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MOVIE OF THE MONTH:

The Shield

OK -- this is not a movie, it is a TV show -- but The Shield is the most RIVETING show on television. The show is on FX -- which is not a station known for quality programming -- but FX scores big here.

The first season of The Shield (I saw four of the episodes) took us through a gritty Los Angeles police precinct overrun with bad cops with complex personalities who often do the wrong thing for the right reasons or sometimes they do the right thing for the wrong reasons.

See a good review at:http://209.61.190.23/news2002/apr02/apr01/5_fri/news3friday.html

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READER RESPONSES AND OPINIONS

We received over 100 terrific responses to last month's Summation -- so we apologize for not printing them all. Some of the responses to the "deflation and real estate" article will appear in next month's Summation.

Regarding last month's article on "Why a Jewish New-Yorker who Graduated from Berkeley and Lives in San Francisco ended up a Republican" (see http://www.summation.net/Push0209.html) Arthur Bruzzone, President of Bruzzone Investments, remarks:

I especially enjoyed your statement on being a Republican. I wish that the Prez had never wavered from his compassionate conservative theme. Which implies of course, the Demos and Euro socialists are in fact uncompassionate. They see the poor as one class of people who will forever be poor. What a degrading attitude!!

... and Georgette Wong, Associate Investment Management Consultant at US Bancorp Piper Jaffray, opines:

Interesting particularly around becoming a Republican. You could have taken the words out of my mouth re: poverty and children. Except I identify largely as a Democrat. My father immigrated when he was 6 years old from China; my mom was born here and her father immigrated when he was 15. Both were able to pull themselves up and have successful careers and I have been lucky enough to benefit from their success. I also feel responsible for creating opportunities for others, because, I believe that others have equal, if not greater, skills and intelligence, yet do not have the same opportunities as I've been given/created.

While I identify as a Democrat, I find myself relocating to the "Independent" category, largely because I see pros and cons within both parties.

The issue of race is one that both parties have grappled with and have so far been unsuccessful at solving. I believe it is crucial for our nation to solve this issue. We have the black/white dynamic which is predominant and sets the tone for white/Asian Am, white/Latino, white/Native American relations, but then you also have the variations of black/Asian American, black/Latino, black/Native American, Asian American/Latino, Asian Am/Native Am, NativeAm/Latino.

... and Troy Eid, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Personnel & Administration, chimes in:

AMEN, Auren -- now it's time for you to move to Colorado!

... and Dennis Taylor, Managing Editor of Silicon Valley Business Ink, writes:

Another way to look at your ideology is that: Democrats say -- "Teach a man to fish and don't let him drown in the process "Republicans say -- "Transfer 99 percent of the wealth to the fishing corporations"

... and Steven Rothberg, founder of Adguide Publications, writes:

And I thought that I was the only other Jew to vote for Bush.

... and Nick Shenkin says:

I am also a (half) Jewish Republican, raised in Berkeley (though I went to UCLA). I REALLY get where you're coming from. I think it may be a great gift being raised in a bastion of a dogmatic ideal... really opens your eyes to the tyranny and hypocrisy of sheep. I'm sure those raised in dogmatic conservative areas feel the same.

... and Steve Mushero has some questions with the premise:

I would note that it's important to remember that there is no large permanent underclass [in America] - the numbers of poor do not change, but the individuals that are poor change a great deal; there are some interesting studies on this; the underclass has surprising upward mobility, seen most prominently in poor blacks or Hispanics moving to the suburbs as they get older and get their lives straightened out, get skills, etc.

... and Gary Partoyan, Financial Advisor at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, agrees:

Raised a Democrat by decent people who care a heck of a lot about others, and who feel deeply for those who are missing out on the bounty of America. Mom was a teacher and Dad a successful intellectual property lawyer/general counsel (but was a chemical engineering major...). As open-minded and warm-hearted as they were, I was somehow raised to loathe Republicans. For five years during and after college (a fine school with seemingly unlimited exposure to folks from all over the country and the world) I fought against it, but eventually became a Republican.

During my 1993 internship in the office of Representative David Bonior (yes, Bonior--then the MajWhip), which followed my '92 internship at the DNC, I was actually "accused" of being a Republican. Something about the clothes I wore (right out of Brooks Brothers, I guess) and some notion I had that NAFTA was worth looking into, given that "free trade" was probably the way to go down the road. I was a genius at age 24, that's for sure. But expressing my thoughts honestly prompted others to give me a lot of grief. Back then, calling me a Republican was like saying I was mean or bad person.

