Category: Education

America at 250

On By TonyIn economy, Education, History, PoliticsLeave a comment

My work has me traveling to other countries quite frequently (I am actually writing this from Iceland). I am proud to be an American, but it has become harder and harder to explain where we are at.

I have never read a more brutally honest assessment of who we are and what we’ve become.

OLIVER KORNETZKE

250 years. Two hundred and fifty fucking years of the most powerful, most resourced, most theoretically capable nation in the history of human civilization and here is what we have to show for it.

Forty million people on food stamps, thirty million without health insurance, the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world, the highest incarceration rate on earth, an opioid crisis that has killed over half a million people and counting, a housing market so broken that working people cannot afford to live in the cities they work in, an education system that buries young people in debt before they earn their first dollar, infrastructure that is literally collapsing, a life expectancy that is going backwards, a political system so thoroughly purchased by concentrated wealth that the laws it produces bear almost no relationship to what the public actually wants or needs, a working class that has not seen meaningful real wage growth in thirty years, a mental health crisis so severe we normalized it, a gun violence epidemic so routine we don’t even act when preschoolers are slaughtered, and a climate hurtling toward catastrophe while the people paid to address it collect checks from the industry causing it.

Two hundred and fifty years of that. And to celebrate, we built a wrestling arena on the White House lawn.

Not a hospital, or a school, or a housing development. Not a single fucking thing that addresses a single goddamn item on the list above. A wrestling arena. With cranes and pyrotechnics and a steel arch that probably cost more than the annual budget of three rural counties combined, erected in front of the building where Lincoln and Roosevelt and every president who ever tried to make any of this mean something once lived and worked and in some cases died trying.

Truthfully, this is not a departure from American values. This is the fullest possible expression of them. Because this is what we chose. Every single time the choice was presented.

We built a culture where a football coach makes forty times what a physics professor makes and then express genuine bewilderment at the outcomes. Where a reality television star becomes president and a school district cuts its art program in the same fiscal year. Where children know every statistic of every player on their favorite sport team and cannot locate their own country on a map. Where scientific consensus on vaccines, climate, evolution, and basic nutrition gets weighed against a Facebook post and the Facebook post wins at the dinner table. Where the school that wins the state championship gets a parade and the school that produces a Nobel laureate gets a budget cut.

We chose the bomber over the teacher. The tank over the clinic. The aircraft carrier over the water treatment plant. We spend more on military than the next ten countries combined, including our allies, while veterans sleep on the streets of the cities they came back to. We built the most expensive killing apparatus in human history and then told the nurse she made too much money. We sent young men to die in wars that made defense contractors rich and called it freedom and put a yellow ribbon magnet on the back of the car and called that support. We made the soldier and the police officer into sacred untouchable symbols of national identity and then cut their benefits, denied their PTSD claims, let them die waiting for VA appointments, and sent them back for third and fourth tours because it was cheaper than taking care of them when they came home. We worshipped the uniform and neglected the human inside it because the uniform is a symbol and symbols are cheaper than healthcare and housing and the therapy that would actually help. We built bases in a hundred and fifty countries and could not build enough affordable housing in fifty states. We funded a military budget that could have ended homelessness and medical debt and student debt several times over and we did it with bipartisan enthusiasm and called the people who questioned it unserious.

We chose entertainment over education so many times and for so long and at every available level of society that we forgot there was a distinction worth making. Spectacle over substance, performance over policy, the aesthetics of greatness in place of the actual thing, and the feeling of winning instead of asking what was being won and who was paying for it and what it would cost the people who came next.

Rome had bread and circuses. We Americans have food stamps and a wrestling ring outside the Oval Office.

250 years. This is what we built. This is what we chose. This is what we are celebrating. And the most perfectly, catastrophically, irreducibly American thing about all of it is that anyone pointing at this image and asking what it means will be called unpatriotic by people watching it on a television they bought on credit they cannot afford to pay back, rooting for a sport they cannot explain, in a country they cannot describe, celebrating a birthday they cannot contextualize, for a nation that has spent two and a half centuries confusing the noise it makes with the work it never did, all while claiming to be the greatest country on Earth.

Happy Birthday America! You have never looked more like yourself!

Citizenship Requires More Than Blind Loyalty

On By TonyIn Belief, economy, Education, Elections, PoliticsLeave a comment

Maybe It’s Not Trump Derangement Syndrome After All

Every time I criticize Donald Trump, someone inevitably tells me I suffer from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

The accusation usually goes something like this: “Why can’t you acknowledge the good things he’s done?”

Fair question.

As a business owner for more than three decades, a coach who has spent a lifetime teaching accountability, and a city councilor responsible for spending taxpayer dollars wisely, I believe in giving credit where credit is due. If someone does something well, I will say so. If a policy works, I will acknowledge it.

But leadership isn’t judged by a handful of talking points. It is judged by character, integrity, competence, and whether the person in charge is working for the people or for themselves.

That’s where my concerns begin.

Supporters often point to immigration enforcement, NATO spending, tariffs, or cultural issues as evidence of Trump’s success. We can have legitimate policy debates about any of those topics. Reasonable people can disagree.

