The Curmudgeon Speaks

It was the day before Christmas. I went to the dump. The guys were all working. Made me feel like a chump. …. [creativity ends]

I have taken nearly this same photo several times, but my dump buddy was not wearing his suit this year. Thanks Google photos for finding what I was thinking of from my collection of thousands.

If there is a message in this insight, it is one of appreciating opportunities and good times. Our year included a few negative experiences, but mostly life was good and we end with everyone well. We hope it is the same with you and yours.

We are spending the holidays at the lake place with Josh/Lynn and Todd/Jess and kids. Kim/Jim, Sid and Frankie will be joining by Zoom. The weather has been very wintery, but too cold for all but necessary outside activities. Great for photos and watching the holiday movies and football games. We save “Emmit Otter’s Jug Band Christmas” for this evening.

Happy holiday.

If I have hobbies, they would be technology and photography. Some time ago, my wife invested in an Indigogo project that combines both. The Bird Buddy is a bird feeder that contains a camera triggered by nearby moving objects. Such objects are intended to be birds. Think of one of those video doorbells positioned inside a bird feeder.

The camera captures pictures of these birds and sends them to your phone allowing you to keep copies of the birds you photograph. The system makes use of artificial intelligence that attempts to identify the birds and provides some facts about range, habits, and diet. The identification works pretty well. You can set the system up to post the images to social media, but I would find regular posts of birds in my account annoying so I don’t.

The following images show the Bird Buddy and pictures of a male and young female Cardinal our Buddy captured. The images are high quality.

I think we have captured pretty much every species we see in the winter. Now, it is fun to see just what interesting poses you get. The Spring should bring some new visitors.

I call this one “chubs”.

I wonder if you begin to appreciate the value of history as you put in a few years and begin to have a little history yourself. I don’t remember much from my exposure to the history that is required as part of my high school education. It was probably one of those subject areas to which I was indifferent and did what I had to in preparation for examinations. I purposefully avoided history courses in college and favored other areas of social science to meet requirements. Sociology and psychology seemed more practical and I eventually pursued graduate degrees in psychology.

The notion that history repeats itself is frequently offered as a rationale for the universal study of history. I guess this is valid, but how does anyone decide which parts of history are relevant? The cumulative nature of history means that the options are pretty much endless and happening on useful examples seem rather random. I now dabble reading a few things here and there that others recommend.

After that lengthy intro, this post is a recommendation for a podcast offered by television personality Rachael Maddow. Rachael’s capabilities as a researcher and storyteller make the time investment both enlightening and entertaining. The podcast, Ultra, describes the history of an attempt by the ultra right to install an authoritarian government in the United States during World War II. With the assistance of Germain Nazi agents, politicians and at least one religious leader with a large radio audience supported and encouraged multiple extremists groups (America First, The Christian Front) that organized, secured significant stock piles of weapons, and engaged in sabotage of several munition plants. Politicians were using the franking privileges provided as a benefit of their office to distribute propaganda developed by German operatives in an effort to undermine the war effort and overthrow the U.S. government. The Justice Department found it difficult to investigate and Senators were able to remove DOJ personnel working on prosecutions. Scary stuff and a lesson to those in present time assuming the U.S. political system is immune to the efforts of bad actors. Substitute the Internet for mass mailing and popular radio personalities, different actors within a hesitant DOJ, other radical organizations as substitutes for America First and The Christian Front, Russia rather than Germany, and different politicians seeking power and wealth and the circumstances of the 1940s could be our present environment.

The true story is as engaging as popular political thrillers and spy novels I admit to having consumed. Presently the most popular podcast in the country, there are presently eight episodes each of which is approximately one-half hour in length. The link I provide above takes you to a website that provides links to the episodes and provides additional images and documents associated with each episode.

When you get older you may have to find different ways of doing things. Back in the day we went to football games outside when the temps approached zero. Now, I get cold when I sit through a game in the 30s.

Yesterday, the temps were in the teens, but Cindy and I came prepared. Electric socks and gloves. Supposedly 5 hours on a single charge. I tool the conservative approach and did not turn on the power until the game and then on the low setting. Cindy used hers during the tailgate and ran out of power during the 4th quarter. The conservative approach kept me warm to see the disappointing loss at the end of the game in comfort.