... and James McBride writes:

That was the best summation you ever wrote! I wasn't living the lap of luxury either, and I totally agree. Smart kids from more modest backgrounds probably see this fact better than anyone. They are bright enough to understand policy while of circumstances that bring these issues to heart and want results, not band-aids. I don't call myself a Republican because of similar reasons you ARE a Republican. The party system is elitist and rewards the rich or the easily influenced, as the campaign finance system has proven. So, because of their more solution-based policies, I support most moderate Republican beliefs, yet I will never commit to being a Republican....but I do respect them.

... and Allen Hoffman suggests:

I think you underestimate the effects of school choice as an infringement of the First Amendment. You can very well say that the money going to support this will go only to nonsectarian education, but that frees up money for the for the recipients to spend on their denominational religious activities. Also, if we allow government to support religion in this way, it will be only the first wedge that will be used to tear down the separation of Church and State. If this sounds like the ACLU line, so be it, I'm a member.

And how do you think these excellent private schools stay that way? Because they are private, they can exclude students with behavioral problems, who are probably from poor families. Will they still be able to do this with school choice? And what happens to the quality of education when a lot of kids with discipline problems start entering these schools? And how will we ever fix the public schools if we drain money away from them to support school choice?

... and Allison Storr of the Healthcare Research Group at Deutsche Banc Alex.Brown writes:

Sadly, Walter Annenberg, the broadcast pioneer committed to school reform and providing over $100 million a year for the cause, said anecdotally that if he were to fund school reform all over again, he wouldn't. Since needing more money is every organization's bane, we need to be more specific regarding how the schools will use additional funding. School choice is only the beginning of the dialogue. We need to get beyond that issue being the primary one for Republicans, and instead reinforce the discussion around incentive-based compensation for teachers, teacher training, and most notably, parent involvement. Kids from low income families enter 1st grade already behind, set back by several barriers, including, on average, a 450-hour reading deficit.

... and Larry Ebert takes a different note:

I should mention that I too am Jewish and from the East Coast -- I grew up in Washington, D.C. I see the situation differently. From my observation, the Republican Party has done little to help poor children. Republican representatives have consistently and repeatedly voted against programs to bolster the potential opportunities for inner city youth -- a range of programs, such as HeadStart, designed to provide learning opportunities, mentoring, day-care, and training to the most disadvantaged circles. This record is not in the interest of poor children, in my opinion.

... and Jessica Goldstein remarks:

I was surprised you didn't mention the unapologetic steadfast support the current Republican government has for Israel among a world climate of sympathy for Palestinians. As a Jewish kid from Westchester, I would think you would be more or possibly equally influenced by a government's policies towards Israel than its policies towards inner city kids.

... and Jonathan Freeman, Managing Director of Cross Media Marketing Corp., applauds:

I would like to thank you since you were definitely able to accomplish Summation's mission with your Sept. article on your journey to Republicanism :). YOU MADE ME THINK!

I found it fascinating to see how you started with a core belief and worked yourself through the process of getting a solution and seeing that solution more available in the Republican camp. While I am certain you will get many emails stating how wrong you are about your perceptions of both the Dems and the GOP, I would like to be one of the few that come somewhere in the middle...

I agree with you completely regarding the "teach a man to fish" principle should be the aim of the poverty solving agenda but I think that neither party currently comes close to achieving that goal. The Dems are, as you imply, too convinced of government handouts and the GOP is too convinced that supply side economics is the best way to make everyone wealthier from the rich to the poor. I would, on the other hand, come down somewhere in the middle which I think makes me more of a New Democrat than anything else. You see, I think the government empower and inspire its citizens rather than be parental, in the case of the Dems or laissez-faire, in the case of the GOP.

... but Danny Sullivan writes:

To spend the majority of the piece focusing so intently on school choice implies that this is the core reason you are a Republican. To me, this makes the reasoning behind your being Republican seem overly simplistic - kind of like the "Fish" metaphor you drop into the middle of the piece. If the Democrats, who also share your interest in seeing more money go into education to a far greater degree than the Republicans, you must admit, were suddenly to jump on the school choice bandwagon with even more gusto than the GOP would your allegiance switch just like that? I doubt it, but from what I've read here, a reader could believe that you would, due to the amount of space you dedicate to that issue. And the likelihood of such a misunderstanding is a weakness, in my opinion, of the piece's structure.

