June 26, 2021
An assortment of things
The Vaccine is back after Father’s Day hiatus. This week, I have an assortment of hot takes and general observations.
Disneyland has now opened all its locations at full capacity. This may be the strongest indication that things are returning to normalcy in America. On the other hand, the Delta variant of Coronavirus is growing fast here, accounting for over 20% of the cases reported in the US. With some states still lagging the rest in vaccinations, it’s likely we’ll have localized surges in many of these states in the fall. In other news, I booked my first plane tickets since January 2020. This feels like a huge personal milestone.
There’s not a whole lot of talk at work yet about returning to work. The plan is for a small percentage of employees to return full time, starting in the fall, and for the rest of us to come and go as we please. The office I had before the pandemic is gone, gone, gone. I believe their recommendation is to plan for 2-3 trips to the office in a month. I see plenty of Zoom in my future. I’m still figuring out if I am unhappy about this or not.
An apartment building in Miami collapsed even as the US Congress debated the infrastructure bill. Let’s face it. American infrastructure is very, very old. The gas and electricity grids were put in place 100 years ago. Most airports and highways were built during the 1950s. There are some bridges that go back all the way to the Civil War apparently. It’s time to upgrade. With self-driving cars coming, the ever present threat of terrorism, and now the spectre of pandemic cycles, we need more than just an upgrade. Of this, there is no doubt. I think everyone agrees. Biden announced a deal this week, involving a $600 billion spend. Sounds good. Let’s go.
The voting rights bill is a mess. The Republicans want to prevent election fraud and enforce strict rules around voter identity. They are also adept at stopping legitimate minority voters from getting their IDs in the first place. The Democrats have always played fast and loose with identity rules since it gets in the way of minority registration and voting. In California where I vote, there is no requirement to show ID when you vote. A bit extreme, don’t you think? Democrats also know that loose ID laws favor their prospects by allowing anyone (legal and illegal) to vote. In any case, it does not make sense to get approval from those people who originally took the rights away. They’re never going to agree to change the rules. However, it can still happen if the Democrats win brute force majorities in the Congress while keeping the White House, an event that has not occurred since Clinton in ‘92.
There is a massive debate on Critical Race Theory going on. The core idea of CRT is that racism is a social construct and not merely a product of individual prejudice but also embedded in institutions and policies. Some want to teach CRT in schools to educate citizens on systemic racism. Opponents describe CRT as wokeism gone rampant and an attempt to train citizens to have poor opinions of their own country. To anyone who has read even a modicum of American history, it is obvious that racism is America’s original sin. If you have committed a grave sin, then you have no choice but to confess it. To call it wokeism or any other -ism is nonsense. This is a debate the progressives must win if we are to make an honest people out of ourselves at some point.
Speaking of wokeism, it has increasingly become a catch all pejorative to describe anything progressive. There is an impression that wokeism has gone too far. That we are not allowed to be politically incorrect anymore. What I’ve noticed about such complainants is that they rather like being boorish and resent not being allowed to say whatever unfiltered rubbish comes out of their mouths. By the way, wokeism hasn’t gone even a tenth of the distance that racism and sexism have traveled in America.
Once you see it, you can’t unsee the truth. Wherever you turn, you’ll find evidence of it. These are the hallmarks of a great truth. It is the great truth of America, along with so many other truths that define it, that while many white Americans have moved past racism, the institutions and laws of the land carry it relentlessly forward.
There are only two people who I will “allow” to cut my hair at my local Great Clips. If they’re busy when my turn comes, I wait it out. C is 65 years old and J 38. Both are Vietnamese and not related to each other. We usually strike up a three way conversation whenever I am there. We are so different and yet it’s striking how much we have in common.
Our conversations are always about the little things. How things are getting really expensive. How C’s youngest daughter does not listen to her. How she began studying ophthalmology and somehow wound up working for Apple. “What’s wrong with that?” I pushed back. “She could have saved me a lot of money,” came C’s response.
Sometimes they ask for advice. Most of the time, they just want to get stuff out of their systems. I know everything there is to know about C’s youngest daughter’s boyfriends, three of them over the last seven years. I know all about the music J likes (classic rock) and his tiffs with the missus. “She thinks I watch too much football. That’s crazy.” Once C whispered, “I voted for Biden. Don’t tell my husband.” J was more open. “I don’t want to talk about that idiot.”
I tend to be anxious about their finances. “Are you making enough?” “You really should keep your daughter on your car insurance than having her own. It’s way cheaper.” This week, C told me that she has paid her house off. Wow. What an achievement! It made my week.
Stay safe. Have a great week ahead.