Well, not exactly ‘finally Friday’ as this week blazed by.
Currently 56F and overcast, with T-storms in the area forecast.
I’ve been thinking. (smell the smoke?)
Most of the immigration rationalizing has to do with bringing in workers and ‘vigorous breeders’ to support the current populations as they age. This is based on a crucial and WRONG idea that those imported populations WILL IN FACT support the current one. WHY WOULD THEY? They have little in common. They most certainly have their OWN interests and desires. They are from tribal and low trust societies where they feel no obligation to help anyone outside their clan. Further, the desire to import large numbers is based on another flawed set of assumptions. The idea that the country MUST REMAIN an IMPORTER instead of an EXPORTER and a consumer based economy instead of a maker based economy. The Powers that Be KNOW that the current setup is a Ponzi scheme. The only way to keep a ponzi going is to continually bring in new <s>participants</s> suckers. But the new suckers have NO intention of participating in the ponzi or any belief in the usefulness or desirability of the ponzi.
Thus we know it will not work. So…
There is no problem with a declining population if standard of living doesn’t also decline. A smaller family can better afford nice things, vacations, education, etc. than a large family. So too, a nation that concentrates on quality over quantity can prosper even with an overall decline in numbers.
The ponzi WILL collapse.
If you bake that into your assumptions, you should DIS-courage mass immigration. You should focus on doing more with fewer people (which we already do with robotic factories, and machines instead of laborers.) As (if) population declines, there will be more to go around, and standards of living will rise. Focus on enabling technologies. Focus on exporting. Focus on doing well at things the unwashed masses can’t do. There will always be unwashed masses. They’re vigorous breeders with large families (and by the way, how is that attitude NOT racist in today’s environment?) Focus on shifting from BEING the unwashed masses to providing goods and services TO THEM.
Then, as your population enjoys the fruits of their labor, they can start raising kids again, and slow or reverse your population decline.
TBTB are trapped in their mindset. They have always seen themselves as a small exclusive elite at the top of a pyramid of lesser masses. They think it will continue, and if the current masses are refusing to cooperate and not breeding at replacement levels, they’ll just replace them with masses that WILL. They miss the fact that the imported masses are NOT the same as the domestic masses (who only devolved into masses relatively recently historically.) The imported masses will have no trouble or qualms about throwing out the existing PTB, and replacing them with their OWN elites.
And while there is a certain amount of schadenfreude in the elites getting their comeuppance, unfortunately, that will wreck the place for the rest of us. We need to fight against their plan, show that it’s wrong, and based on false assumptions, and strengthen our own positions at the same time.
nick
The problem with a declining population is that the elderly, less / unproductive segment with the highest medical costs gets too large for the productive to sustain. We will have to radically change our ideas of retirement and the promises made to workers. This WILL cause serious social upheaval. Demographics is a bitch.
mmm, maybe the large rant is a copy of tammany hall of 1850? Same reasons, surely same end.
Gangs of NY is a sample
The country was up for grabs, and New York was a powder keg. This was the America not the West with its wide open spaces, but of claustrophobia, where everyone was crushed together. On one hand, you had the first great wave of immigration, the Irish, who were Catholic, spoke Gaelic, and owed allegiance to the Vatican. On the other hand, there were the Nativists, who felt that they were the ones who had fought and bled, and died for the nation. They looked at the Irish coming off the boats and said, “What are you doing here?” It was chaos, tribal chaos. Gradually, there was a street by street, block by block, working out of democracy as people learned somehow to live together. If democracy didn’t happen in New York, it wasn’t going to happen anywhere.
— Martin Scorsese on how he saw the history of New York City as the battleground of the modern American democracy
I know the fellow who owns all the McDonalds in SE WA and NE OR, he is a few years older than me. His sons’ have been groomed from the ground up (worked all jobs starting with cleaning the bathrooms) to take over the empire. Anyway, to my point, he has always preferred to hire senior citizens because they are reliable and honest in all ways.
