Pet Peeves

I’ve spent a good deal of time in this blog talking about things I don’t like. A reader asked if I can summarize my aversions. I can’t, but I can list them.

Almost all my dislikes are focused on facets of life influenced by government. One bunch is made up of governmental functions that distort the will of the people. I oppose the filibuster because it stops the political majority from carrying out the will of the people by empowering the minority to prevent a measure from becoming law. I’m against the electoral college for essentially the same reason: it allows the minority to defeat the majority of voters in choosing our president. Voting suppression also permits the minority to stop majority voters from casting their ballots.

A second category is governmental regulation that protects the wealthy minority while reducing the income of the middle class and the poor. Heading the list is the totally inadequate minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. We should at least double it to reduce the number of people, especially children, living in poverty.

In the same category is our failure to increase social security, resulting in many seniors barely able to get by. Here are the figures: Approximately 11.1 percent of Americans aged 80 and older live in poverty. The poverty rate is 9.2 percent for those aged 75-79, 7.4 percent among those aged 70-74, and 8.4 percent among those aged 65-69. Women aged 80 and older had the highest poverty rate among older women and men in all age groups at 13.6 percent.

More next time.