Politics should never be a sport. The stakes in terms of people’s lives are simply too high.
#PoorRichardsBlog: https://bit.ly/prb-hd
It`s been over two weeks. Can you name one thing Trump has done to reduce prices?
#Food #Gas #Housing #DayOnePromise
Trump`s tariffs are supposed to address illegal immigration and drug trafficking but contain no targets on either. Should they?
#TrumpTariffs #NoClearGoals
In government, as in business, any changes to the workforce should be carefully planned. Simply incentivizing mass resignations is the abandonment of thinking and leadership.
#DeferredResignation
"Ready, fire, aim" is a haphazard way to run a country.
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This upcoming Sunday is #GroundhogDay, a good time to remember that unless we change our political behavior in the U.S., we`ll continue to experience government gridlock on endless repeat.
#PoorRichardsBlog: https://substack.com/home/post/p-155750976
A wrecking ball pendulum of dueling Executive Orders every four years is a chaotic way to govern and is symptomatic of a deeper problem: congressional dysfunction. The solution isn`t to fix Executive Orders; the solution is to #FixCongress.
While President Trump`s second administration is off to a prolific start, some of his Executive Orders will be embroiled in judicial review.
#BirthrightCitizenship #ScheduleF #DOGE
The same day can mean many things to different people. What does January 20th this year mean to you?
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#WhatWouldBenSay
January 17, 2025, is Benjamin Franklin`s 319th birthday!
When Ben was 82 years young, he wrote, "I have sometimes wished it had been my destiny to be born two or three centuries hence."
That would be now. What do you think Franklin would think of America today?
The Senate, in its Advice and Consent role, decides whether presidential nominees are qualified for some of the highest offices in our government. What are your thoughts on one or more of the current nominees?
#Cabinet #FBI #HighBar
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Who's Poor Richard?
Benjamin Franklin, writing under the pseudonym Richard Saunders (AKA "Poor Richard"), published Poor Richard's Almanack from 1732 to 1758. The almanack provided useful information, proverbial wisdom, and humor to the American colonies.
In keeping with Franklin's legacy, Poor Richard's Blog tackles today’s complex issues and the foundations of the Franklin Party, while hopefully also dispensing some wisdom and good humor along the way.
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Poor Richard’s Blog
Poor Richard's Blog
Benjamin Franklin, writing under the pseudonym Richard Saunders (AKA "Poor Richard"), published Poor Richard's Almanack from 1732 to 1758. The almanack provided useful information, proverbial wisdom, and humor to the American colonies.
In keeping with Franklin's legacy, Poor Richard's Blog tackles today’s complex issues and the foundations of the Franklin Party, while hopefully also dispensing some wisdom and good humor along the way.
Welcome to the Franklin Party Newsletter!
Shifting Gears
In the previous installment of this blog/newsletter, sports and tribalism were used as metaphors to describe modern American politics. These might seem like fitting comparisons, but it is important to be careful with metaphors. Metaphors can be helpful frameworks to aid us in thinking about complex topics, but they can also limit and distort our reasoning.
Different metaphors applied to the same subject can produce widely divergent outcomes in thought and action. Consider, for example, a human life through the following lenses:
The same object produces vastly different expectations depending on the framework used.
But when running for national office in the United States, there can only be one winner per elected position, so the competitive models of sports or tribalism are applicable, right?
The problem with these metaphors is that – other than cooperation within groups to defeat other groups – the mode of operation is “all competition, all the time.” Unless faced with an existential threat to multiple groups, the answer to scarce resources is always to eliminate other groups. Cross-group cooperation is not part of these metaphors.
The sports and tribalism metaphors miss the critical point that, in the U.S. system of government, it is only the race for political office that is meant to be competitive. Once races are over, the winners are expected to switch from competition mode to cooperation and negotiation mode to get the work of government done for the people.
So, a better metaphor for U.S. politics might be an orchestra, a business, or a movie. Interviewing for a job or auditioning for a film or orchestra are competitive. But once the successful candidate gets the position, they are expected to switch from competitive mode to cooperative mode for the good of the overall project. It is usually okay in an enterprise to challenge ideas so that the best thinking prevails, but direct competition with other individuals is typically viewed as cancerous and, in healthy organizations, removed.
Government is fundamental to modern life, so it makes sense that we want it led by the most qualified among us. Competitive races can help determine who those talented individuals are, but observing what happens between races can be even more revealing. Those who show themselves unwilling or unable to turn off personal competitiveness for the public good should not be elected.
In sports, people who continue to compete after a contest has been decided are called “poor sports,” even if they won. In politics, they are simply bad politicians. If we want a government that gets work done, we must elect officials who can shift gears from competitive to cooperative mode once the race for office is over.
Yours in republic keeping,
James Carroll
BFPNC Chair
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