As IF Times

Source: Idaho Lunch Lady Fired for Giving Free Meal to Student in Need Offered Job Back by School District – ABC News

That a story like this even makes the news is an indication of how society’s rules have become so disconnected from the values of greater society.  The onslaught of combative lawsuits, threatened legal actions and oppressive regulations ravaging western societies for the past few generations have successfully beaten and bullied  much of what passes as common sense and decency into retreat.  The concept of ‘doing the right thing’ over doing the legal thing is becoming as abstract as a rotary phone.  In effect, the nation is populated by rule-breakers at every level in society, it’s just a matter of when they get caught.

It appears that people are willing to be governed mainly by byzantine rules enforced by fearful lackeys rather than as directed by their inner moral compasses.  They have ceded the rules of conduct within society to the interpretation by the present day ruling class….lawyers.  Lest this sound like so much hyperbole, there is ample evidence to assure that it’s not. This is hardly an original thesis.  In her revealing 2002 book, The Case Against Lawyers, Judge Catherine Crier detailed the sinister creep of the legal and political class in undermining the very freedoms for citizens that they purportedly champion.

That this compassionate Idaho worker was accused of stealing for the simple act of feeding a poor kid should be repulsive to anyone who considers themselves moral.  Someone decided to apply the letter of the law to this poor woman as if it was a high crime.  While the story may seem outrageous to most of us, we’ve likely all been at the receiving end of a similar bit of legal heavy handedness.  People resent this stuff; they begin to wonder exactly who are making the rules.

Meanwhile in California, a Taco Bell executive was recorded on camera raining blows to the head of his unfortunate Uber cab driver.  Since most people frown upon such behavior, he soon became an ex executive when fired by Taco Bell once the video came to public attention. Rather than slink away in shame, this ex executive has instead decided to double down on his cowardly behavior by finding a lawyer to sue for $5 million dollars claiming that he never gave permission to be filmed beating up the driver.  Of course, it’s an easy defense, since the driver can claim that he was not given advance notice of a beating. The fact that this loser would even be able to file such an action is absurd. Preposterousness has never been an obstacle for lawyers.   Some may recall a Harvard law professor figuratively kicking sand in the face of a restauranteur for an innocent error on a bill.

What does this have to do with Donald Trump? Nothing directly, but also everything. His crass media shtick is certainly not what you’d want your kids to emulate, but this same thumbing of expected conventions has resonated with an enormous segment of people who are  tired of being told what is correct to say or do by political leaders and by media.  People prefer to make their own choices on religion, on assembly, on speech, on firearms, on climate fiction, on foods they eat, on cars they drive and how their kids are educated. They find in Trump, a plain spoken champion willing to push back against political correctness, against the tyranny of legal red tape which smothers common sense at all levels.  They find in him a person not beholden to influential moneyed constituencies pushing narratives which are at odds with their own experiences.  Without specificity, Trump seems to be the guy that will do the right thing, a trait that many can identify with.

Of course, he is hardly perfect and we don’t know if he’ll do all the things that he promises; that would be delusional.  For now, warts aplenty, he makes the most noise and gives voice to people that other politicos apparently don’t.  It may just be that he’s  the most successful demagogue of this time. But at least he’s not a lawyer.

link: Trump driving migrant debate among GOP field – The Washington Post

Donald Trump continues to dominate the news headlines with his populist rants about what ails the nation.  As noted in earlier pieces, the fact that these numerous festering issues have been brought forward for public discussion is a refreshing change from the PC sensibilities of both political parties and the media in general.

Until Trump, public figures were unable to speak candidly about numerous social and economic topics for fear of negative media characterization.  It’s as if someone had imposed an omerta edict, banning honest discussions on key social issues that could be spoken of in polite company.  Immigration, unemployment and the general fecklessness of the  sitting administration and congress are issues which affect most every citizen. Many likely feel that the America they’ve known is disappearing because of problems created by ill conceived policies.  Until Trump, no one had the cojones to talk about solutions for them in blunt unvarnished terms.  Indeed, at this point in the election process, the combatants appear to be less Republicans vs Democrats and more of the people vs Washington elites.  Trump’s great feat is that he’s able to discern that people hate all politicians,  tapping into that antipathy to become the de-facto spokesman for the silent majority.  Imagine that, Trump speaking for the common man!

Many of his proposed solutions resonate with the average guy since they seem to have some basis of common sense.  Building a wall to protect the southern border may have populist appeal, but we’re not sure if he can do that without hiring low cost Mexican workers.  Union labor rates would cripple the project.  On that note, one of Trump’s other populist notions is to bring back jobs from China.  Hmm…not sure he’s thought this one through.

Over the past few generations, the manufacture and fabrication of virtually all consumer goods has been ceded to China.  Why? Because workers there are cheap, plain and simple.  The result is that the west has grown accustomed to cheap clothes, cheap electronics, cheap iPhones, cheap furniture, even cheap rocks.  So now, that’s Americans’ favorite price point, cheap. But now, let’s say we could mandate that companies use only domestic labor for manufacturing.  That means that the price of everything skyrockets.  Wal Mart would go bust.  So would Costco.  No more buying one suit, getting 3 free at Joseph.A.Banks.

What Trump likely knows and is not revealing is that the real way to rebuild wealth in the west is not to bring back low wage jobs. How much can you pay someone to  put the caps on toothpaste? It’s only by dismantling the obstacles and regulations and taxation constraints that stymie business formation and growth that wealth creation can happen.  The villains aren’t in China or Mexico.  The guys with the twirly mustaches sit in government offices in state and federal capitols in the USA!  If Trump doesn’t make that point clear, then he is catering to populist sensibilities….like the politicians he claims to loathe.

Still, Trump is the right man at the right time. The pendulum of political correctness and progressive policies has swung so far to the left that a catalyst was needed to swing it back.  Trump is like chemo therapy for a cancer patient; strong medicine for a severe ailment.