare state but it is horrible for a globalized economy.
Globalization requires big government and an abandonment of pastoral ideals.
The United States has over 300 million people. The days of an industrial economy are probably over but we need to find a decent paying solution for the displaced unskilled workers. I think that extreme income inequality or a society that is split between a relatively large upper-middle class/educated class and a huge number of people in poverty and working for low pay/no benefits is only going to produce social unrest and pain.
We might even be seeing the end of a college degree or grad degree being a sure-fire road to the middle class because our mass educated class has grown too big. It is true that only 30 percent of Americans have college degrees and fewer have advanced degrees but there still seems to be a lot of struggle in this community as well for jobs at a decent wage.
That being said: Walsh is out, Watts is out, Grayson is back in, California turned three formally safe GOP seats blue, Bachmann barely held on, and GOP rising star Mia Love could not unseat Matheson despite being a Republican running in Utah during a Presidential election year.
Except four years for undergrad, I have spent my entire life in or near New York and San Francisco (plus a year in Tokyo) so I am a bit more immune to high gas prices/high prices than the average American.
But this is a good point, I think a lot of younger people (especially those in the educated-professional class) are going to try and avoid car travel more because of energy costs, concern for the environment, or at the very least seeming cool.
I grant that there will probably always be plenty of young people who stay in cities in their 20s and 30s and then move to the suburbs to raise families. However:
1. I don't think these young people are going to give up their social liberalism
2. Many more young people are trying to raise their kids in cities especially Western cities with a bit more single family housing like Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, etc.
On “Trade Sequence Part 2 – They Took Our Jobs!”
Probably a bit but some professions need credentials and training. If you are going to be doing something that can cause injury to a person somehow, you should be credentialed.
This includes law (bad legal advice can be disastorous and there are plenty of bad lawyers with law schools and credentials), medicine, and some aesthetics work (applying chemicals or wax to the human body and massage, or do old-school shaves). It probably should not include people who strictly cut hair, taxi drivers, and people who do manicures/pedicures.
Plus as my brother points out, there is plenty of unofficial credentialism in fields that do not require it by law. Dance Studios are a good example. The government does not require a license to run a dance studio but there is a private association that seems to be join or die. As in if you are not approved by said group, you will not find employees or students.
By big government, I basically meant the welfare state. I think universal healthcare, universal pre-K/pre-school and other safety net programs can encourage more risk taking by people economically.
"
The general conservative/libertarian points against social safety net/welfare state policies is that such policies destroy communities. During the healthcare debates, many conservatives pitched an alternative of friends, families, and neighbors looking out for each other. Tom Coburn did this in a town hall.
We see that the Republican Party is essentially an exurban/rural party now. They control the least urban parts of the United States. Many seem to still have the pathological fear of cities that drove the 1928 election against Al Smith. Many seem to believe in the fantasy of small-town America still.
However, we are no longer a nation of small towns and walking to work in a very small area. We drive 30-40 minutes if not more to work in cities, office parks, other towns, etc. These are not jobs where you can go home for lunch. Often they are not jobs that allow people free time to do errands in the middle of the day.
The modern economy is complicated and demands a lot from people. So much that I believe we do not have the time to be Mayberry anymore. If someone suffers a dehabilitating stroke, it is simply not possible to have neighbors look after him the same way. Also medicine is much more complicated and Doctors largely no longer make housecalls. Medicine was cheaper when it did less.
So I think free trade is fine but that it needs to be backed with a social safety net that only the government can provide. Private charity cannot help. Things are a little better for people who can work remotely.
In short, I think we can have a capitalist economy that offers nice things like European economies do like universal pre-school. I'm rather tired of the conservative arguments on how this is "tyranny"
Luckily, I think the election shows that people are starting to feel the same way. Sadly the Republican Party refuses to break their fever dream
"
Unlike some people on the far left, I generally do believe that trade and credit are net goods and that globalization is a bit of an inevitability.