I find the process of political campaigning very frustrating. Political ads that are simplistic and I know are making false claims have always been an issue that sets me off. If you ou can’t claim that cigarettes are good for you in an ad, why can you make a false claim in a political ad.

I recently encountered an explanation that addressed this topic directly and is worth reviewing. Yes, lying in political ads is allowed and protected. It is important to understand this so you are not confused and don’t reach false conclusions about the ads you watch on television.

I recently watched an interview with an ad expert who was asked about the effectiveness of political ads and what type of ads are most successful. He was also asked about Republican vs. Democratic messaging. He proposed that Democrats don’t understand what works and that they keep trying to explain things. He suggested that productive ads make simple claims and are repeated many times. I could see myself in this analysis. I just don’t believe a lot of issues – e.g., the economy – are simple and careful analysis and evidence offer explanations requiring a different conclusion than what is often claimed in a simple way. I know these people’s eyes may start to glaze over when I try to explain, but I can’t help it. If you want to actually understand, you sometimes have to go a little deeper and invest a little effort in understanding.

So, this is likely to be my last political post before the election. I want to address what seems to be the top political issue as I understand the polls. Despite significant issues such as climate change, inequity, and the right of women to choose, the number one issue seems to be the economy and whether Democratic leaders are responsible for inflation. My mind generates the image of the sticker of Biden pointing at the total for your gas purchase Republicans have added to gas pumps when this claim is made.

There are many facts I think argue that Democrats and especially Democratic leaders are not responsible for high costs and inflation. First, this is a world-wide challenge and it just makes no sense that Pelosi and Biden control world-wide economic issues. Second, alternative explanations seem obvious. Energy problems have been created because of the war in Ukraine and OPEC. I suppose Biden could stop supporting Ukraine, but is this what the American people actually want? We also know that companies providing goods and services are generating record profits suggesting that cost increases to consumers are not totally a function of political decisions.

Have the Democrats done nothing in response to economic challenges? Facts should indicate that multiple steps have been taken sometimes exclusively based on the votes of Democrats and sometimes despite active efforts of the Republicans to block. The effort of President Biden to reduce college student debt makes an obvious example of this second situation. Biden is trying to reduce student loan debt by $10,000 ($20,000 in some situations) and it is being blocked in court by Republications.

The only major economic move I remember from the Trump years was the reduction of more than a trillion dollars in the tax expectation from big companies. The argument was that this would stimulate infrastructure investments and salary increases from these companies. This is not what the companies emphasized and stock buybacks were a common use for the money. Yes, this drove up the value of stocks and those of us with significant holdings in the market benefitted. However, this is an example of the rich getting richer.

Specific efforts by Democrats to address the economy:

Chips bill – effort to bring industries generating computer components back to the U.S.

Inflation Reduction Act – title of the bill makes the focus obvious. Use this link to see who voted for and who was against.

Infrastructure bill – a jobs bill

One final observation. How people understand the economy varies. Yes, we are paying more for gas and eggs. This is obvious. However, consider that the employment rate shows unemployment is the lowest it has been since the ’60s. If you have been unable to find work, this would seem to be a good thing. One of those complexities people don’t want to consider is at play here. When more people work, there is more money to spend which increases inflation. This is what the Fed is trying to address by raising interest rates which make homes and any purchase made with borrowed money more expensive. When interest rates go up inflation goes down, but when money is more expensive to borrow, spending and employment decrease. Who will politicians blame then? Throw in evidence that the increase in jobs is mainly low paying jobs and objections to raising the minimum wage is not a cause many politicians will support and you have an even more complete picture of the economic situation. Turn this into a fifteen second television ad.

Elon Musk’s successful purchase of Twitter and the questionable behavior that has followed has caused users to quit or at least seek an alternative. I am waiting to see what happens and I would be reluctant to leave until after the election season has passed. This seems a critical time and not the time to withdraw. I am also concerned about heavily populated silos and then impact on individuals who receive little else in daily information. This is the reason I have joined and regularly comment on Truth Social.

I am a member of two alternative social platforms – Mastodon (twit.social) and WT.social.

Here are a couple of sources you might explore if you are interested in alternatives.

