Things might be a bit quiet around here for a bit. We're all safe and healthy at Casa Right Geek, but I just got hit in the face with inspiration for a geeky project that, at the moment, is completely consuming my spare time.
Besides, I need to find other things to discuss besides the worldwide coronapocalypse. ;)
Talk to you soon!
Monday, April 27, 2020
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Video: Perverse Incentives
I can confirm Matt's commentary here. Normally, my weekly gross pay is $552. If I were to stop working entirely, I would receive $877 (according to the letter I just received the other day from the VEC).
Mind you, I'm not going to ask my boss to lay me off. I love my kids too much to do that -- and everything my departed father ever taught me about the dignity of working (even if you have a shit job) further militates against that choice. But I wonder: how many people will actually live by that principle when the temptation to mooch is so unbelievably powerful?
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Yes, Open the Fuddruckers (*Restrictions Apply)
I work for a tutoring company that was able to switch to online instruction, so I'm still earning nearly my usual income. Thus, I'm in an extraordinarily privileged position. I don't have to worry about food, rent, or other necessities; for me, the money is there.
But I know many, many others aren't as fortunate as I -- and I know that my own situation could change at any time. Indeed, the only reason I have work at the moment is that I'm the first-in-line senior instructor. In reality, our business has dropped off roughly 90%. All our other instructors have effectively been laid off, and my bosses are certainly not making the money they once did. Why? At a fundamental level, a tutoring business depends on the health of the economy. Parents pay for our service with their discretionary funds. If parents lose those funds, we become an unaffordable luxury.
If our society remains stuck on pause for much longer, the ripple effects will be more damaging than you can ever imagine. But evidently, some are unable to reflect upon these secondary and tertiary impacts. Some - like Patton Oswalt - think we can stay in and watch Netflix indefinitely. Some, to put it frankly, are completely divorced from reality.
The reason we locked down to begin with was to slow the spread of the coof so that our healthcare system wouldn't be overwhelmed. Yet now, certain people are demanding that we move the goalposts -- that we remain locked down until we've developed a vaccine or otherwise eradicated the danger of infection entirely. This is bat-crap insane. Keeping everyone at home and on the government teat is simply not sustainable. As a wise science fiction author once wrote, "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch."
I'm going to diverge from the usual responses to Oswalt's out-of-touch BS and say something bold: yes, this is about going to Fuddruckers. Do you know how many working class folks had jobs in those dining rooms before all this began? If we all started going to Fuddruckers again, we'd ensure the continued employment of many thousands of people! That's not putting money and comfort before lives; that's actually saving people from abject poverty and despair -- two things with documented mortality rates.
Of course, it's not only about going out for a burger. Large chains like Fuddruckers can probably absorb some loss when all is said and done. What really worries me is the coming destruction of Main Street USA -- all those mom-and-pop shops that can't protect themselves with a corporate shield. The tourist-trappy towns I love to visit - like North Conway Village, NH, or Gatlinburg, TN - depend on places like these. So too does my future place of residence just outside of Washington, VA. (I wonder: is Chef Patrick over at the Inn doing okay? If he goes under, my father will be crying in heaven.) (And what about Hackleys General Store? That place is literally the center of Amissville. If Hackleys folds, where will our future neighbors gather instead?) (Okay, enough with the anxious parentheticals, Steph, and get on with it!) Each threatened small business represents a family dream - and perhaps even a whole community - in peril. But we're just supposed to set that aside until the bat flu risk has been reduced to zero?
No: such a course is not rational, nor is it based on anything approaching "science." Science tells us we should limit the number of patrons we admit at a time, require masks, and disinfect surfaces after every use. It does not tell us to close down everything a government apparatchik considers "nonessential."
Bottom line at the end: The growing resentment of our politicians' continuing over-reach is wholly legitimate. People are losing their means of survival. If you're a celeb relaxing in a mansion - or a comfortable keyboard jockey who can work from home - you have no freakin' clue what's actually happening out here and should probably shut the eff up before you further cement my estimate of your rampant stupidity. Plz and kthx.
But I know many, many others aren't as fortunate as I -- and I know that my own situation could change at any time. Indeed, the only reason I have work at the moment is that I'm the first-in-line senior instructor. In reality, our business has dropped off roughly 90%. All our other instructors have effectively been laid off, and my bosses are certainly not making the money they once did. Why? At a fundamental level, a tutoring business depends on the health of the economy. Parents pay for our service with their discretionary funds. If parents lose those funds, we become an unaffordable luxury.
If our society remains stuck on pause for much longer, the ripple effects will be more damaging than you can ever imagine. But evidently, some are unable to reflect upon these secondary and tertiary impacts. Some - like Patton Oswalt - think we can stay in and watch Netflix indefinitely. Some, to put it frankly, are completely divorced from reality.
