Page 4 - Reedley Exponent 12-6-18 E-edition

The Reedley Exponent A4 Thursday, December 6, 2018 Editorial & Opinions
Serving “The World’s Fruit Basket” since 1891
A Mid Valley Publishing Newspaper
Founded March 26, 1891, in a two-story building on the corner of 11th and F streets, by A.S. Jones
Fred Hall — Publisher
In my OPINION
How often have all of us, at one time or another, found ourselves lamenting the failure of our schools and colleges to teach history in the modern classroom? “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” That quote appears to have originally come from George Santayana, a philosopher, essay- ist, poet and novelist who lived and worked in the latter part of the 19th century and con- tinued his legacy until the mid-20th century.
The season of giving includes a workout-based charity event
Jon Earnest — Editor / Sports Juanita Adame — Panorama Editor Budd Brockett — Editor Emeritus
Education seems to have moved on to so-
cial issues and the politically correct position
of the time rather than providing perspective of the historical events who make us who we are. Young people are essentially carefully programmed drones who have been submersed in the philosophies of their teachers. Severely neglected are core educa- tional concepts such as history, reading, writing and communica- tion skills. Children leave school (that includes our colleges and high schools) woefully unprepared for the real world while being ingrained with opinions which are entirely unsupported.
What would you say if I were to tell you that the current epi- demic of class warfare was nothing new but existed as far back as 350 BC? One would think that, if history were truly and effec- tively being taught, we would know that it existed that long ago and was an element in the destruction of a society. Frankly, then as now, this war was joined and even driven by the writings and pronouncements of the educated elite. Plato actually described Athens as being bifurcated or decidedly two cities. He declared one as a city occupied by the poor and one by the rich. One was openly at war with the other.
Men of means were forced to defend themselves against claims of wealth and property ownership as if were a crime. As with all confrontations, it was inevitable that one would gain control over the other. Just as we are experiencing today, class envy led to higher taxes and the essential destruction of upper and middle classes. Government will inevitably crumble, usually resulting in the takeover by a despot with an iron hand who returns order but exacts an awful price in terms of freedoms lost.
This week, for example, we will experience a day of remem- brance — Dec. 7 will mark that day of vicious attack at Pearl Har- bor in 1941 which changed the world forever. Probably, aside from the awful death toll of a sneak bombing raid early on a Sunday morning, the saddest thing to be said is that we have people who don’t truly understand what happened. We’ve since apologized for bombing the perpetrator, after a bloody 4-year conflict, in an effort to end the killing and destruction.
Although it was evident to everyone back in 1945, the introduc- tion of such a frightening display of power was the best solution to end the bloodletting forever. The results were nightmarish but the result was undeniable. No one I knew felt good about what had happened. Wartime, itself, is basically inhumane but it seems there will always be those among us create war for a variety of reasons, but especially over territory and financial considerations.
It’s always best to end any conflict by any means necessary and as soon as possible.
There are many among us who, through the years, have be- come either taught of convinced that everything that happens in the world is America’s Fault. We have a large swath of college stu- dents who have matriculated believing that, somehow, this country is inherently evil because we have committed missteps while be- coming the world’s most benevolent super power. I suspect there will be a day of rude awakening if those people are ever successful in their efforts to diminish America’s power.
The best solution so much of the misinformation we are fed in schools and through a biased media is to either buy books and read them or go to the library while they still exist. Social media and the internet have taken a huge toll on American intellect in areas of social interaction. Anyone expecting to get an unvarnished view of history or current events should not expect to find them on Facebook or any of the on-line news sites. Far too much of today’s writing, even with newspapers, is cloaked in advocacy journalism.
One of the wonderful lessons available to all of is that it is never too late to learn and knowledge is the greatest weapon avail- able to combat tyranny in the educational process being foisted upon the last two or three generations. I realize it might sound trite but awareness of the truth can be a great tool to combat the dumb- ing down of America. We’ve seen all of this before and no matter how fashionable some of the socialistic thinking currently being foisted on all us may appear to be, please remember: we’ve tried it all before somewhere in history and it never works. Nothing is worth surrendering one’s freedoms for!
But, as always, that’s only one man’s opinion.
We’ll be pub-
lishing the final
official vote totals
in our Dec. 13 is-
sue, including lo-
cal county races
in Parlier and Orange Cove.
•••
While we welcome the much-
needed rain in the region (and even more important, the snow in the mountains) the last week or two; I hope there’s a break in the clouds to- night for the annual Electrical Farm Equipment Parade in downtown Reedley.
Even with recent rain, it’s ex- pected to be a little warmer than usual for what’s usually a true winter season event. Temperatures should be in the low 50s or high 40s for the parade that starts at 7 p.m.
Come out and enjoy another col- orful march down G Street.
Fred Hall
Christmas is a time to help the unfortunate; in particular children in need who may be facing a holiday without the joy of toys.
Fitness Quest Health Club at 1601 10th St. in Reedley is hosting a Christmas Zumbathon charity event from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 14. It’s an opportunity to work out to the high-energy Zumbathon exercise, all while providing toys to benefit the Toys for Tots drive.
The ideal entry fee is a new un- wrapped toy donation with a mini- mum value of $5, although more expensive toys will happily be ac- cepted by organizers. Daniela Armi- jo with Fitness Quest said anyone wishing to attend the event but don’t have a toy to donate can purchase an entry ticket for $7. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. before the event.
The Zumbathon fundraiser will be just one of many fundraising events in the area. We soon will profile a toy drive to benefit transi- tional foster care that’s being oper- ated by Parlier High School student Isabella Gonzalez. Isabella, 16, has
run the toy drive since she was 11 years old.
