A blog that explores life and society. Mostly pieces on business, economics, arts and other interests. A place to showcase activities and explore ideas.
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| (Illustrative Only) When you got your own fashion show going on. 🙃 |
I looked around to see if I could find the shirts online (See below). A couple of people even complimented the style—and, apparently, the hair was part of the package.
It’s rare to get compliments, but when you get a couple of unsolicited ones, you should probably take them as feedback. So, naturally, I did what any reasonable person would do: I kept the outfit. 😁
This is what I came up with.
You may be interested in these running and historical employment rates by FRED. I found it online while looking at some other stuff so just thought I would share. All Employees Fed Reserve
An article recently in the San Diego Union Tribute brought forward an important concern about Coronodo's beach being closed. Other beaches, including those around Imperial Beach, have experienced significant problems, and the Tiajuana sewage issue appears to be an ongoing and growing concern. This has been a long-standing problem, which makes one think about the importance of addressing environmental problems when they first emerge and developing effective, cross-border solutions.
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| (Illustrative Only) Beautiful isn't it? Priorities. |
Regardless of the structures we build within society, they all exist within an environment, and that environment is foundational to human health and economic development. The sewage problem illustrates this connection. It can affect public health, local economic activity, property values, tourism, tax revenues, and the overall quality of life in the region. Yet, these costs are not always fully incorporated into decision-making. We think quantitatively but only measure a slice of the issue.
We often approach problems by breaking them into individual components, which is useful for analysis. However, this approach can sometimes cause us to overlook broader costs that were not included in the original calculation. Environmental problems demonstrate why it is important to consider the full economic and social consequences of decisions.
This study below seems particularly interesting in this context. Hopefully, we can eventually find effective solutions to this problem. From an economic perspective, one might rather see resources invested in addressing long-term environmental challenges than in areas where the potential for meaningful returns appears limited. Failing to address these problems can ultimately represent a significant expense of resources and, more importantly, missed opportunities for society.
Tijuana Sewage Longest Lasting
Xu, B. (2022). Cost accounting algorithm of environmental pollution control based on discrete probability. Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society, 2022, Article 2478920. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/2478920
You may want to review this 2026 Small Business Rural and Urban Firms release from the Federal Reserve. It compares rural and urban environments, and I like to think about it in terms of an example such as Escanaba, Michigan, or Delta County versus a larger city due to its coastal nature embedded small city lifestyle (i.e. around 10K a blend of community based small emerging smart city feel.)
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| (Illustrative Only) Where nature and opportunity shake hands for a shared future. |
Is it worth it to invest and launch your start-up in a rural place like Escanaba or Gladstone?
It depends on your goals and the way you want to live your life.
So, just thinking about it when we look at the publication below employment and profitability is somewhat higher among rural firms, and many of these businesses obtain financing from local banks, that keeps more of the money circulating locally. Higher opportunities for success could create an incentive for businesses to consider moving to rural communities.
Take Delta County, for example. There's a quality-of-life advantage, a downtown that is beginning to reemerge and thrive, a port, rail, recreational opportunities, and other assets. So it makes sense to consider how small, medium, and large businesses could contribute to that development. There are already a couple of anchor businesses, but how might we attract more small businesses—especially entrepreneurs who are launching new ideas?
The nice thing about entrepreneurs is that they don't simply launch and either fail or succeed. They often launch, fail, try again, and try again. That keeps revenue circulating locally. And when they do succeed, they usually don't stop. They grow, expand, and add new things because entrepreneurship is a way of looking at the world.
These are the types of people you want to attract if you're trying to bring back downtowns and strengthen a community's economic base.
Does the release below resolve the issue of small business success in rural locations? No, but it leans in the direction that small business and rural communities may be overlooked for start-ups and investment.
2026 Small Business: Rural vs. Urban Firms
Federal Reserve Banks. (2026). 2026 Firms in Focus: Chartbook on rural and urban firms: Findings from the 2025 Small Business Credit Survey. https://fedsmallbusiness.org.
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| Illustrative Only |
As society has needed things, labor has been the force that built and created them. Human capital will continue to be an important part of our society, even as technology becomes more integrated into our lives. Of course, labor will change because technology changes, and what needs to be done must change as well.
Having strong, innovative workers and celebrating their achievements throughout history is a way of honoring normal people—common people who show up every day, take care of their families, come to work, put in their time, and build the things we need.
Sometimes, we get the perception that all of this could have happened without some level of labor’s involvement. But as a system, labor is one of the major components of economic health. You can invent things and develop new technologies, but you still need people who can build them, produce them, and scale them.
Let's discuss the hypothetical Feather Party. The Feather Party is a learning-oriented thought experiment about what a third party might look like. It would include affiliated free thinkers, intellectuals, and other independents who make decisions based on a decision-making matrix but remain free to choose whatever they believe is best. In other words, they would not be strongly tied to a particular party platform but instead belong to a loosely affiliated party that encourages independent thinking.
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| (Illustrative Only) One way to protect decision making is to include enough independent votes to foster some level of discussion and compromise. Sometimes new paths can form where others were not willing to look. It works to increase innovation, business, and government. If you improve decision making even 5 o 10% what might that mean compounded into the future? |
In management teams, we often find that relying too heavily on certain personalities or information networks can distort decision-making. Some individuals may exert more influence, while information becomes concentrated within particular networks, often creating greater conflict. This can be even more chaotic where ideologies, big money, and rigid party adherence can lead to forced votes (i.e. not independent enough to fully explore options to serve the ultimate stakeholders which are our social contracts, generational values, communities, and society in general.)
