OP-ED by Dr. Ed Moore
Friends, take heart that in NYC just under 50% voted ‘not that guy’! The problem is, and always has been, there are always more have-nots than haves.
Good guys win when enough have nots are still aspirational and those who have climbed the ladder of success seek to keep it, or hopefully climb higher. We all win when optimism about the future seeds ambition.
We win when, at a minimum, people finish high school and can, at a minimum, read and do math at grade levels. According to EdTrust, in an analysis of New York City’s NAEP scores over a 25-year period, “New York’s NAEP scores in reading and math have stagnated or declined over the past 25 years. These results make it clear that current approaches, especially in middle grades, are failing students. We cannot continue with the same strategies and expect different outcomes.”
This is the case for scores of urban school districts across the country. To succeed, you must be able to read. To understand economics, you must understand mathematics. In the 1970s, we had the study that resulted in “A Nation at Risk,” bemoaning what we now covet as educational performance. We are now beyond Risk and should be in a crisis mode, but crickets are what we hear from our leaders. Apparently, ignorant sheep are even easier to manage.
Yesterday, too many were no longer self-aspirational; instead, they aspire for Big Brother to provide. Free stuff: transportation, housing, groceries, SNAP on steroids…
Thatcher was correct-pretty soon, you run out of other people’s money. NYC will see many run away-so running out of money will happen sooner there. Virginia and New Jersey suffer from a slower public policy cancer. It is there I have to stop and scratch my head. How does anyone vote for an Attorney General who fantasized about killing kids? Amazing!
Too many vote for D or R no matter who is on the ballot. I’d much prefer not voting to voting for an imbecile or for someone who consistently has said he opposes much about the American Experiment. When someone tells you who they are, well then, believe them!
The maelstrom of American politics just got stormier. There may not be shelter from this storm.
Dr. Ed Moore, who was in private business for 21 years, is the former president of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida, a Tallahassee-based association representing 31 private colleges and universities. Moore retired as President Emeritus in 2019 after 16 years leading ICUF. He currently serves as chairman of the board of trustees for HCA Florida Capital Hospital.