What troubles me is something deeper.

It is the corruption.

It is the constant blurring of the line between public service and personal profit.

As a city councilor, if I voted on matters that directly enriched my business interests, people would rightly demand answers. If city contracts consistently benefited my friends, family, or financial partners, residents would be outraged. They should be.

The same standard should apply to the President of the United States.

Yet we have become numb to behavior that would be unacceptable from virtually any other elected official.

The Trump family has expanded its business interests while Trump occupies the Oval Office. Cryptocurrency ventures, real estate projects, private fundraising efforts, and relationships with wealthy donors all seem to intersect with public policy decisions in ways that should concern anyone who believes government should serve the public first.

This isn’t a Republican issue or a Democratic issue.

It’s an ethics issue.

It’s a leadership issue.

It’s an accountability issue.

What concerns me even more is the growing use of government power against perceived enemies. In America, we are supposed to settle political disagreements at the ballot box, not through investigations designed to intimidate critics or punish opponents.

One of the great strengths of our democracy has always been that no one is above the law—but equally important, no one should be beneath its protection.

The machinery of government should never become a personal weapon.

As a coach, I often tell athletes that character is revealed when nobody is watching.

As a businessman, I’ve learned that trust takes years to build and moments to destroy.

As a city councilor, I’ve learned that public confidence is fragile and must be earned every day.

Those same principles apply to presidents.

I understand why many Americans voted for Donald Trump. They were frustrated by rising costs, worried about immigration, concerned about national security, and convinced Washington wasn’t listening.

Those concerns are real.

But voting for someone to solve problems does not require blind loyalty.

In fact, patriotism demands the opposite.

We should expect results.

We should demand honesty.

We should insist on transparency.

And we should be willing to call out misconduct regardless of whether it comes from our political opponents or from people we supported.

That’s not Trump Derangement Syndrome.

That’s citizenship.

The real question isn’t why some of us continue to criticize Donald Trump.

The real question is why so many people have stopped holding him to the same standards they would apply to anyone else.

Last night, I attended the Dover High School graduation as a city councilor. As I watched those young men and women cross the stage, I found myself thinking less about today’s political battles and more about the world we are leaving them.

These graduates are entering adulthood at a time of declining trust in institutions, growing political division, and leaders too often focused on winning arguments instead of solving problems. Yet I left hopeful. Every generation inherits challenges. Mine inherited the Cold War, economic uncertainty, and environmental concerns. Today’s graduates face different problems, but they possess the same capacity for innovation, courage, and change.

What struck me most was that the future belongs to them, not the politicians dominating today’s headlines. They will be the entrepreneurs creating jobs, the teachers inspiring children, the healthcare workers saving lives, the public servants strengthening communities, and the citizens shaping America’s future.

That reality places a responsibility on us. We should model integrity, accountability, and respect for democratic institutions. We should show that public service is about serving others, not ourselves, and leave behind examples worth following.

Someday these graduates will sit in city council chambers, state legislatures, corporate boardrooms, and perhaps even the halls of Congress. The question is whether we are giving them a model of leadership worth inheriting.

Open journal with handwritten text and drawing beside lit candle on rustic windowsill at night

The Worst Things Humans Have Done Were Done to Other Humans

On By TonyIn Belief, Education, HistoryLeave a comment

The Worst Things Humans Have Done Were Done to Other Humans

I studied History as an undergraduate, with a concentration in post-war America rather than World War II. For a long time, I focused more on the systems that emerged after the war: the rise of suburbanization, the Cold War, labor shifts, media influence, corporate expansion, and the changing identity of the American middle class.

Recently, though, I started reading World War II diaries.

Some were written by Italian civilians trying to survive the collapse of their country. Some were written by American soldiers processing what they saw overseas. Others came from people who survived concentration camps and somehow found the strength to record experiences that most of us can barely comprehend.

What struck me was not simply the scale of suffering. History books already teach us numbers. Millions dead. Cities destroyed. Entire populations displaced.

What struck me was the intimacy of cruelty.

The worst acts in human history are not abstractions. They are humans harming other humans directly, personally, deliberately.

A guard deciding another person is no longer fully human.

A soldier learning to suppress empathy.

A bureaucracy organizing suffering with paperwork and schedules.

A crowd convincing itself that violence is justified because the victims are somehow different.

That pattern exists throughout history.

It existed in slavery.

It existed in genocides.

It existed in political purges.

It existed in colonial violence.

It existed in lynchings.

It exists today whenever people are taught to fear and hate one another before they truly know one another.

We often talk about history as though it belongs to the past. But history is not dead. History is a warning.

One of the most dangerous myths people believe is that atrocities are committed only by monsters. The reality is more uncomfortable. Many atrocities are carried out by ordinary people who become convinced that cruelty is acceptable, necessary, patriotic, profitable, or unavoidable.

That is why remembering matters.

Not to drown ourselves in guilt.

Not to endlessly relive suffering.

But to recognize how fragile civilization actually is.

The diaries I read repeatedly showed something else as well: people under enormous pressure searching for someone to blame. That instinct never disappeared after World War II. It simply changed form.