So about the “productivity” point, today’s snowflakes are not even 1/10th as productive as my generation. I am sure most here would agree. They want it all now and are unwilling to put in the years to get the experience that has always been required to do a good job.
Be it technology or mechanics there is no substitute for experience at the side of an “ol’ grey beard”. Too bad we don’t get the respect that I was taught to give as a youngster.
About those immigrants –
The immigrants of the 19th or even the early 20th century were the people that built the greatest nation on Earth. Those people gave up everything they had, got on a boat, and took a chance with their lives that they could wrest a living out of the cold, hard ground and succeed in a place where success was permitted. There was no going back as they gave up everything to come here.
The immigrants of today are not taking a chance. They’re taking a 12 hour trip to a place that will give them startup money, food, housing, and nearly anything they need. If it doesn’t work out, they can go back home. What’s coming in does not average to a bright & courageous group of hard workers & producers. Instead, they average a little to the left on the curve and have little skin in the game. They are net conumers. They’re not risking their lives to come here. The do not net us a positive in our population.
That may, or may not, be what we want. It is assuredly what we are getting.
So about the “productivity” point, today’s snowflakes are not even 1/10th as productive as my generation. I am sure most here would agree. They want it all now and are unwilling to put in the years to get the experience that has always been required to do a good job.
It is too early to tell with the “snowflake” generation. Enough competent 30-45 year olds seem to emerge from every generation to build careers in such high IQ gigs as performing the heart surgeries, keeping the planes in the air, and preventing bridges from falling down.
After our sentence -er- tenure in Portlandia I completely understand why there may be a shortage of competency among the youth in SE WA/NE OR. SW WA was friggin’ scary. My wife and I were the least surprised when the ground zero of one of the Chipotle Hep A outbreaks was the restaurant closest to our former rental.
Don’t blame the weather — Simplot and Micron happened just up the road in Boise, and HP is still there. I watched the HP signs come down on the campus in Vancouver *where the inkjet printer was invented* 30 years ago. Competency votes with their feet.
@DadCooks: Everything you say about the younger generation is true. The thing is: it has been true about every younger generation since forever. When I was 20 or 22 or 25, I had a very high opinion of my skills, and was thoroughly annoyed that the older generation didn’t appreciate them properly. Mind you, I was good, but when you lack experience you simply don’t appreciate how much it’s worth.
Now, of course, I see it from the other side. The younger generation – even the really good ones – spend far too much time re-inventing the wheel. They have too little appreciation of the value of experience. And essentially none of them believe that a geezer like me could code circles around most of them (not all of them – some really are good – but most).
Remember this quote: “The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.” Sound about right? That was Socrates, complaining about the younger generation, back in the 4th century B.C..
There’s nothing wrong with today’s youth that won’t be cured by a couple of decades of experience. Of course, then they will start complaining about the next generation.
@brad, I guess I am not normal. I always knew and still know my skills and limitations and am willing to admit that I am still learning. From as early as I can remember I watched and helped my Mom and Dad, and my Grandmothers’ and maternal Grandfather (paternal Grandfather died before I was born). I was fortunate in that most of my employers believed in true mentoring. This early “education” and values system carries me through to this day.
One thing I really liked about the Submarine Service was how the “ol’ salts” took us “pollywogs” under their wing so that we could become “ol’ salts”. I was fortunate to be able to associate with Diesel Boat Submariners. There is a wealth of experience and wisdom there that is not available to today’s Submarine Sailors.
A big reason I succeeded so well in my careers on the Hanford Reservation was that I respected and sought out the advice and wisdom of the “ol’ timers”/”grey beards”. Others were amazed at how I could get anything done, because I knew how to work with those grumpy old men. My own form of the “Art of the Deal”.
@Lynn — It looks like Round Rock is going to try again for their own $60-70 million football stadium, either in November or (more likely) a special election in May 2019.
