I’ve acted out of character twice already by agreeing with something written by Gary Horton, but I really outdid myself this morning (Oct. 12) by agreeing with something written by Jonathan Kraut, a regular Signal columnist whose opinions I have come to equate with liberal fascism. Yes, it is not only an accepted term, it is also the title of a book written by Jonah Goldberg, but I digress.
In his column Mr. Kraut laments our current state of affairs as it relates to the supply of goods and services and places blame on a labor shortage as opposed to problems with the supply chain itself. Kraut opened by blaming then-President Donald Trump – — what a shocker -— for initiating a trade embargo with China and others, a practice that is being sustained for the most part by the Joe Biden administration, but blaming Trump for everything wrong with the world is “part and parcel” of being a liberal so I’ll give him a pass on that one. Anyway…
Kraut finally goes on to target the real culprit — a one-time measure that is turning into a full-time program — and I praise him for that. Credit where credit is due. I’m not certain if Mr. Kraut is aware of the fact, however, that he has merely touched upon the tip of an iceberg that has been growing ever since Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal programs, which were designed to ease the pain during the Great Depression, but I will give him credit for that even though I think it highly unlikely he would ever openly admit to as much.
What I see troubling Mr. Kraut is also troubling me. But why do we keep falling into this trap? Even a doctor knows when to stop administering morphine to a patient who is recovering from surgery — or does he? Perhaps the problem goes deeper than the financial. Perhaps it is rooted in our very nature as humans. But isn’t a good government designed to circumvent the frailties of human nature, giving us only what we need as opposed to what we want? Am I beginning to sound like the village idiot? Because I’m beginning to feel like one.
Arthur Saginian
Santa Clarita