Today, many people are angry, exhausted, isolated, and financially strained. Instead of encouraging solidarity, powerful institutions often redirect frustration sideways. Workers are told their problems come from immigrants, neighbors, political opponents, different races, different religions, or people living in different regions.

Meanwhile, many of the people and institutions accumulating enormous wealth and influence remain largely insulated from the consequences of the systems they shape.

I want to be very clear: I am a capitalist.

I believe markets can create innovation, opportunity, efficiency, and prosperity. Human ambition can build incredible things. Free enterprise has improved countless lives.

But capitalism without limits becomes something else.

When profit becomes the only moral standard, people stop being citizens and become consumers. Workers become expendable. Communities become markets. Truth becomes advertising. Human dignity becomes secondary to quarterly earnings.

Healthy capitalism requires boundaries.

It requires labor protections.

It requires ethical regulation.

It requires accountability.

It requires remembering that an economy is supposed to serve human beings, not the other way around.

History shows what happens when systems become detached from human dignity. Sometimes the result is not immediate violence. Sometimes it is slow dehumanization: convincing people they are disposable, replaceable, or undeserving of empathy.

That dehumanization is the first step toward every historical horror.

And once people stop seeing each other as human, terrible things become possible.

The answer is not abandoning disagreement. People will always disagree politically, economically, culturally, and philosophically.

The answer is refusing to let disagreement erase humanity.

The person next door is probably not your enemy.

The struggling family in another town is probably not your enemy.

The worker trying to survive is probably not your enemy.

History repeatedly shows that ordinary people often have more in common with one another than they do with the powerful institutions profiting from division.

Reading those diaries reminded me that civilization depends on empathy more than ideology.

It depends on resisting the temptation to dehumanize.

It depends on recognizing manipulation when fear is used to turn people against each other.

Most importantly, it depends on remembering.

Because forgetting is dangerous.

The people who lived through humanity’s darkest periods were warning us.

We should listen.

“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference. Because of indifference, one dies before one actually dies. To be in the window and watch people being sent to concentration camps or being attacked in the street and do nothing, that’s being dead.”
— Elie Wiesel, US News & World Report (27 October 1986)

How Italy’s Political Violence Mirrors U.S. Extremism

On By TonyIn Belief, Education, PoliticsLeave a comment

Italy’s Years of Lead (late 1960s–1980s) were marked by sustained political violence—bombings, kidnappings, assassinations—by both far-left and far-right militants. The period left deep scars on Italian democracy and institutions. The United States today faces its own surge in politically motivated violence, rising extremist networks (predominantly on the far right), intense polarization, and institutional strain. Drawing lessons from Italy can help the U.S. avoid escalation and protect democratic norms.

What’s happening now in the U.S.

  • A rise in right-wing violence: Research and law-enforcement reporting show increasing activity by white supremacist, anti-government, and militia groups. The FBI and DHS have repeatedly identified domestic violent extremists—especially racially motivated violent extremists and anti-government actors—as among the top domestic threats. 
  • High-profile political violence: Charlottesville (2017) and the January 6, 2021, Capitol attacks are stark examples of organized political violence and the willingness of politically motivated mobs to use force. 
  • Rhetoric and radicalization: Prominent conservative activists and media figures (like Charlie Kirk) have used combative, often dehumanizing rhetoric. In NO WAY does this justify his killing – BUT- Scholars link such rhetoric to environments that can facilitate radicalization even when direct causation is hard to prove. Public figures’ statements that stoke grievance and delegitimize opponents lower norms and can embolden violent actors. 
  • Media and accountability pressures: Major media organizations have fired or disciplined hosts and contributors after controversies over comments about public figures or political matters, reflecting both commercial pressures and debates about editorial tolerance. Some critics argue media responses have been inconsistent, fueling perceptions of selective accountability. 
  • Use of federal forces in cities: Debates over federal deployments—whether federal agents at protests or National Guard activations—have heightened tensions, with critics warning such moves can escalate conflict or be perceived as politicized if not transparently justified and overseen.

Comparing to Italy’s Years of Lead: parallels and limits

  • Parallels: Polarization, media amplification, organized extremist networks, and institutional stress are common factors. Italy’s descent shows how unresolved grievances and state overreach can create feedback loops of violence and delegitimation. 
  • Limits: Italy’s violence involved more sustained, symmetric campaigns by both left and right, large-scale bombings, and Cold War geopolitics that have no direct modern U.S. equivalent. The U.S. context is shaped by social media radicalization, different political institutions, and a mostly far-right profile of violent groups today.

Risks to watch

  • Normalizing dehumanizing rhetoric from public figures, which lowers barriers to violence. 
  • Selective enforcement or politicized use of federal force, which undermines trust. 
  • Media incentives that amplify polarizing content and inconsistent accountability, which reinforce grievance narratives. 
  • Online ecosystems that speed radicalization and facilitate operational planning.

What Can We Do in Dover and New Hampshire?