The ISD staged the last special election on a Saturday morning last year. Fortunately, enough people woke up and went to the polls to defeat the measures.
“Government debt is exploding. Here’s the danger”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/government-debt-exploding-heres-danger-203654548.html
Do you get the feeling that Trump knows something that we don’t know ? He is trying to expand the economy like crazy. Whereas the economy (of which the stock market is a good signal) is wavering between expanding and shrinking. The market that I am in, the oil and gas market, is expanding but the supply is almost infinite so the prices are still under severe pressure.
I’m certain Trump knows things I don’t know. He gets the kind of briefings that would keep anyone up at night. Even obola shut his fat mouth about something (defense related, don’t remember but it was shockingly clear when he stopped) after he got his first couple of classified briefs.
Things to remember about Trump, he’s savvy–he’ll use what ever is available to him legally, or of untried legality. He’s a planner–his building timelines stretch for years, even a decade or more. He’s a dealmaker–he’s willing to compromise, especially on things he’s made a big deal about, but that aren’t actually important to what he wants. He knows people–he’ll exploit whatever he learns about a person, even if he’s got personality issues and has to get it from a dossier, he knows how to give his adversaries what they want to get what HE wants. And finally, all this takes time. I think he’s playing a long game and everyone else is looking for quick fixes.
n
WRT the economy, EVERYONE agrees that it can’t go on forever. And as Jerry was fond of saying, what can’t go on forever, won’t. .gov and the previous occupants of 1800 Penn have partied like crazy, running up a huge tab. Now ‘dad’ is home and is facing the bill coming due. He’s got to be scrambling to keep from eating the sh!tsandwich he’s been handed.
Growing the economy helps. I bet he’s trying to bring it in for a soft landing, but it may be impossible. Maybe the best he can hope for is to cushion the blow.
Any effort to do so is appreciated by yours truly.
n
“Switch to Windows 95”
https://blog.krnl386.com/index.php?post/2018/02/03/Switch-to-Windows-95
Running Windows 3.1 in a window on Windows 95.
For you people with too much time on your hands. You know who you are.
I’m certain Trump knows things I don’t know. He gets the kind of briefings that would keep anyone up at night.
I fully expect Trump’s hair to be solid white when he exits the stage after his second term.
I think he’s playing a long game and everyone else is looking for quick fixes.
Trump is a long game specialist. The man has serious vision and analytical skills. We could have done far worse.
And Hillary is not President ! ! ! !
And this really is the FMOD!
Blue whale-sized ‘hazardous’ asteroid that was only spotted on Sunday will skim past Earth TODAY at less than one-fifth the distance between our planet and the moon
The asteroid, 2018 CB, was only discovered by Nasa on Sunday
Expert warns an asteroid of this size will only get this close ‘once or twice a year’
According to Nasa it will pass by at around 17:30 EST (22:30 GMT) today
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5371357/Hazardous-asteroid-skim-past-Earth-TODAY.html
@nick from http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/asteroid-2018-cb-graze-earth-friday-watch-online/
Dang, and I broke out the Mountain House beef stew….
It’s just a bit disconcerting that they JUST spotted it.
n
Dang, and I broke out the Mountain House beef stew….
It’s just a bit disconcerting that they JUST spotted it.
Huh ? Who is they, the rats ?
Wow, you can buy that in a #10 can:
https://www.amazon.com/Mountain-House-Beef-Stew/dp/B00QKP1BFW
Nope, the flaming meteor of death, that’s just a bit short on the death part…. (see above)
The mountain house was because it’s the end o the world!111!!11111 and what else does a prepper eat at the end of the world?
n
People who yell about teh end of teh wurld!!! have, to date, universally made mountain houses out of mole hills.
Olympic opening ceremony was long but technologically impressive. Artistically too. Except for the John Lennon song, which was a sour note for me….
n
Nice post Nick.