That being said my problem with many conservatives and some libertarians is that they want globalization without anything to impact the damage caused. Some to many seem to extoll the virtues of a Jeffersonian-Agarian state: lots of self-sufficient yeoman farmers/producers and small towns where people look out for each other without realizing that globalization requires big cities, people who spend much time at work, and not a lot of self-sufficient yeomanery. The Jefferosian ideal is great for small government and no welfare state but it is horrible for a globalized economy.
Globalization requires big government and an abandonment of pastoral ideals.
The United States has over 300 million people. The days of an industrial economy are probably over but we need to find a decent paying solution for the displaced unskilled workers. I think that extreme income inequality or a society that is split between a relatively large upper-middle class/educated class and a huge number of people in poverty and working for low pay/no benefits is only going to produce social unrest and pain.
We might even be seeing the end of a college degree or grad degree being a sure-fire road to the middle class because our mass educated class has grown too big. It is true that only 30 percent of Americans have college degrees and fewer have advanced degrees but there still seems to be a lot of struggle in this community as well for jobs at a decent wage.
On “It’s the Party, Stupid: Despite what you might hear, the voters sent a clear mandate to Washington”
One wonders whether colleges and universities in Colorado and Washington are going to see a serious uptick in applications.
"
A plus!
"
Okay.
You and the rest of the Republican Party remind me of what was once said about the Bourbons: You remember everything and learn nothing.
On “Post-Election Instapundrity: Do the Democrats Have a New Coalition?”
I think my tribe will stay Democratic.
"
The city is spelled Jerusalem. You wrote "Jewrusalem" Israel is a Jewish state. W is no where near u on a standard keyboard.
Of the ones above, guess which definition I am going with. It certainly sounds like a disparaging remark to me about the composition of the city.
On “It’s the Party, Stupid: Despite what you might hear, the voters sent a clear mandate to Washington”
You understand absolutely nothing. Nothing.
"
That being said: Walsh is out, Watts is out, Grayson is back in, California turned three formally safe GOP seats blue, Bachmann barely held on, and GOP rising star Mia Love could not unseat Matheson despite being a Republican running in Utah during a Presidential election year.
"
Gerrymandering largely. The House is not very competitive for both sides.
"
He is also an illustration of why the GOP will be possibly/hopefully howling in the wilderness for a while.
"
Perhaps they give him internet access at Akrham Asylum already.
"
I think he is talking about Toni Morrison's claim that Bill Clinton was "the first black President"
On “Post-Election Instapundrity: Do the Democrats Have a New Coalition?”
Derek Thompson at the Atlantic published some blog posts a few months ago about how getting a car is no longer a status symbol for young people.
Being that I live in California, I know plenty of people in their 20s and 30s who love and use their cars on a daily basis,
"
Please tell me "Jewrusalem" was just a typo and not an anti-Semitic slur.
On “Ballot Initiatives Open Thread”
You beat me to it.
Prop 32 was not Citizens United. It was corporations trying to Tanya Harding unions.
Prop 39 also looks like it passes.
San Francisco's local measures all seemed to pass.
On “Post-Election Instapundrity: Do the Democrats Have a New Coalition?”
http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Democrats-get-supermajority-in-Legislature-4015861.php
"
2/3rd majority, both houses of the legislature. Basically the infamous Prop 13 is irrelevant.
"
I have a question for you.
What do you make of the Democratic Supermajority in the California Legislature?
How long do you think the GOP will make themselves irrelevant in California?
"
Except four years for undergrad, I have spent my entire life in or near New York and San Francisco (plus a year in Tokyo) so I am a bit more immune to high gas prices/high prices than the average American.
But this is a good point, I think a lot of younger people (especially those in the educated-professional class) are going to try and avoid car travel more because of energy costs, concern for the environment, or at the very least seeming cool.
"
Too hot!
"
But those coastlines do contain the bulk of the population
"
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2012/11/urban-electorate-why-republicans-cant-afford-concede-city-vote-ever-again/3829/
I grant that there will probably always be plenty of young people who stay in cities in their 20s and 30s and then move to the suburbs to raise families. However:
1. I don't think these young people are going to give up their social liberalism
2. Many more young people are trying to raise their kids in cities especially Western cities with a bit more single family housing like Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, etc.
"
All you need to do is add water.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.