Verge article on Twitter alternatives

Mastodon – TechCrunch description

Post secondary education describes education that follows high school (in the U.S.). When we hear this phrase most of us probably assume the topic is college or university experiences, but other experiences should be included. A recent CBS Sunday Morning segment focused on trade schools. I would describe the purpose of the segment as increasing the prestige of these programs arguing that the professions require skill and creativity, prepare graduates for professions that can be quite lucrative, and while the programs may require as much time as college education involve paid internships not available to those running up high college debt. If you don’t watch this program, this segment is informative.

I understand the intent of the segment and agree that professions such as plumber and electrician are important, lucrative, and involve cognitive creativity and problem-solving. I also recognize that the graduates of such programs are often underappreciated. 

However, in attempting to dispel myths about trade schools I fear the message of the CBS progam may have promoted other misunderstandings. I am an academic, but that bias aside I see higher education as more than job prep and starting salaries.

Certainly, we see broader goals in high school. I happen to think it is interesting that there is public disagreement about the skills and knowledge that are goals at this level, but at least the disagreement is over what knowledge and values should be developed. College experiences in and outside of the classroom extend this process of exploring culture, values, and interpersonal relationships. I believe you see some of this impact in what has been described as the political divide between college educated and non college educated adults. It would be challenging to separate the factors that led to the decision of what to do after high school from the consequences of educational experiences that follow, but it seems obvious these groups see the world very differently. It is far more than how much money you make doing whatever it is that you do.

Cindy and I have been able to avoid COVID until this morning. I have had a deep cough. I used a self test kit two days ago and generated a negative reading. Symptoms (the cough) have grown a little worse. I had already decided not to attend this morning’s outing because it is raining and I did think I would like walking in a cold rain. Cindy convinced me to take the test the boat makes available (the one with the deeper sinus swab) and this came back positive. 

Cindy is still negative. It would have worked out better if the self test had come out positive because we could just isolate while we were on the boat. We had extended our trip by four days to spend some time not on the boat in Switzerland. If all goes well, we now must stay one day in a hotel and the find a way to catch up and connect with the tour group. I want to delay the long plane flight until I feel better.

A short note. The Pfizer vaccine was developed in Mainz, Germany. This happens to be where we are. As part of the walking tour that included the museum, the guide identified famous residents past and present. We learned that the researchers working with BioNTech (Ozzie and Tureci) responsible for the Pfizer vaccine live and work here. Ironic. No complaints regard the vaccine. So far I am fairly comfortable. 

We have been stranded.

We were returning from watching one of our grandkid’s games when the engine began cutting out and the check engine light came on. This is not a pleasant situation when trying to get through Minneapolis traffic during rush hour. The reliable Dodge Durango now sits in our driveway until mid-October. We have had to cancel a road trip we had scheduled.

Here is the rest of the story. When we purchased this car we added an unlimited warranty. Why not just take the car in? We tried to phone our dealer for an appointment and were told there were no openings until mid-October. Cindy called Dodge to see where the warranty would be good and we were told we could use other Dodge dealerships, but after checking for us we again were told the earliest opening was mid-October.

I am not a car guy, but based on experience as a car owner my guess is that the problem is a tank of bad gas, a clogged fuel filter, or the fuel pump. We could just go to any repair shop and this would make sense if the problem is the gas quality or the fuel filter, but we would have to pay to replace the fuel pump and I am guessing that is pretty expensive. The appointment falls into the category of “diagnostic” according to Dodge and evidently, there aren’t a lot of slots for diagnostic visits.

We have been getting around with my Ranger pickup so we are not totally dependent on walking. I keep wondering what happens to people with one car in a similar situation? You must have to rent a car for a month or so. Is this another example of the recently common problem of not having enough workers with the necessary expertise? Maybe we should not have told them we have an unlimited warranty.

Strikes seem to be everywhere and the influence for me is close to home. First, it was the Teacher’s strike in Minneapolis. Now, it is the Nurse’s Strike. Soon it is predicted to be BNSF (railroad). Two teachers are married to my own kids. Two of my kids work in health care. The railroad is the most cost-effective way to bring resources to the upper midwest. The consequences are immediate.