Currently, Conservative and Liberal parties generally have different views and frequently vote according to their party positions. A pressure that limits independent thought and its commitment to communities versus the parties themselves (No right or wrong perspective.) The Feather Party thought experiment asks what might happen if 15–20 percent of representatives were genuinely independent. In that situation, legislation might require both major parties to appeal to independent decision-makers rather than relying primarily on straight-line party votes. Not in every case but many cases on big decision making where deadlock occurs.
This could change the dynamics of decision-making and ultimately the outcomes. Instead of simply counting on party loyalty, policymakers would have to present stronger arguments and use logic to persuade people who are not directly connected to either party. Indepenents that vote they way they wan't and won't be thrown out of the party or targeted by (domestic, foreign or corporate) money for doing so.
The research discussed below suggests that greater inclusivity in decision-making can lead to more effective decisions and less conflict. From this perspective, increasing the number of independent decision-makers could potentially improve the overall quality of political decision-making (We can only say potentially.). It may reduce partisanship by rounding out the edges by bringing in a middle of the road perspective (We can only say may).
The hypothetical Feather Party is therefore simply something to think about: What would happen if we included more independent thinkers in political positions, encouraged them to move into positions of authority, and gave them greater influence over important decisions? Consider the potential value of independent decision-making to the overall quality of governance and its impact on economic and social life.
*Philosphical in nature so feel free to accept, rejection, or proposal alternatives. Just don't put each other on lists. Freedom of speech and thought go together.
Mutual Inclusivity Improves Decision-Making by Smoothing Out Choice’s Competitive Edge
Justice is fundamental to society, economic development, and social progress. It influences the opportunities available to individuals and communities and helps shape the direction of society. Although the justice system is only one part of a strong society, its effectiveness and supportive legitimacy are essential. We have a responsibility to improve beyond the political and special interests of the day to maximize its positive effects on society.
Let us consider,
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| (Illustrative Only) Lady Justice being pulled by two value systems. Within any system is good and bad because the people within them make decisions based on their values. One pulls Lady Justice to support the darker side of human nature and the need of power. It offers power, political positioning, praise, , opportunity, riches and a fast track. The other offers nothing but the ability to have a moral conscious. Which type of personality will choose what? That choices has been around back into ancient time and history is marked by its outcomes. Choose your path wisely. |
The Allegory of the Clan can be viewed as a learning thought experiment about these dangers. It is modeled after Plato's Allegory of the Cave because the same underlining misuse of authority and higher moral insight are at play. The example illustrates how closed networks, favoritism, corruption, retaliation, and a lack of accountability can allow misconduct to continue making more victims. When individuals who report wrongdoing are instead targeted through false investigations or other forms of retaliation, the problem becomes larger than the original misconduct. It demonstrates how failures in checks and balances can threaten public trust and individual rights. The risk of collectivization rises.
The appropriate response is not to condemn the entire justice system. Don't engage in black and white exclusive thinking. That is also unjust because some are doing some really great things and at least some of it functions well (Some will say more and some will say less so that is up to you to decide.). Instead, society should recognize and support the many judges, officials, and professionals who perform their responsibilities fairly and ethically. At the same time, reform should be supported when legitimate problems are identified or there are those undermining our societal contracts and values.
The justice system cannot function effectively when individuals operate outside constitutional principles or use their positions to protect extremism, favoritism, or personal interests. Nationalism, ideology, and group loyalty can distort institutions when they are placed above fairness and equal treatment. When identity, specifically distorted identity, overshadow institutional purpose disequlibrium is created in the social realm. These will bubble up over and over until the problem is fixed. Its a natural system where misalignment creates dysfunction. With each incident of immunized and uncorrected violations of our shared values trust drops more. Its either rising, declining, or stuck. You can't forcibly mute logic, rationality and truth for long. Our founding fathers and mothers knew the risks of not anchoring values true north and they created the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Freedom of speech is about being able to see and discuss issues to improve the whole. If you can't see then you are effectively blind (...going back to the Allegory of the Clan and the Allegory of the Cave. Some decision makers have implicitly been socialized to beliefs that would make them blind to the rights, histories, contributions, and values of people they have dehumanized. The entitlement factor. )
Ultimately, justice should be grounded in fairness, merit, accountability, and respect for human and civil rights. Technicalities and procedural maneuvering should not become tools for protecting misconduct or rewarding insiders. A justice system that has the highest support must maintain meaningful checks and balances and ensure that no individual or group is above the principles it is designed to protect.
*This is a hypothetical philosophical thought experiment so feel free to discard, disagee, or propose alternatives. Take with a grain of salt.
Legal Optimism: Restoring Trust in the Criminal Justice System
Explores ways to rebuild trust in the criminal justice system.
Emphasizes procedural justice and positive psychology.
Promotes learning from mistakes instead of focusing only on blame.
Introduces Just Culture Event Reviews to examine errors.
Encourages transparency, accountability, and organizational learning.
Highlights psychological safety as a foundation for honest discussions.
Hollway, J. (2018). Legal optimism: Restoring trust in the criminal justice system through procedural justice, positive psychology and just culture event reviews. National Institute of Justice. https://nij.ojp.gov/library/publications/legal-optimism-restoring-trust-criminal-justice-system-through-procedural