  • Community violence prevention: Invest in local organizations, crisis-intervention teams, and intervention specialists who can mediate disputes and identify early radicalization signs. 
  • Robust civilian oversight: Create empowered civilian review boards and independent investigators for incidents involving political actors. 
  • Prosecutorial independence and ethics: Strengthen rules and oversight to ensure local prosecutors act impartially on politically sensitive cases. 
  • Education and media literacy: Expand programs in schools and communities to build critical thinking and resilience against disinformation. 
  • Local reintegration services: Fund job training, counseling, and social supports for those leaving extremist movements to reduce recidivism.

Civic and media responsibilities

  • Public figures should be held to higher standards of rhetoric; platforms and outlets should apply policies transparently and consistently. 
  • Media organizations must balance accountability with due process, resisting both partisan pressure and reflexive cancellations that feed grievance narratives. 
  • Civil society should bolster spaces for cross-partisan engagement to rebuild trust.

Italy’s Years of Lead show how democratic backsliding and political violence can feed off polarization, institutional weakness, and state overreach. The United States is not destined to repeat Italy’s worst extremes—but avoiding that path requires recognizing the growing threat from right-wing violence, curbing incendiary rhetoric, ensuring impartial enforcement, reforming federal interventions, and investing at state and local levels in prevention and reintegration. Clear oversight, consistent accountability, and civic renewal are the best defenses against escalation

The Real Reason Birth Rates Are Falling in the U.S.: It’s the Economy, Plain and Simple

On By TonyIn Belief, economy, EducationLeave a comment

“How can anyone but the top 10% even afford a child?”

I was listening to NPR the other day, and they were diving into the mystery of America’s declining birth rate. Experts offered a wide range of possible explanations—shifting cultural norms, delayed marriages, more women in the workforce, climate anxiety, even a rise in individualism. All interesting ideas, but I couldn’t help thinking: aren’t we ignoring the obvious reason?

When you strip away the sociological theory and high-concept analysis, the reason so many Americans are choosing not to have children—or to have fewer of them—is simple: it’s just too expensive.

Let’s talk about the basics.

Giving Birth Is a Financial Burden

Even giving birth in the U.S. is a luxury many can’t afford. The average cost of childbirth with insurance is around $3,000 out of pocket. Without insurance, it can balloon up to $15,000 or more. And that’s just for the delivery—never mind prenatal care, time off work, or complications.

Compare this to countries where childbirth is covered by universal healthcare, and it’s no wonder families in the U.S. are thinking twice.

It’s just too expensive to have a kid in the United States.

This isn’t some abstract cultural shift. It’s economics. Let’s look at the data.

🏥 1. The Cost of Giving Birth in the U.S.

Average Cost of Childbirth (2023):

Delivery TypeWith InsuranceWithout Insurance
Vaginal Delivery~$3,000~$10,000–$15,000
C-Section~$5,000~$15,000–$20,000

Source: Health Care Cost Institute, 2023

👶 2. No Paid Parental Leave


Only 24% of U.S. workers have access to any paid parental leave.

Source: OECD; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023

🧒 3. Childcare Costs More Than College

  • Massachusetts: $21,000/year (childcare) vs $14,000/year (college)
  • California: $17,000/year vs $11,000/year
  • National Avg: ~$15,000/year

Source: Economic Policy Institute, 2023

🏠 4. Housing Is Out of Reach

  • Median home price (2024): $420,000+
  • Median household income: $75,000

Source: Zillow; U.S. Census Bureau, 2024

📚 5. Public School Funding Gaps

If families manage to overcome the cost of birth, childcare, and housing, they’re rewarded with another financial stress: underfunded schools. For those who want quality education, private school tuition or expensive neighborhood buy-ins become the next hurdle.

And the list goes on: healthcare, college savings, groceries, transportation, extracurriculars. Every line item adds up, and most families are doing the math—and opting out.

  • Rich districts: $20,000+ per student
  • Poor districts: $8,000–$12,000 per student

Source: National Center for Education Statistics, 2023

🧮 It’s Just Math

Here’s the simple equation most working- and middle-class Americans are doing in their heads:

Cost of childbirth + no leave + $20k/year childcare + unaffordable housing + uncertain education = maybe no kids.

  • 2007: 2.12 children per woman
  • 2023: 1.62 children per woman (record low)

Source: CDC, 2024

🎯 It’s Not About Culture—It’s About Affordability

So while experts continue to theorize why Americans aren’t having kids, maybe the better question is this:

How can anyone but the top 10% even afford to?

This isn’t about people not wanting children. It’s about people being realistic. In a country where basic support systems are missing and the cost of living rises faster than wages, choosing to have children can feel like stepping off a cliff—financially and emotionally.

Until we address the economic reality of family life in America, the birth rate will keep falling. Not because people are selfish or scared or lazy—but because the math just doesn’t work.Until we create a society where average families can afford to raise children without risking economic ruin, the birth rate will keep falling. Not because people are selfish or lazy—but because they’re rational.

Dover Athletic Field Project: A Necessary Investment

On By TonyIn economy, EducationLeave a comment

As your elected representative for Ward 3, I need to share my reasoning behind a difficult but ultimately necessary decision: my vote in favor of the Dover High School athletic field project.