... and Ralph Clark, CEO of Barbwire Networks, chimes in:

In the Democratic party you seem to have a broad class of people who genuinely are concerned about the underclass problem but have very dated and bankrupt ideas on how the fix it. The Great Society in terms of political and civil rights changes was very productive but the welfare state it had produced has worked against the interests of the very people it was supposed to promote. What you have now is a large constituency of people who are middle class and are directly benefiting from the welfare state as bureaucrats and need to have the "problem" continue to exist in some form so they can be responsible for "fixing" in some form (in perpetuity).

My impression of the Republican party is that it perhaps has some better ideas on fixing the underclass problem through school choice, welfare reform etc but is not at all concerned about the underclass problem. In fact it feels like it is almost hostile to it. When I combine that the other positions it takes in terms of pro-choice, death penalty, civil rights etc, I wonder might it make more sense to graft the better ideas onto the Democratic party. This is somewhat complicated by the fact that you do have powerful constituencies in the Democratic party that needs to maintain the status quo-(teachers unions, welfare bureaucrats etc).

... and Jeremy Epstein, founder of SilentFrog.com, concurs:

Over the years, the more I see of the two parties, the more I recognized each of the truths you mentioned in your essay. So much so that on my 18th birthday, I registered as a Republican, which of course sent tidal waves through my Democratic, Jewish circle of friends and family. (I've since become an independent after being dismayed by the lack of follow through on the 'Contract with America.')

Your points, however, are valid and I was similarly moved by Rand's philosophy. Further, the teach a man to fish approach is the highest form of charity according to the Rambam, so this attitude is even more consistent with Jewish values.

Regarding last month's useless fact on James Buchanan being the only single U.S. President, Doug Kilponen suggests:

Your fun fact about Buchanan is somewhat misleading: while he was the only president to never marry, he was not the only single president we've had in office.

Grover Cleveland was also unmarried during much of presidency. Scandal followed him throughout his term as he was accused of fathering an illegitimate child. Nevertheless, he got married to a woman half his age while in office (the only president to get married in office), so he was perhaps the only president to use the line "Hey baby, I'm your pres" successfully.

Thomas Jefferson was also unmarried throughout his terms of office (he was a widower).

(Write Auren your thoughts.   Write auren@summation.net)

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FRIEND OF AUREN (FOA)

Tom Campbell

Former U.S. Congressman & current Dean of the Haas Business School at UC Berkeley

I ran into Tom in 2000 when he was running for U.S. Senate against Diane Feinstein. Although Tom had an uphill struggle, he fought hard and was always in a great mood.

Tom was then a very distinguished U.S. Congressman representing Silicon Valley (at the time he was the only Republican Congressperson from the Bay Area) -- and he was rumored to be the smartest person in Washington (and I believe it). Before that Tom was a law professor at Stanford university.

Tom holds a bachelor's, master's, and PhD degree in economics from the University of Chicago. He also has a law degree from Harvard. He was a White House Fellow from 1980-1981.

Tom has always been a person that strives to expand the intellectual development of those around him.

See past profiled Friends of Auren at: http://www.summation.net/friends.html

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THIS WEEK'S SUMMATION PUSH PICK LINKS TO MAKE YOU THINK:

* Economist article on U.S. vs. Europe population trends (http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1291056) -- one of the best articles I read last month.

* Official Ninja Web Page (http://www.realultimatepower.net) -- very odd.

* The Shield home page (http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/the_shield/) -- the best show on television.

* Auren's Ryze page (http://www.ryze.org/view.php?who=auren) -- worth viewing.

* RSVP for the Party of the Decade (http://evite.citysearch.com/GGParty@eudoramail.com/2011Party) -- taking place on Nov 11, 2011.

*How to sell via e-mail (from the book "21st Century Selling") (http://www.summation.net/emailselling.html)

*What am I reading? The Hoffman Reading List (http://www.summation.net/reading.html)

NOTE: Auren Hoffman works for BridgePath.com but the opinions expressed herein are solely those of Mr. Hoffman.

NOTE: You may reprint in full or in part (for free) with permission from author.

Auren Hoffman's bio can be found at:

(http://www.summation.net/hoffman.html)

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