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Being creatures of convenience

We are inclined to complain about the situation in which we find ourselves. “If only everything weren’t so commercialized.” “If only we could go back to the good old days when things were smaller and not dominated by big box stores and big business.” “If only we could go back to the times when we only used a phone that was hanging on a wall or sitting on a desk, not one constantly going off in our hands, pocket or purse.” We say these things, but, in fact, we are where we are today because we are creatures of convenience. It always irks me a bit when the Amazon, FedEx ...

Procrastination is not sound budgeting

As promised, and as accurately reported on your front page some weeks ago, I voted this week against Chautauqua County’s proposed budget for 2027. Why? First: it is not because I believe that county employees or management are less than dedicated or diligent. They are, by and large, both of these things. It is because this budget fails to get ahead of the two fundamental economic trends that are to blame for our widening gaps between revenue and expenditures. In the 2026 budget the expected overspend vs. revenues was budgeted at $2 million. In fact, it looks like it will come in ...

Misconceptions about democracy, socialism

There has been a lot of discussion and assumptions about democracy and socialism that seem to be misunderstood. This led me to review the root causes of our misconceptions. First, Democracy is a Greek word (demokratia) meaning people (demos) and rule or power (kratos). It encompasses the following concept: citizens vote directly on laws and policies for their society. Representative Democracy means citizens vote for representatives who make laws and govern on our behalf. Here in lies the rub: do our representatives make laws for us or corporations? “Corpus” is Latin for ...

Framing the political language of the season

When I hear someone say they are ‘fighting for me,' the first thing I think is well, that’s great, finally! But rather than taking the statement in a strict, literal sense, I might first consider who the source is and what is really going on: it’s eliciting an emotional response, which is the point. It DOES feel good to have protection against an enemy. Hooray! But look at the same phraseology during a heated election season, and upon closer examination you might come to a different conclusion. Let’s look at how messaging — both positive and negative—is currently flying ...

Bruce Blakeman needs more than a victory

LAKEWOOD—Let’s pick up where we left off three weeks ago. No one needs to explain to New York gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman that he and his team need to run hard through the tape on Election Day. They’re doing that. Hence the Oct. 28 whistle-stop tour across the Southern ...

The fragility of human institutions

This is not an uplifting subject to write about. If you are having a bad day, just put it off or forget about reading it. What it deals with is the reality of how fragile and easily broken can be those institutions which frame our lives. Probably the best example is marriage. It can be easily entered into but its lastingness is not a given. Marriage is a fragile human institution which can easily give way to disharmony, discord and divorce. Business organizations, partnerships, and professional associations have all been created to promote human activity and cooperation towards a ...