As IF Times

Source: Panera’s experiment with socialism craters… “can’t cover costs” … restaurants shuttered – NaturalNews.com

Gee, who could have seen that coming.  Most people have never even heard of this experiment by Panera, a noble one to be sure, but nevertheless one that a 7 year old could have told them was doomed to fail.  Having a business model in which people are allowed to contribute what they want for your products works only in the fairyland in which no one lives. To Panera’s credit, it was the corporation’s own money that was at stake here, not the collective contributions forced from the public that we’re accustomed to seeing.

In fact, you can say that this was a form of charity, always admirable, but only if sustainable. You can dole out only as much as you have in your larder to help others.  If only this philosophy was observed in public policy. As we know, the model there is to enforce some well intentioned policy with the monies confiscated from everyone else, without regard to permission, efficacy or cost.  There’s seldom a mechanism of sober reflection when the policies go wrong, even when they result in the exact opposite of what was originally intended. One bemusing example is the popularity of the “no guns allowed” sticker one finds in so many buildings and all schools. What this really signals is that these are risk free victim zones for perps. There is an internet meme showing a “no wolf” sign around a herd of sheep. The reality is, laws are only for the law abiding.

There are innumerate examples of this, but of course the one capturing the headlines most recently, is illegal immigration.  What may have started off as a gesture of kindness by allowing people into the nation illegally to find work and support their families has transmogrified grotesquely into a virtual industry.  Tens of millions of people are living in the country without going through proper channels and millions more are in their wake literally pushing at the fences to get in.  Unlike Panera Bread which made a decision based on the evidence to stop their program, politicos are doubling down on allowing the flood of illegals to enter the country.  This, despite hard evidence of the unwanted consequences of increased crime, bursting social support systems and schools,  higher taxation and degraded cities.

People with an elevated sense of social justice unfortunately are often also deficient in matters of common sense. When they manage to take office, they’re like children who think bringing home all of the stray dogs in the neighborhood is a good idea, but have no idea the cost and effort required to maintain them, but hey, they’re cute.  If you extrapolate this to public policy, it’s the same thing as making all of your neighbors take in stray dogs as well without their choice in the matter.

And this is what’s happened to public policy today.  Let’s disregard for a moment the mercenary aspects of policy and simply take the proponents at their word; that they are social justice fighters.   There is a breakdown of the system of checks and balances needed to nip ideas which are hopelessly wrongheaded from becoming policy. There is a crying need for rational voices to put a stop to misbegotten notions which threaten the very fabric of a civilized culture.  For too long we’ve allowed the kids to run the place and it’s time for the adults to step up and take back control.

Source: Passion, chaos as Kavanaugh confirmation vote nears

Passion.  That’s the characterization of the left’s yelling and wailing surrounding the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings.  From confrontations in elevators to screaming bad rhymes on the street, the naked infantilism of ‘progressives’ is on full display.

Why does this feel so familiar?  And no, it’s not just because this is the preferred tactic by the left; it’s because we’ve seen it all as parents. We’ve lived through the phase of petulant children stomping their feet, holding their breath and rolling on the ground wailing because they were not allowed a toy or a piece of candy.  Recent generations of children have been brought up by parents subscribing to the modern accepted theory of avoiding corporal punishment at all costs.  Well, now we see the costs.

We have created a generation (or more) of people that are psychologically stunted, unable to deal with disappointment rationally and whose only resort of influence is by wailing. They are abetted by a society that allows infantilism to continue well past the age at which it should have ended.  We are all aware of the padded environments of schools and universities where safe spaces, trigger words and crying rooms are not uncommon.  Entire swaths of a generation of adolescents are unable to deal with the vicissitudes of life.  They pile into issues they can’t even spell much less articulate in any meaningful way.

This is not passion.  It’s entitlement masquerading as social justice.  A lifetime of conditioning has allowed emotional and tribal mindsets to entirely eclipse any influence of reason to address issues. This dynamic percolates into political allegiances, which then produces exponents who encourage and nurture their irrational base.  The cycle self perpetuates.

The circus which has been the Supreme court nomination process has turned into a melodrama by the left literally wailing and flailing to get their way while the feckless Republicans try to mollify them by offering them candy or a pony if they just behave.  Petulant kids are not capable of acting on reason and logic, they are only concerned with getting their way.  It’s not passion; it’s whining.