The Generalist

Why We’re 49 and They’re 50

According to Freedom in the 50 States, a publication by the Mercatus Center of George Mason University that ranks the 50 US States by how free they are, New Jersey, the state I live in, ranks 49 and my neighbor New York ranks 50.

That doesn’t surprise me.

But to underscore those rankings, given the current crisis here in the Northeast caused by Hurricane Sandy, here are two interesting points I’ve discovered in the last week, these in addition to anti-“price-gouging”-gasoline-rationing-odd-even-days from the 70’s.

This first one doesn’t actually relate to Hurricane Sandy specifically, but it does impact people currently suffering from it. Chuck Grimmet recently posted his rant Bloomberg Donations Ban and Perverse Consequences in The Freeman and I agree wholeheartedly. But here it is, the original story from March of this year, as it appeared on the FoxNews website: Nanny Bloomberg Bans Food Donations to Homeless Shelters: Too Salty!

That’s right. No donations because the food is too salty. I don’t really think I need to say more. I understand Chuck Grimmet’s rant. I often feel the need to rant. Something inside of me still thinks that if I explain it clearly enough people will go “Oh! I get it! You’re kidding, right?” I still think there’s a possibility they will understand. I mean, it’s not 2+2=4, it’s just really, really close. Someone could honestly misunderstand, right? But I guess I’m starting to get tired because I now think that if you don’t see this as wrong without having to have it explained to you, you are probably a babbling idiot anyway and explaining it to you would be kind of like trying to teach a rabbit to read.

But if you think a rant will help you, or maybe just be a catharsis, definitely go read Chuck’s. The only thing I might add is this – there’s a reason we as a species crave salt and sugar: because when you are going hungry those are exactly what you need. Just another reason it isn’t beneficial to have an idiot feeding you.

This next one is from New Jersey and actually is in relation to Hurricane Sandy specifically. Here it is: ‘No Red Tape’? New Jersey Turns Away Non-union Relief Crews

That link is from Breitbart, but this blog post from Chris Wysocki is much more entertaining. Some of the comments he points out illustrate nicely the attitude of union members. This exchange is my favorite:

Union man: Have you ever wored (sic) with non-union lineman? I have and no, they are not as well trained and have not done the train ing (sic) that IBEW lineman do. There is no way that I would do storm work with someone who has not even been train (sic) and too stupid (sic) to know it is better to be a union lineman. It is far too dangerous.

Non-union man: We have very reliable electric lighting here in Alabama. We also go through a major storm (Cat 3,4,5) every eight or ten years with little ones (like Cat 1 Sandy) about every other year. After Katrina, we had power back in less than four days. We have the crews. You have the unions. Enjoy the dark.

I hate unions.

Now, when I was a kid just out of high school and I got my first job I was in a union. I thought it was great. If I did something worthy of getting myself fired, my union rep came in looking all sharp in his suit and carrying his briefcase and he would go and “negotiate” with my employers to keep me on the payroll. I felt all kinds of important when he came in. I had a thug in my corner. On some level, I knew that’s exactly what he was. It always worked, too. Well… not really, because eventually that store went out of business.

Now, let it be known, I believe wholeheartedly in people’s freedom to organize themselves for their mutual benefit. The problem is, unions are not that. They aren’t really for self defense as they like to claim and for the most part their antagonists are not even the companies that employ the workers – no, just as that story illustrates – they are really other workers that the union members want to prevent from bidding on jobs in order to keep their own wages unduly high – i.e., thuggery.

Anyway, just two small examples of why, especially during a crisis, New Jersey ranks 49 and New York ranks 50.

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2 Comments

  1. Chuck Grimmett

    9 Nov 2012 - 6:49 pm

    Thanks for the correction on the date that the ban was enacted. I was going off of the news story I linked to, which has since been edited and corrected, so I made an edit on my post, too.

  2. Lisa

    9 Nov 2012 - 9:11 pm

    Hi Chuck,
    I think it is perfectly relevant to talk about now – given that quite a few people who were once perfectly able to eat as they liked are suddenly homeless. It just underscores the absurdity. Thanks for your post!

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