This was not an easy call. I understand and respect the concerns around cost and timing and decision to use synthetic surfaces. But after years of deferred maintenance and growing student needs, it became clear that action could no longer be delayed. Our athletic fields have been ignored for too long, and the time to invest is now.

This project was recommended by the Joint Building Commission (JBC), endorsed by the Recreation Department, and approved by the School Board. The City Council’s role was to authorize the necessary funding—and I believe that as stewards of Dover’s future, we had a responsibility to support it.

I want to thank the JBC for their tremendous work over the past 18 months in shaping and guiding this project. Their dedication, planning, and attention to detail have been critical in bringing this proposal forward. I also want to thank the citizens of Dover who took the time to come out, speak up, and let their voices be heard. Civic engagement is the cornerstone of good local government, and I deeply value the input I received.

Two-thirds of the residents who reached out to me expressed support for moving forward. I listened carefully to every voice, and I weighed the facts, the community input, and the long-term impact on our city. In the end, I was guided by our shared values: investing in our youth, creating safe and accessible spaces for families, and ensuring Dover remains a great place to live and grow.

As a small business owner, I understand that responsible debt can be a tool for progress. We’ve used this approach before—with the parking garage, the police station, and the new high school. Each of these projects required financial commitment, but they have strengthened our community in measurable ways. The same principle applies to the athletic fields. Sometimes, we must make bold investments today to build the community we envision for tomorrow.

Thank you for trusting me to make thoughtful, informed decisions. I remain committed to transparency, accountability, and working together for the betterment of our city.

Tony Retrosi
Ward 3 City Councilor
Dover, NH

Democratic Strategies: Education, Healthcare, and Economy Focus

On By TonyIn Belief, economy, Education, Elections, PoliticsLeave a comment

I’ve just spent a few weeks in Italy for work, and conversations with European friends and colleagues left me both humbled and a little haunted. The most common, almost automatic question they asked was: “How could America do this again?” (Meaning, elect Trump.)

Having to answer that—over and over—really made me reflect. Why could this happen again? And what’s our part in preventing it?

I had time to think (and research, thanks to fast and free WiFi on high-speed trains—Italy gets that part right!). What hit me hardest was this: We, as Democrats, are trying to be everything to everyone, and in doing so, we risk becoming nothing to anyone. From education and healthcare to the environment and housing, we fight for it all—but from the outside, we look scattered, unfocused, and reactive.

In places like Dover, we might feel “safe,” but that complacency is dangerous. “Vote for us—we’re not them” only worked once. It’s not a winning message anymore.

I run my businesses. If I don’t focus, I fail. In politics, it’s no different.

To win the statehouse, the NH House and Senate, as well as local races, we need simple, bold, results-driven messages that answer two clear questions:

  1. Why does the current leadership need to go?
  2. Why is our candidate the better hire?

Here are three core issues that cut through the noise: EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE, and the ECONOMY.

🎓 EDUCATION

The NH GOP has systematically weakened our schools. Underfunded, inefficient, and inequitable. Public dollars are helping millionaires send their kids to private schools while our classrooms lack supplies and teachers live on the edge.

Our Message:
We’ll target education funds to families and schools that need it most. No gimmicks—just real investment in our public schools.

🏥 HEALTHCARE

In rural NH, access to maternal care is evaporating. Policies that limit access and increase cost hurt real families. Governor Ayotte has kept those in place.

Our Message:
We’ll work with local hospitals and clinics to restore essential healthcare access across the state. Starting a family should not require a two-hour drive to the nearest birthing center.

💼 THE ECONOMY

While the GOP fearmongers about “illegals” on the northern border, let’s talk about our real borders—with Massachusetts and the seacoast. We have opportunity right in front of us.

Our Message:
Let’s make NH a destination for business and talent. Invest in infrastructure—rail, roads, ports—to connect us better to the region. Build partnerships like the Dover Riverfront Project that boost jobs, tourism, and sustainability. Protect the industries that matter—like fishing and clean water.

The great thing about infrastructure is that it is literally a 2 way street. Better roads allow us to get NH made products to market and people to work but also ease the difficulties getting products and people into NH   

We ALL pay taxes. Let’s show people what they actually get for it.

We must stop being afraid to stand for something. Stop whispering in corners and start speaking up—in public, in the press, and yes, at protests. Before every time we are holding signs on a downtown corner or when we are at a gathering before we head out to pick up garbage at a Don’t Trash Dover event- someone needs to speak. It shouldn’t be a huge speech. Just a statement with a quotable sound bite  

Where are our voices? Where’s our boldness?

Trump fills arenas. Bernie and AOC speak to packed halls. Why? Because they speak to real kitchen-table issues. Populists and reformers win. The “status quo” candidates don’t. Look at history: Carter, Bush Sr., Biden/ Harris. We need passion. We need presence.

We should be flooding YouTube and social media with clear, 15-second spots on our core issues. That’s how you get a message out in 2025. We don’t have time to wait for someone else to do it.

Let’s be the party that offers people something to believe in—not just something to fear.

Yes, I’m just a guy with time to think on a train in Italy. But I’m also a citizen who because of my work knows what leadership, focus, and action looks like.

