Who knew? There is still a Blue Dog Caucus in the Democratic Party, even as New Yorkers elect a socialist as Mayor of America’s largest city. The Caucus is said “to be an official caucus in the House of Representatives comprised of “fiscally-responsible Democrats who are leading the way to find common sense solutions.”

And I found out that pearl, “small”, in the New York Times. The Caucuses continuing existence showed up in an article about a Member of Congress from a rural district in Washington State. Her name: Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.

At the beginning of the interview, Perez quoted from the gospel of Luke: “He who is faithful in a small thing is faithful in a great thing also.” Underscoring small she proposed an amendment to a bill because we are plagued with  “headlight brightness.” The amendment urges “the Secretary of Transportation to study the impacts of headlight brightness on the vision and safety of drivers, pedestrians, and other road users, as well as in regard to different terrain, such as hills and curves.”

Her signature cause is informed by her disgust with a never-ending stream of products that cannot be repaired. She co-owned an auto repair and machine shop with her husband. And I quote from Perez: “We don’t want to be perpetual renters of disposable crap”. She refers to much of what we own as items simply rented.

Thankfully, the article didn’t go into what she thinks about the President. We are forced to overindulge his performative behavior. In one very simple way Representative Perez is his antithesis. He is wedded to big things. The “Big Beautiful Bill”, for example, was biblical in its length. Even the best-informed got entangled in the details.

And if we want to simplify, much must be done locally. Yes, City Councils. Sparks will fly, but at the end of the day you will have had a chance to weigh in. And, much will have to be done by all of us as buyers.

My wife and I became beekeepers shortly after the century’s turn. We joined a beekeeping club. The Members bought, sold, repaired, and combined to buy less expensively. The leader of the club would drive ten plus hours to buy nuclei of bee hives called “nucs,” and everybody who bought one or more would show up with their pickup trucks the next morning, get their supply, and then hive them.

My wife and I were newbies, and a seasoned beekeeper offered his services free of charge to help us. He adamantly refused to take money.

President Trump should use his tariffs on disposable goods while letting what Representative Perez would call “goods we own” and can repair be tariff-free. Indeed maybe her Party should go beyond powerful identity groups and make small business a part of their platform. I think it would be popular and help revive businesses that fix the repairable while taking some pressure off landfills.

My guess is her party will run against Trumpism and not on a platform aimed at simplification. Or, as she might envision it, “ownership” so that those who want to cut the thread or maybe chain link binding us to Big Tech can do so. It would be refreshing at the next inaugural to see something other than Big Tech moguls in the prize seats.

More recently I have started paying attention to the Town Council where I live. The Council listens; my Member of Congress is too busy being herded around to pay any attention. Trump has a leash on him.

Now decentralization doesn’t assure happiness. I used to live in New York City and would be furious with the new Mayor’s radical moves embracing socialism. But I would know that next time around I could try to do something about it.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

It would be difficult to pinpoint the moment when a banned substance—marijuana—became “recreational”. Right along there with swimming and jogging. Kudos to the marketing wizards. If you were a media editor, as the newly seductive title began to appear, you should say, “I’m sorry”.

When I grew up, marijuana was around but culturally frowned on. But of course, forbidden stuff, if it provides momentary pleasure or temporary relief, always has a following, even if it is underground. And this is regardless of warnings about adverse consequences. Warnings for some add to the allure.

Exploiting weakness, whether above or below ground, is often good business. So mind-altering drugs, the lure of easy money, pornography, and more can be expected. “Come on in,” the midway barker cries.

Societal weakness is human. Governments presumably exist to protect, but they, too, cannot avoid temptation. As taxpayers pushed back on higher taxes,  many governments got into the predator businesses. So now we have not just gambling from the TV couch, but it’s aggressive marketing. Marketing aimed at our weaknesses. Temptation wrapped in seductive visuals, music and animation. And, if there is little or no cultural pushback the seductive quickly overwhelms.   

The predator forces, now playing on a field where morals have given way to values, win. And there are few seductive activities that don’t pay the State. So “weed” becomes either recreational or medical marijuana. Dress it up.

In a perfect world, choice makes sense. RFK Jr. must think we are in that perfect world as he takes on the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Without an evidentiary-based rationale, he states that certain vaccines used to protect children might cause threatening conditions later in life. And when the pushback comes, he says let parents decide. Let them decide whether their children, for example, should be vaccinated against Hepatitis B. Parents, not the CDC, are apparently in a better position to weigh risks and potential protection. Really?

We have a CDC because scale and patient capital is needed to do comprehensive benefit and threat assessments. And we need an agency with a thoroughly international perspective to comprehensively decide whether we should protect against risks. Back home, where few want to be jabbed, we are left to wonder and inquire of our favorite chatbot.

So let me close with this thought from Olivier Roy: “in a deculturated world, millions of young people bereft of anything resembling a tradition have been left susceptible to ideas that will leave them miserable and defeated.” What about the not-so-young?

There is certainly nothing wrong with criticizing culture. Americans are rather good at it. But when it comes to what we used to call morals, we should at least pause and ask questions. What we should ask, is the case for legalizing the “recreational” use of marijuana? What is the evidence pro and con on the lasting consequences? Recent reports are not encouraging.

And, should gambling on whether the next pitch is going to be a ball or strike, from our living room chair, be a legitimate source of government revenue?

Relatedly, who should pay for reversing the downward personal trajectory of drug users and obsessive gamblers? Much of the damage cannot be measured in dollars. Rehabilitation is a growth industry.

Or, turning back to pathology, should the top political appointee presiding over health policy urge parental judgment to supplant the CDC? Or, using Roy’s awkward word, deculturate, should the President and RFK Jr be leading the charge?

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.