I’m losing faith in our institutions.
First example is how the Federal Reserve thinks it can get inflation under control by raising interest rates. If prices are higher now than they were one year ago, it’s mostly because they were so low before. Recall that low demand in 2020 caused prices to fall sharply. (In fact crude oil prices were actually negative1 in April 2020.) Now we’re seeing low supply as a backlash from that effect. Thus prices climb as demand returns to normal. The higher interest rates may placate Wall Street investors, but it hurts anyone who needs to replace an automobile or relocate.
Second there’s Justice Samuel Alito’s draft proposal to eliminate the right to an abortion2. In it he claims that the decision was “egregiously wrong from the start.” So even the Supreme Court of today has no faith in the Supreme Court of five decades ago. Sure, personal opinions change. But law is built on precedent, isn’t it?
Third, and most troubling of all, is how the Federal Court in April struck down the CDC’s public transportation mask mandate3. The person who brought the suit before the court has anxiety and complained that exceptions to the mandate did not apply to her. In fact the mandate provides for a variety of exclusions that the plaintiff could claim, including “to catch [one’s] breath after ‘feeling winded’”. The court decision is a blatant attack on science.
It won’t be long before we round up all scientists and engineers and burn them at the stake.
2 https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473
3 https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flmd.391798/gov.uscourts.flmd.391798.53.0_1.pdf
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