We need to tie every member of the NH GOP with Trump and MAGA policies.  These policies that are hugely unpopular.  Cynically, there is no downside.  They want to prove they are NOT a MAGA loyalist and come up with some policies that actually help NH citizens- great! That is good for all of us.  I just don’t think they have the backbone to do it   

Let’s show NH—and the country—what it looks like when we actually deliver.

The Value of Compassionate Governance

On By TonyIn Belief, economy, Education, PoliticsLeave a comment

THIS I BELIEVE;

1. I believe a country should take care of its weakest members. A country cannot call itself civilized when its children, disabled, sick, and elderly are neglected. PERIOD.

2. I believe healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Somehow that’s interpreted as “I believe Obamacare is the end-all, be-all.” This is not the case. I’m fully aware that the ACA has problems, that a national healthcare system would require everyone to chip in, and that it’s impossible to create one that is devoid of flaws, but I have yet to hear an argument against it that makes “let people die because they can’t afford healthcare” a better alternative. I believe healthcare should be far cheaper than it is, and that everyone should have access to it. No, I’m not opposed to paying higher taxes in the name of making that happen.

3. I believe  higher education should be affordable. It doesn’t necessarily have to be free (though it works in other countries so I’m mystified as to why it can’t work in the US), but at the end of the day, there is no excuse for students graduating college saddled with five- or six-figure debt. Graduating with crippling debt is NOT good for the economy.

4. I DO NOT believe our money should be taken from us and given to people who don’t want to work. I have never encountered anyone who believes this. Ever. I have a massive moral problem with a society where a handful of people can possess the majority of the wealth while there are people literally starving to death, freezing to death, or dying because they can’t afford to go to the doctor. Fair wages, lower housing costs, universal healthcare, affordable education, and the wealthy actually paying their share would go a long way toward alleviating this. Somehow believing that makes me a communist.

5. I don’t throw around “I’m willing to pay higher taxes” lightly. If I’m suggesting something that involves paying more, well, it’s because I’m fine with paying my share as long as it’s actually going to something besides lining corporate pockets or bombing other countries while Americans die without healthcare. Ezra Klein said the other day, “When people complain about their taxes they say, “My taxes are too high.” When they should say, “MY TAXES ARE TOO HIGH AND I GET NOTHING FOR IT.” “

6. I believe companies should be required to pay their employees a decent, livable wage. Somehow this is always interpreted as me wanting burger flippers to be able to afford a penthouse apartment and a Mercedes. What it actually means is that no one should have to work three full-time jobs just to keep their head above water. Restaurant servers should not have to rely on tips, multibillion-dollar companies should not have employees on food stamps, workers shouldn’t have to work themselves into the ground just to barely make ends meet, and minimum wage should be enough for someone to work 40 hours and live.

7. I am not anti-Christian. I have no desire to stop Christians from being Christians, to close churches, to ban the Bible, to forbid prayer in school, etc. (BTW, prayer in school is NOT illegal; *compulsory* prayer in school is – and should be – illegal). All I ask is that Christians recognize *my* right to live according to *my* beliefs. When I get pissed off that a politician is trying to legislate Scripture into law, I’m not “offended by Christianity” — I’m offended that you’re trying to force me to live by your religion’s rules. You know how you get really upset at the thought of Muslims imposing Sharia law on you? That’s how I feel about Christians trying to impose biblical law on me. Be a Christian. Do your thing. Just don’t force it on me or mine.

8. I don’t believe LGBT people should have more rights than you. I just believe they should have the *same* rights as you.

9. I don’t believe illegal immigrants should come to America and have the world at their feet, especially since THIS ISN’T WHAT THEY DO (spoiler: undocumented immigrants are ineligible for all those programs they’re supposed to be abusing, and if they’re “stealing” your job it’s because your employer is hiring illegally). I believe there are far more humane ways to handle undocumented immigration than our current practices (i.e., detaining children, splitting up families, ending DACA, etc).

10. I don’t believe the government should regulate everything, but since greed is such a driving force in our country, we NEED regulations to prevent cut corners, environmental destruction, tainted food/water, unsafe materials in consumable goods or medical equipment, etc. It’s not that I want the government’s hands in everything — I just don’t trust people trying to make money to ensure that their products/practices/etc. are actually SAFE. Is the government devoid of shadiness? Of course not. But with those regulations in place, consumers have recourse if they’re harmed and companies are liable for medical bills, environmental cleanup, etc. Just kind of seems like common sense when the alternative to government regulation is letting companies bring their bottom line into the equation.

11. I believe our current administration has some serious fascist tendencies. Not because I dislike them or because I can’t get over an election, but because I’ve spent too many years reading and learning about the Third Reich to miss the similarities. From masked agents kidnapping college students because of their beliefs to rounding up Venezuelans because of their tattoos and sending them to El Salvador. Not because any administration I dislike must be Nazis, but because things are actually mirroring authoritarian and fascist regimes of the past.

12. I believe the systemic racism and misogyny in our society is much worse than many people think, and desperately needs to be addressed. Which means those with privilege, like me, white, straight, male, economic, etc. — need to start listening, even if you don’t like what we’re hearing, so we can start dismantling everything that’s causing people to be marginalized.