The reason we locked down to begin with was to slow the spread of the coof so that our healthcare system wouldn't be overwhelmed. Yet now, certain people are demanding that we move the goalposts -- that we remain locked down until we've developed a vaccine or otherwise eradicated the danger of infection entirely. This is bat-crap insane. Keeping everyone at home and on the government teat is simply not sustainable. As a wise science fiction author once wrote, "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch."
I'm going to diverge from the usual responses to Oswalt's out-of-touch BS and say something bold: yes, this is about going to Fuddruckers. Do you know how many working class folks had jobs in those dining rooms before all this began? If we all started going to Fuddruckers again, we'd ensure the continued employment of many thousands of people! That's not putting money and comfort before lives; that's actually saving people from abject poverty and despair -- two things with documented mortality rates.
Of course, it's not only about going out for a burger. Large chains like Fuddruckers can probably absorb some loss when all is said and done. What really worries me is the coming destruction of Main Street USA -- all those mom-and-pop shops that can't protect themselves with a corporate shield. The tourist-trappy towns I love to visit - like North Conway Village, NH, or Gatlinburg, TN - depend on places like these. So too does my future place of residence just outside of Washington, VA. (I wonder: is Chef Patrick over at the Inn doing okay? If he goes under, my father will be crying in heaven.) (And what about Hackleys General Store? That place is literally the center of Amissville. If Hackleys folds, where will our future neighbors gather instead?) (Okay, enough with the anxious parentheticals, Steph, and get on with it!) Each threatened small business represents a family dream - and perhaps even a whole community - in peril. But we're just supposed to set that aside until the bat flu risk has been reduced to zero?
No: such a course is not rational, nor is it based on anything approaching "science." Science tells us we should limit the number of patrons we admit at a time, require masks, and disinfect surfaces after every use. It does not tell us to close down everything a government apparatchik considers "nonessential."
Bottom line at the end: The growing resentment of our politicians' continuing over-reach is wholly legitimate. People are losing their means of survival. If you're a celeb relaxing in a mansion - or a comfortable keyboard jockey who can work from home - you have no freakin' clue what's actually happening out here and should probably shut the eff up before you further cement my estimate of your rampant stupidity. Plz and kthx.
Saturday, April 18, 2020
An Addendum to the Last Post
Matt's list of things the pandemic should force us to re-think is excellent -- but allow me to make a few additions:
1.) Matt noted that telework is a much better option for many white collar jobs -- and as someone who's currently teleworking, I'd have to agree. What I'd add, though, is that a lot of teaching and learning can be done this way too. I don't think we should get rid of physical schools entirely - the online option isn't going to work for every student - but teleschooling has many similar advantages. As Glenn Reynolds always says over at Instapundit, you're less likely to be bullied at an online school. Additionally, you can schedule classes for times when our teenagers will actually be awake and functional. And yes: parents can more easily monitor what's really being taught. (This prospect scares those teachers who wish to indoctrinate instead of teach. To that, I say: Good.)
2.) We should also be scrapping many regulations that got in the way of our emergency response. The TSA's ban on bottles of liquid larger than a few ounces., for example, is pure security theater -- as revealed by the fact that the rules were recently relaxed for hand-sanitizer. We should also be allowed to continue talking to doctors remotely if we so choose.
3.) We should strenuously resist all future attempts by environmentalists to push us into dense urban cores. As the Kung Flu has revealed, there's a fantastic reason why we all sprawled out into the suburbs and exurbs to begin with. Luckily, increased telework will allow us to reduce emissions without living cheek-by-jowl in germy high rises.
4.) While we're on the subject of environmentalist hobby-horses: we should figure out a way to address the plastic pollution issue that does not involve getting rid of (more hygienic) disposables -- because clearly, plastic shopping bags exist for a good reason too.
And lastly...
5.) We should remember which authorities took advantage of this situation to impose ridiculous, over-the-top rules on their fellow citizens -- and we should never, EVER trust them again. Recall them, vote against them, sue them, demand they be fired (in the case of the police) -- use whatever legal means are at our disposal to drum these Karens out of their positions of power and replace them with people who will follow the actual science and treat us like sensible adults.
Give us liberty!
Give us liberty!
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Corona: The Potential Upsides
From my brother Matt:
"I think COVID is going to have a number of long-term positive effects, despite the hardships it's creating now.
1) It puts the lie to the idea that global distribution methods are the best way to run supply chains - it's not actually smart for any nation to depend so heavily on other nations - especially those that are clearly adversaries geopolitically, as is the case with Russia and China. Newsflash to both NeverTrump conservatives and the left...Trump was RIGHT about this. I was NT in 2016 in part because I believed unfettered free trade was the way of peace. It manifestly is not. Some governments are just evil and dangerous - China is one such government - and we cannot treat them as equal partners unless we enjoy getting overrun with deadly viruses, having our IP stolen, or systems hacked, and our currency bullied.
