February 19, 2024

Please Watch and Share "Juice: Power, Politics, and The Grid" by Robert Bryce

February 19, 2024/ Jane Menton

Most of what Robert Bryce covers in his new documentary Juice won’t be news to you if you’re a regular reader of this blog. However, it is exactly the tool we need to bring everyone else into the fold.
If you read this blog, I can safely assume you already know a lot about energy and why current government policies towards energy are absurd at best and dangerous at worst. But it’s just as likely that you have several people in your life who struggle to understand your obsession with energy policy or can’t see why it’s so important, so fundamental to modern society, and on the cusp of turning into the biggest political issue of our time.
You can start with the first episode, linked here, and then send it to someone you think could be convinced.

March 26, 2023

Pursuit of the Green Dream Will Make Inequality a LOT Worse

March 26, 2023/ Jane Menton

There are different ways of looking at the issue of human inequality.
The modern Left obsesses about inequality as measured in dollars of income. But if one measures inequality based on quality-of-life, it quickly becomes clear that we have achieved great progress toward equality on the things that really count.
Much of that progress is at risk of reversal from imposition of the green dream.

January 16, 2023

January 16, 2023/ Jane Menton

Though the [nursing] strike has since ended, my thought when I read the headlines was: Here is a legitimate concern: For years, there has been a looming shortage of healthcare workers, and of nurses specifically.
It is possible, maybe even likely, that the nursing union might exaggerate claims of a looming staffing shortage in order to strengthen its negotiating positions.
However, I maintain that we have enough social indicators from Gen Z and Millenials – that is, people in the 20-45 age range – to wonder what might happen if there comes a time when there are not enough people willing to work in industries that require difficult physical labor or emotional hardship.

October 28, 2022

October 28, 2022/ Jane Menton

Four years ago, just before our son was born, my husband and I bought our first home: a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment in Queens.
Queens has a lot to recommend it; it is often known as the City’s “middle class” borough, with almost no slums, and an equivalent lack of notable wealth.
It is not a small area: more than 100 square miles, with a population over 2.25 million. The homeownership rate is about 45%, which is high for New York City.
In addition, it is the most ethnically diverse county in the U.S., and a place where immigrants from all over the world have sought the American dream.
Unfortunately, our politicians are working hard to put an end to that.
About a year ago I joined the board of my building.. Within my first month of joining a senior board member, one who has been on the board for many years and is about 20 years my senior, sent us all the following email:

August 30, 2022

August 30, 2022/ Jane Menton

President Biden’s plan to forgive $10K in student loans quickly became the biggest news of the last few weeks. Indeed, in what should be a sea of ugly news for Biden (Mar-a-Lago, anyone?), he’s clearly hoping debt forgiveness is his golden ticket.
Conservative and libertarian pundits have already covered many of the important reasons why the President “forgiving” or “canceling” debt is a terrible, not to mention unconstitutional, idea.
Meanwhile, I decided to have a little fun (or make myself a little enraged) by looking up the Buzzfeed twitter roundup on the subject to see what the youths are saying

June 20, 2022

June 20, 2022/ Jane Menton

One of my roles here at Manhattan Contrarian is acting as the cultural correspondent and translator, giving some insight into the views and beliefs of the millennial generation and younger.
Unfortunately, it gets harder every day to present those views as rational when they’re so often based on magical thinking.
For example, the same people who have been haranguing us for years for not doing enough to end our dependence on fossil fuels – the same ones who cheered the shutdown of the Keystone Pipeline – now can’t believe the prices they must pay for gas. The same people who thought stimulus checks were the bare minimum the government could do for people struggling during COVID, are now shocked by surging inflation.
The recent economy has only highlighted the glaring contradictions in their thinking. Will Buzzfeed readers ever realize that they are the source of their own problems?