If you know of other area toy drives, coat drives or events to ben- efit the needy in the area, contact us at The Exponent and we’ll help spread the word. After all, it’s the spirit of the season.
•••
We’re running one more update
on Page A2 before the final official vote totals are certified for the 2018 general election. We do know that in- cumbent Ray Soleno has wrapped up victory in the Reedley City Council District and challenger Magdalena Gomez has unseated incumbent Ron Nishinaka in the State Center Com- munity College Trustee Area 4 vote.
There also has been a change in power for two other seated repre- senting the area: Democrat T.J. Cox appears to have knocked off Repub- lican incumbent David Valadao in the 21st Congressional District (Cox has declared victory, and his lead has grown to nearly 1,000 votes in provi- sional and absentee mail vote counts) while Democrat challenger Melissa
Other Opinions
Hurtado solidly de- feated incumbent Andy Vidak in the 14th State Senate District.
What would Theodore Roosevelt do?
When Donald Trump was elect-
ed president, sportsmen had high hopes that the president and his cabi- net would commit to, in President Trump’s words, “honoring the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt.” As our 26th president, Roosevelt worked tire- lessly to stop special interests from developing and privatizing our pub- lic lands and waters, conserving more than 230 million acres by establishing 150 national forests, 51 federal bird
reserves, four national game pre- serves, five national parks, and 18 national monuments.
Sportsmen have applauded the ad- ministration for some Roosevelt-like actions, such as their proposal to ex- pand hunting and fishing on 10 nation- al wildlife refuges and their calling on Congress to create a permanent solu- tion to the practice of “fire borrowing.”
Yet we will continue to hold ad- ministration officials accountable for pursuing the rollback of con- servation protections on millions of
acres of national monuments, scrap- ping collaborative habitat manage- ment plans for sage grouse, and not fighting administration proposals to cut popular public access programs like the Land and Water Conserva- tion Fund. These actions threaten to undermine Roosevelt’s legacy, and I join Backcountry Hunters & Anglers in urging the Trump administration to do the right thing and stand up for our public lands.
Ric Martinelli Madera
QUOTE
“When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that some- thing is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that some- thing is impossible, he is very probably wrong.”
Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008)
JonEarnest
Spending more more on debt than on defense
By Mark Hendrickson
Guest columnist
The financial health of the federal government has been deteriorating for de- cades. Unable to break free from our bipartisan addic- tion to deficit spending, the national debt has continued to rise relentlessly. This has brought us within sight of a grim milestone: the day when the interest that Americans have to pay on the national debt exceeds what we pay for national defense. According to The Wall Street Journal article, “U.S. on a Course to Spend More on Debt Than De- fense,” we will reach that baleful milestone in only five years.
The figures are star- tling. In 2023, military spending is projected to be more than $700 billion. Yet in that same year the an- nual interest that taxpay- ers will pay on the national debt will be even higher.
You can argue that the federal government spends too much on defense. That is an unknowable except in retrospect, but the cost of spending too much on de- fense is almost certainly less than the cost of not spending enough. What-
ever you think about de- fense spending, at least it is for present consump- tion. By contrast, interest on the national debt is for past consumption – over $27 trillion worth by 2023. That is how much young taxpayers will have to pay to service the debt run up by their elders.
When the enormity of this predicament dawns on stressed taxpayers, pro- gressives assuredly will blame defense spending for our massive indebted- ness. Of course, progres- sive opposition to defense spending has been a virtual constant for decades.
The fundamental prob- lem with blaming Uncle Sam’s sorry fiscal state on defense is that, unlike those myriad other fed- eral programs that have contributed to the national debt, defense spending is one of the few activities that Uncle Sam engages in that is explicitly autho- rized by the U.S. Constitu- tion. For well over a cen- tury now, animated by the belief that the federal gov- ernment should provide economic assistance to Americans, progressives have pushed for govern- ment to expand into areas
of life never envisioned by the founders nor autho- rized by amendments to the Constitution. It is no wonder that progressives attacked Justice Kavana- ugh from the moment he was nominated. They fear and despise his respect for the text of the Consti- tution, because they want to spend more money on things not stipulated in the Constitution and less on what is stipulated in the Constitution.
Indeed, the progressive agenda of expanding gov- ernment beyond its histori- cal, constitutional confines has been hugely success- ful. Defense spending as a share of the federal budget has fallen from an average of 48.1% from 1792 to 1860 to under 25 percent today.
Defense spending no longer takes up the largest share of federal spending. In Fiscal Year 2015, Uncle Sam spent $609 billion on military programs, $1,051 billion on Medicare and health spending, and $1,275 billion on Social Security, Unemployment & Labor.
Today, military spend- ing is only the third larg- est category in the federal budget. In five years, when interest payments on the
national debt surpass it, military spending will be the fourth largest.
The federal govern- ment is in uncharted wa- ters, financially speaking. Historically, the federal government incurred sig- nificant debt only in war- time and then whittled away at that debt during peacetime. In the modern era, when federal spend- ing expanded into new ar- eas, the national debt has swollen rather than shrunk during peacetime. The fis- cal problem, then, is not due to military spending, but to other spending.
Sooner or later, some- thing will have to give. We eventually will have to learn to live within our means. I don’t say that as a matter of opinion, but as a law of nature. It simply isn’t possible to live be- yond one’s means indefi- nitely. The longer it takes for us to learn that lesson, the more painful the con- vulsions of a future debt crackup will be.
Mark W. Hendrickson is an adjunct faculty mem- ber, economist, and fellow for economic and social policy with The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City (Pa.) College.
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