PicoBusiness

Political Observations

1. The vast majority of pundits, when faced with a crisis, will claim that the crisis would have been averted if only we had done what they told us to do.
2. Alternatively, they will say that the crisis happened because of the actions/policies of their rivals. Hah hah! They say. This is why you should never listen to _______
3. Pundits will generally ignore the complexities of issues in order to make their point clear. That is what makes them dangerous, and what makes it foolish to listen to them without a truckload of salt. There are no simple issues.
4. You can point out that an issue is complex to a pundit, and they will ignore you, or mock you. Because admitting that the world is complex and that their philosophy isn’t perfect hurts their pocketbook.
5. I’ve noticed a surprising tendency amongst progressives – they believe that corporations can brainwash people into buying their products like slaves, and they believe that journalists can brainwash people into caring about certain topics. Didn’t Air America disabuse them of this notion? Note: At least they’re consistent on this (fairly silly) belief.

Business observations

• I listened (on the radio) to the owner of a landscaping company say that without lower-wage illegal immigrants on his payroll, his costs would be too high, and he would go out of business. Really? No one will want landscaping at all if it costs a bit more? All of his competitors are well-prepared for this contingency? I’m not particularly indignant about immigration, but this argument is lame.
• Right now the business world is essentially all-doom, all-the-time. Historically, this is usually the time when it turns around.