One of my daughters is a physical therapist with a practice specific to the physical damage done by childhood cancer and chemotherapy. She was very upset last evening being pressed into service to help in the child cancer ward to substitute there for the nurses that would normally care for these children. These are the same children and families she works with as a therapist. I don’t know if physical therapists have a union or not, but she was not pleased with the attitude of those in the nursing union who thought they should have a 30% increase in salary over the next three years and how they decided to pressure the hospital to respond. I understand the hospital offer to be about half of that amount. She cares for the same children, goes to the same funerals for some of her patients, and is a dissertation short of her PhD. (Not DPT) so I respect her opinion on the situation. 

I have done a great deal of thinking about the recent circumstances that have impacted who are commonly called essential workers.  Are essential workers taken for granted? I suppose so. Are they underpaid? Perhaps more accurately, are they underpaid because they are essential. I don’t know and this is what I have been trying to work out for myself. Clearly, nurses working in critical hospital settings can argue that their labor is essential. Does this type of work warrant more money because it is essential? Ask parents how they considered the absence of teachers to care for their children during the pandemic or during a strike. Aside from the obvious mission of educators to educate, one could argue that any productive engagement of children so parents can pursue their own occupations is essential. Part of the reason the economy was thrown into chaos during the COVID pandemic was the lack of care for children. This role in combination with the concern we now have for children being months behind when it comes to normal academic progress clearly justifies the label of essential worker for educators. I really think that many more occupational roles qualify as essential. How about the role migrant workers play in tending and harvesting crops or butchering chickens and turkeys? If you value fresh fruits, pork, and chicken, you should probably consider their labor to be essential. 

Just what is fair when it comes to salaries? Working conditions are important too, but salaries seem to be the issue that eventually becomes the sticking point and what catches the attention of the general public. What should the role played by a union or the immediate impact of a job be on the functioning of others in influencing salaries? When is leverage acceptable to secure the salary you want?

I certainly don’t have the answers, but I have been trying to review the work of some economists whose work seems to focus on this issue. My investigation has been specific to K12 education because I have an interest in this vocation and because the data are available. 

It is important to admit that I have no background in economics. I can read what economists write and I think I understand the logic related to the arguments they make, but I write this without knowing for sure.

One approach economists take is to compare the average salary for one vocation (educators) with the salary for comparable occupations. This makes some sense, but while this logic was explained in most sources I read online, my background always encourages the examination of the methodology applied in research. How are key variables operationalized? So what is meant by “comparable vocations”?

Finding the specifics was not easy, but here are a couple of examples. 

The NEA offers some data on comparable salaries and in one study I located this list of vocations:

Accountants and auditors, Architects, Archivists, curators, and museum technicians, Clergy, Compliance officers, construction, health and safety, and transportation, Computer programmers, Conservation scientists and foresters, Counselors, Editors, news analysts, reporters, and correspondents, Human-resources, training, and labor-relations specialists, Insurance underwriters, Occupational therapists, Other teachers and instructors (excludes preschool, K-12, and postsecondary), Physical therapists, Registered nurses, Technical writers.

I would not include several of these occupations. I know, for example, that physical therapists and occupational therapists are now required to secure a three-year doctorate to be licensed in the states most familiar to me. You can at least begin teaching with a BA/BS. Comparing starting salaries given these different economical demands would not seem appropriate. What about computer programmers? Anyone can learn to program. I programmed in several languages during my career without ever taking a course. However, I also know that getting an undegrad degree in computer science is challenging and while it may anger some I will suggest that getting through such a CS program is more difficult than meeting the requirements for a teaching certificate. 

Here is a different list. This is the collection used by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) I find it more reasonable.

“ …workers with comparable skill requirements, including accountants, reporters, registered nurses, computer programmers, clergy, personnel officers, and vocational counselors and inspectors …”

Both the studies conducted by the NEA and the EPI concluded that teachers were paid less than those in comparable occupations.

Here is a related argument I find most convincing. Comparable occupations may be difficult to define in a way that does not involve opinions about competitiveness and difficulty of getting through qualification requirements (e.g., what proportion of entering college freshmen have the aptitude in a given major). However,  trends should be informative if comparable groups are compared over time. From this perspective, K12 educators are losing ground. Whether it be starting salary, average salary, etc., the gap between educators and comparable vocations is growing. So avoiding arguments about whether groups being compared are similar, it seems to me that the gap should not be increasing if fairness was really being applied. 

If you are interested in specifics, here is an interactive page allowing users to select their state from a map and obtain data on teacher salaries.