Outside The Box #259
By Hank Silverberg
There are a lot of things in our world right now that are just not right, particularly here in the United States.
Our government is almost dysfunctional. Oh, routine things get done, but new ideas, something that will move society forward, are missing. Sure, we have new technology. Some of it, like Artificial Intelligence, may present some new ethical questions as we progress. But that is for a discussion another day.
What is missing from our country right now, and maybe the whole world, are people who can think outside the box. I mean people who can come up with a different way of doing things.
Here is just a small example I encountered while getting lunch this past Sunday. While out on errands, I decided to break my diet and get a burger. I am not going to name the fast-food chain, but you have probably been to one of them.
I wanted a double cheeseburger meal. That means two small cheeseburgers, an order of fries and a drink. (I know it's not good for me, but sometimes you have to break training.)
I ordered it, but asked for a small soda instead of the medium or large which usually comes with the meal. There are fewer calories that way. They charged me for the meal, plus another $1.39 for the small drink.
I asked, "How come you charged me that extra buck-thirty-nine for the drink? Doesn't one come with the meal?"
Drive-in window guy: "Yes, but it comes with medium or large, not a small."
Me: "So just substitute a small for a medium,"
Window guy: "I can't do that!"
Me: "Why not?"
Window guy: "Let me check with the manager, drive forward."
I went to the second widow.
Window guy: "That will be $8.22." He hands me a receipt and then my meal with a medium soda.
Me: "I asked for a small."
 |
| (Medium drink) |
I grabbed the meal and drove away a bit annoyed.
And that is what is wrong with America. People, companies, politicians and others are just too set on ideas and practices and can't think or react independently based on circumstances.
Giving me a small soda would have cost this restaurant nothing. It might have actually increased their profit by a penny or two. But no. A meal comes with a medium or large. That's it.
Now let's expand this concept.
The Republicans in Congress are resisting a raise in the debt ceiling because they don't like spending and want budget cuts. The fact that budget cuts in the future will do nothing to keep the United States from defaulting on its debt now and putting our overall economy at risk, is irrelevant to them. They want tax and spending cuts.
Part of their solution is to propose a 23% regressive flat federal sales tax on everyone, and then eliminate the progressive income tax which is fairer across the board. That's what the Republicans want, default be damned. Let the economy tank. We'll worry about that after we win the next election even though 25% of that national debt was created by the Trump Administration. That's the concept they have been talking about for over two decades.
Democrats want the debt ceiling raised to prevent default. Okay, that makes sense to avoid the immediate financial crisis. But they are unwilling to even address the concept that we may be spending too much and maybe government is too big and needs to be cut back a bit. Or perhaps change some priorities to get more bang for the buck. That's their mantra and they are sticking to it.
No one, from the fast-food company and their packaged meals, or Congress and their rhetorical deals, can think outside the box. No new ideas, no flexibility, no compromises.
It all ends up with frustration from the public and stagnation for the country.
Surely there is someone out there who can think outside the box and come up with some NEW IDEAS. But it better happen soon, or we are all in real trouble.
Holocaust Ignorance
This past Friday was Holocaust Remembrance Day. With mass shootings in California and a terrorist attack in Jerusalem, the release of tapes in the Paul Pelosi case and the Memphis police brutality case, it may have gotten by many of you. The day is set aside to remember the millions of people, including six million Jews, who were systematically murdered by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945. But lately it seems the world has begun to forget. And many young people may never learn about the horror of those years.
"The Council on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany" has conducted a study on knowledge of the Holocaust in six countries, including the United States.
In the U.S. they broke it down by all 50 states and part of it focused on awareness of the Holocaust among younger people, specifically Millennials and Gen Z. The findings show a clear failure on the part of education systems in teaching about the mass murder of the 20th Century that is collectively known as the Holocaust.
For example, some of the survey's findings:
*48% of millennials and Gen Z could not name a single one of the more than 40,000 Nazi concentration camps where millions of people were murdered. (That number goes up to 60% in Texas.)
*56% were unable to identify Auschwitz-Birkenau, by name with virtually no awareness of concentration camps or ghettos overall.
*63% did not know six million Jews had been murdered during the Holocaust.
*And in the most startling figure of all, 11% of Millennials and Gen Z respondents believe Jews caused the Holocaust.
Why? This may be one reason:
*49% of the Millennials and Gen Z surveyed have seen Holocaust denial or distortion on social media or elsewhere on-line. (Study after study has indicated this same group relies on the internet and social media for most of its news and information.)
There is one bright spot: 64% of Millennials and Gen Z believe Holocaust education should be compulsory in school.
According to the National Conference of State Legislators, only 18 of our 50 states require teaching about the Holocaust and genocide.
You can see more findings, including state-by-state breakdowns at this link: https://www.claimscon.org/millennial-study/
These findings do not bode well for the future. As I have quoted many times in the past in this blog and elsewhere, "those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.")
(Note: People born between 1981 and 1996 are considered Millennials. Those born from 1997 onward are Gen Z.)
I add this: 38 new incidents of antisemitism were reported in the past week around the world. (These are just the ones reported and does not include the firebomb attack on a synagogue in New Jersey Saturday night.)
The majority of them come from the Far Right (22). Five came from far-left sources and only three from Islamists. (Eight were unidentifiable.)
And I note once again that in this country, the far- right continues to get rhetorical, if not outright help, from a good number of Republican lawmakers on the national, state and local level.
New Feature: Overused Word:
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This week's word is "patriot."
Here is the definition of the word from Webster's on-line dictionary:
patriot
noun
This week's dumbest quote comes from Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz on some speculation that Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green should be considered as a GOP candidate for Vice President. He said this:
"She should absolutely be considered."
That thought is absolutely frightening. There are about 300 million people in this country who are more qualified than Greene. The U.S. population is over 324 million. I can think of a large number of fifth graders who would be better. They at least could read the Constitution.
Despite all her loud, obnoxious rhetoric, Greene has the worst record of any member of Congress. Since she took office in January of 2021, she has sponsored or co-sponsored 213 pieces of legislation. Only four have become law, and that includes one last year that renamed a post office in Atlanta after the late John Lewis, which had 364 con-sponsors. This past week, an amendment she proposed to prevent any president from selling oil from the strategic oil reserve was rejected by a vote of 418 to 14. Greene is terrible in Congress and terrible for the people of Georgia.
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