13. I am not interested in coming after your blessed guns, nor is anyone serving in government. What I am interested in is the enforcement of present laws and enacting new, common sense gun regulations. Got another opinion? Put it on your page, not mine.

14. I believe in so-called political correctness. I prefer to think it’s social politeness. My name is Anthony. I prefer to be called Tony. If I call you Chuck and you say you prefer to be called Charles I’ll call you Charles. It’s the polite thing to do. Not because everyone is a delicate snowflake, but because as Maya Angelou put it, when we know better, we do better. When someone tells you that a term or phrase is more accurate/less hurtful than the one you’re using, you now know better. So why not do better? How does it hurt you to NOT hurt another person?

15. I believe in funding sustainable energy, including offering education to people currently working in coal or oil so they can change jobs. There are too many sustainable options available for us to continue with coal and oil. Sorry, billionaires. Maybe try investing in something else.

16. I believe that women should not be treated as a separate class of human. They should be paid the same as men who do the same work, should have the same rights as men and should be free from abuse. Why on earth shouldn’t they be?

So let’s clear a few things up.

I don’t fit into some one-size-fits-all stereotype, and neither do most people who share my views. What I believe in is fairness, compassion, and the idea that a civilized society should look out for its people. If that sounds radical, maybe the problem isn’t me.

Somewhere along the way, these beliefs have been twisted into something extreme, impractical, or even un-American. I’ve been told what I stand for, what I believe, and what my values are by people who’ve never once asked. And quite frankly, I’m tired of it.

So, for the record—this is what I believe. This is why I stand where I stand. If that makes me a liberal, then so be it.

Liberal. 

lib·er·al

/ˈlib(ə)rəl/

adjective

  1.  relating to or denoting a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise
  2. willing to respect or accept behavior or opinions different from one’s own; open to new ideas.

noun

  1. a supporter of policies that are socially progressive and promote social welfare.”she dissented from the decision, joined by the court’s liberals”
  2. a supporter of a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.

Why History Matters: Learning from Europe’s Educational Approaches

On By TonyIn Education, History, Teaching1 Comment

As many of you know, I have lived and worked in Europe off and on for the last few years. When it comes to current educational standards and philosophy I feel we Arte moving in the wrong direction. As a gymnastics coach I tell my athletes that they do not start REALLY learning until they get out of their comfort zone. The same is true with HISTORY. While many states in the USA right now do not want to make any white student uncomfortable with our past, many countries in Europe take on their past head on .

​In Germany and Italy, the teaching of fascism, Nazism, and World War II is approached with a commitment to confronting historical truths, ensuring that students understand the complexities and atrocities of their past. This educational philosophy contrasts sharply with current trends in several U.S. states, where legislative measures are restricting discussions on racism, sexism, segregation, and the Civil War. Such limitations hinder students’ ability to engage critically with history, depriving them of essential knowledge and understanding.​

Educational Approaches in Germany and Italy

In Germany, the education system mandates comprehensive coverage of the Nazi era and the Holocaust. Students visit concentration camps, engage with survivor testimonies, and analyze the socio-political factors that led to the rise of Nazism. This immersive approach fosters a deep understanding of the consequences of totalitarianism and the importance of democratic values.​

Italy’s educational system also addresses its fascist past, though with some differences. Post-World War II, Italy underwent a less extensive de-fascistization process compared to Germany. However, contemporary Italian textbooks strive to present an objective analysis of Mussolini’s regime, its alliance with Nazi Germany, and the impact on Italian society. This includes discussions on the implementation of antisemitic laws in 1938 and Italy’s role during the war. ​RedditHolocaust Encyclopedia

The Consequences of Ignoring Difficult Histories

In contrast, numerous U.S. states have introduced legislation that restricts teaching about racism and related issues. As of early 2023, only California, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Vermont have not attempted such bans.  These legislative actions often stem from misunderstandings about critical race theory (CRT), an academic framework that examines systemic racism within legal and social contexts. Opponents fear that CRT admonishes all white people for being oppressors while classifying all Black people as hopelessly oppressed victims, leading to bans in states like Tennessee and Idaho. ​World Population ReviewBrookings+5ABC News+5Statista+5Brookings

By limiting discussions on these critical aspects of American history, students are deprived of the opportunity to learn from past mistakes and to understand the roots and ramifications of social injustices. This educational censorship undermines the development of critical thinking skills and the ability to engage in informed civic discourse.​

IF YOU KNOW YOUR HISTORY THEN YOU WOULD KNOW WHERE YOU COMING FROM. Bob Marley

The Role of the Department of Education

The Department of Education played a crucial role in setting national educational standards and ensuring that curricula are comprehensive and inclusive. Abolishing this department will exacerbate the current trend of educational censorship by removing a centralized body that advocates for balanced and thorough historical education. Without federal oversight, states may have greater latitude to implement restrictive educational policies, further hindering students’ understanding of complex historical and social issues.​