2) It buries forever the outdated notion that workers are less productive when they work from home. It's 20th century dinosaur thinking and it needs to die with the virus. Telecommuting for work will, I believe, be far more common going forward. To the great benefit of both employees AND employers and to the massive benefit of the economy at large. The added efficiency will (a) help save the environment (b) bring added stability to the family unit and (c) solve a BUNCH of longstanding social problems at the workplace all while (d) creating more wealth.
3) It serves as a wake-up call to voters that they can't always rely on their government to save them every time they're in trouble because, sometimes, no matter how hard the government is trying, it just isn't capable of getting help to you on time. My hope is that it will make us less passive and more willing to accept that we have to know how to survive and take control of our own lives. I know we're busily demanding Congress pass seven jigga-zillion dollars in aid help right now...bizarrely enough, me included...but that doesn't mean we should come away with the message that Daddy Warbucks will arrive and save us. That aid is only necessary because the government already proved how inept it is at actually saving us from this monster. And that's not me slinging mud at Trump or the Feds. That's facing a reality. Some problems cannot be solved in time...some pain just can't be avoided...some suffering may even lead to better things, but we can't go through life demanding that our dear leaders take away all pain and all risk. They can't, and even if they could, they never...ever...should.
4) It gives us a chance to reflect on how important community organizations, public associations, and families truly are to the functioning of our society. It's not the government we miss right now. It's the Knights of Columbus, the parishioners in church, the extended family we can't go to see, the boy scout pack, the Elk's lodge, the sewing circle, the library, the gym, the aquarium, the baseball and basketball games, the plays, concerts, Greek societies, dance recitals, movie theaters and, dare I say it...the hoe-downs. Well...someone misses those I'm sure.
Our lives aren't given by government or our employer...and those aren't the things COVID is really stripping from us. Our lives are given by God and made rich by each other and the passionate works we do together...even those some of us here think are unworthy pursuits."
Yep.
"I think COVID is going to have a number of long-term positive effects, despite the hardships it's creating now.
1) It puts the lie to the idea that global distribution methods are the best way to run supply chains - it's not actually smart for any nation to depend so heavily on other nations - especially those that are clearly adversaries geopolitically, as is the case with Russia and China. Newsflash to both NeverTrump conservatives and the left...Trump was RIGHT about this. I was NT in 2016 in part because I believed unfettered free trade was the way of peace. It manifestly is not. Some governments are just evil and dangerous - China is one such government - and we cannot treat them as equal partners unless we enjoy getting overrun with deadly viruses, having our IP stolen, or systems hacked, and our currency bullied.
2) It buries forever the outdated notion that workers are less productive when they work from home. It's 20th century dinosaur thinking and it needs to die with the virus. Telecommuting for work will, I believe, be far more common going forward. To the great benefit of both employees AND employers and to the massive benefit of the economy at large. The added efficiency will (a) help save the environment (b) bring added stability to the family unit and (c) solve a BUNCH of longstanding social problems at the workplace all while (d) creating more wealth.
3) It serves as a wake-up call to voters that they can't always rely on their government to save them every time they're in trouble because, sometimes, no matter how hard the government is trying, it just isn't capable of getting help to you on time. My hope is that it will make us less passive and more willing to accept that we have to know how to survive and take control of our own lives. I know we're busily demanding Congress pass seven jigga-zillion dollars in aid help right now...bizarrely enough, me included...but that doesn't mean we should come away with the message that Daddy Warbucks will arrive and save us. That aid is only necessary because the government already proved how inept it is at actually saving us from this monster. And that's not me slinging mud at Trump or the Feds. That's facing a reality. Some problems cannot be solved in time...some pain just can't be avoided...some suffering may even lead to better things, but we can't go through life demanding that our dear leaders take away all pain and all risk. They can't, and even if they could, they never...ever...should.
4) It gives us a chance to reflect on how important community organizations, public associations, and families truly are to the functioning of our society. It's not the government we miss right now. It's the Knights of Columbus, the parishioners in church, the extended family we can't go to see, the boy scout pack, the Elk's lodge, the sewing circle, the library, the gym, the aquarium, the baseball and basketball games, the plays, concerts, Greek societies, dance recitals, movie theaters and, dare I say it...the hoe-downs. Well...someone misses those I'm sure.
Our lives aren't given by government or our employer...and those aren't the things COVID is really stripping from us. Our lives are given by God and made rich by each other and the passionate works we do together...even those some of us here think are unworthy pursuits."
Yep.
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