Enthusiastic Reader > Recent Status Updates

"He had his own more local—and personal—way of showing sympathy for the poor. Every Christmas, through Beau-Care, a Beauregard Parish nonprofit community agency, he and his wife, "Miss Bobby" chose seven envelopes off a Christmas tree and provided a present for the child named on the enclosed card."

This allows him to feel powerful and in control, and provides no ongoing support or responsibility. ;p

"Lee's biggest beef was taxes. They went to the wrong people—especially welfare beneficiaries who 'lazed around days and partied at night' and government workers in cushy jobs. He knew liberal Democrats wanted him to care more about welfare recipients, but he didn't want their PC rules telling him who to feel sorry for."

"From net to plate—fishermen, grocery stores, trucking companies, and restaurant workers—all were furious at the government officials who had declared the seafood advisory."

"Local waterways had long been contaminated from many sources. But in 1987, the state at last issued a seafood advisory... It was a very belated attempt by the state of Louisiana to warn the public of toxins in local waters."

"When we listen to a political leader, we don't simply hear words; we listen predisposed to want to feel certain things."

"Virtually every Tea Party advocate I interviewed for this book has personally benefited from a major government service or has close family who have. Several had disabled elderly parents lacking private long-term care insurance, and had them declared indigent in order to enable them to receive Medicaid... But many were ashamed and asked me to dissociate their identity from such an act."

"In 1960, the GOP platform embraced 'free collective bargaining' between management and labor... Under Dwight Eisenhower, top earners were taxed at 91 percent; in 2015, it was 40 percent." (That's under OBAMA, folks.)

"when people move today, it is more often to live near others who share their views."

"[Mike] had been a victim of one of the strangest, literally earth-shaking environmental disasters in the nation... caused by a lightly regulated drilling company. But as a Tea Party advocate, Mike had hailed government deregulation of all sorts, as well as drastic cuts in government spending—including that for environmental protection."

ix - "To many on the right... government itself was a power-amassing elite, creating bogus causes to increase its control and handing out easy money in return for loyal Democratic votes."

Okay, he does touch on the problem with UBI in a rent-based economy in the notes.

All of the gratuitous sadism of workplace politics depends on one's inability to say "I quit" and feel no economic consequences. <--- the difference between my main job and my side gigs.

Talking a LOT about UBI but no mention of rent control.

(interview) "monetizing those activities often decreases the qualitative value of the care, especially if it's done, as it is usually, as a list of specific tasks with set time limits." <--- LIKE THE EFFECT GRADES HAVE ON STUDENT MOTIVATION.

(in an interview) "everyone is a carer in one form or another. If you're not looking after someone else then at the very least you're looking after yourself, and this takes time and energy the system is less and less willing to afford people."

studies... demonstrate that any system of means testing, no matter how it's framed, will necessarily mean at least 20% of those who legitimately qualify for benefits give up and don't apply. That's almost certainly more than the number of "cheats" who might be detected by the rules—in fact, even counting those who are honestly mistaken the number still only comes to 1.6 percent.

Oo, he flat-out says he's an anarchist. Nifty!