Capital doesn’t care

I drove through downtown Scranton, PA recently, right past a rally against illegal immigration. (Let’s not call it an “anti-immigrant” rally.) About 100 people gathered in front of the Federal Building, by all accounts peaceful and well-behaved. (Hackles were raised when a small contingent of pro-immigrant activists from Pax Christi and the Peace Center came closer to the crowd, but no scuffles broke out.)

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‘Don’t Look Back’

I remember when Bob Dylan was just some old guy that my dad listened to. I remember staring at his photo on the inside of a mid-90s cassette tape. It was a strange photo; Dylan’s face was wrinkled and he sported a odd little moustache; his voice was raspy, his lyrics confusing. My dad played the tapes in the car and I hated it.

It was perhaps my least proud moment as a music listener. At the time, I would have much preferred the top-40 hits on the radio. Hoping for a little “Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio or “How Bizarre” by OMC. My dad would roll his eyes and compromise. We’d spend half the time listening to the radio and half to Dylan.

Dylan’s music was so old, it sounded old, and he was old. And compared to Coolio-he was not definitely not cool.

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Milk Price and Power

Public education provides little information on economics. Most people are simply told: the U.S. has the best economic system, a market system. The word economics comes from the Greek and means, essentially, the management of the household.

A true market system operates under the principle that price guides supply and demand. The law of supply states that supply is directly related to price; the higher the price of the product, the more the producer will supply. However, when it comes to milk and dairy farms, in spite of the fact that the terms “supply” and “demand” are commonly used, the reality is that power, political power, calls the shots.

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