The experiences of Germany and Italy demonstrate the importance of confronting and teaching difficult historical truths. By contrast, the current trajectory in parts of the United States toward restricting discussions on racism and other critical topics threatens to deprive students of essential knowledge and critical thinking skills. Maintaining robust educational standards through institutions like the Department of Education is vital to ensure that future generations are well-informed and capable of contributing thoughtfully to society. We must do better in embracing our full history, acknowledging its complexities, and learning from it to build a more just and equitable future.​

Recent Developments in Education Legislation

https://www.reachinghighernh.org/content-item/461/nh-state-board-of-education-adopts-controversial-minimum-standards-despite-sharp-public-opposition

Chron

AG Ken Paxton sues North Texas district for allegedly teaching critical race theory

8 days agoAxiosTexas AG sues Coppell ISD after conservative activist video claims district teaches critical race theory

7 days agoAxiosTexas Senate passes religious, anti-DEI education bills2 days ago

New Hampshire GOP: What’s Their Endgame?

On By TonyIn economy, Education, Elections, PoliticsLeave a comment

What is it that New Hampshire Republicans want, at the end?

Dana Wormald

DANA WORMALD
MARCH 25, 2025 2:30 PM

 People protest various actions undertaken by the Trump administration and Elon Musk during a rally in front of the State House on March 14, 2025. (Photo by Dana Wormald/New Hampshire Bulletin)

I’m confused about what Republican voters in New Hampshire want.

I mean, I know what they want right now. Lower (or nonexistent) taxes, the dismantling of public education, fewer (or zero) protections for LGBTQ people, the disappearance of migrants who lack the proper documentation, the elimination of environmental regulations, the continued dominance of fossil fuels, reductions to (or the end of) the social safety net, more power for parents to control what their kids learn at school, a version of the American story that redacts any mention of genocide or slavery, a male- and Christian-dominated system of women’s reproductive health care, freedom from vaccination and other public health initiatives, and the overall elimination of the public sector as we know it.

That much is clear. What I don’t understand is what they want ultimately.

Once all of the so-called liberal or progressive policies and systems are eradicated, what kind of state and nation are we left with? The replies from the right are not tough to predict: “Sounds like paradise to me.” But that’s just the politics of retribution talking, with all of its B.S. bravado and “Make America Great Again” inanity.

Is a society without community-based public education a better society? Republicans seem to think so, but I can’t wrap my brain around what it is they are picturing instead. When education is privatized, which is the ultimate goal of school vouchers, how can the system create anything other than rich schools for rich kids and poor schools for poor kids, a predicament-by-design not unlike the one we find ourselves in now. So, vouchers can’t be the solution. The answer to New Hampshire’s equity problem is fair taxation and distribution — a system of public education no longer reliant on collective wealth within town lines. Republicans like to scare voters away from this kind of unity by screaming “socialism” at every opportunity, but what they are proposing instead is increased inequality through privatization. How is that a better situation for anyone other than the already wealthy and powerful?

How is society stronger when our transgender or immigrant neighbors are afraid for their very lives because of policies instituted or protections repealed based on nothing more than apocryphal anecdotes and cultivated fear? How is our beautiful state an even better place to live because environmental regulations are eliminated and clean power and energy efficiency initiatives are blocked? Even if you buy the economic arguments of the need for fossil fuel-based energy policies, is the degradation of New Hampshire’s natural environment (and, you know, the continued destruction of the planet) worth it? And are we such big fans of free-market liberty that we’ll accept the White Mountain National Forest being opened up to any and all kinds of corporate exploitation?

Is all of that the goal?

And what do New Hampshire Republicans want for their children? Freedom from vaccines that are intended to make their very future more assured? Do they want their kids to believe that the American experiment was of divine creation, that there was no tragic abandonment of human principles at any point along the way to the 21st century? No colonization, no genocide, no slavery, no segregation, no lynchings, no red-lining. To what end do we create those gaps in our children’s knowledge? Is it the belief that there can be darkness or light, good or evil, but not both? That we are a nation built and maintained only by heroes, so different from the rest of us in our daily imperfection and inability to live up to our own standards of behavior? What is more human than wanting, needing to know — about what lies over the horizon, in the stars, at the bottom of the ocean, in the hearts of those who are so different from ourselves? 

Is the point to stop the kids from yearning for knowledge and understanding about the complexities of how this moment came to be?

I know that not all New Hampshire Republicans want the same things. For some, it’s the pro-business, anti-tax piece of the platform that makes them register as Republicans. For others, it’s a desire for revenge against societal shifts that they don’t like or that make them uncomfortable — for which they use the shorthand “woke.” But in this moment, made unique by the appetite and actions of Donald Trump and his administration, it is impossible for a New Hampshire Republican to pick and choose the way the party does or does not represent their desires.

In the March 27 edition of The New York Review of Books, Neal Ascherson writes about a recent book by Richard J. Evans titled “Hitler’s People: The Faces of the Third Reich.” 

Here’s Ascherson, under the headline “Ordinary Germans”: “The late Erhard Eppler, a radical Christian who became ‘the conscience of Social Democrats’ in postwar West Germany, used to invoke the Roman fasces as the image of twentieth-century fascism: a bundle of quite disparate rods (or policies) held together by the strap of the leader. When the strap is cut, the rods scatter, and people could claim that ‘I agreed with Hitler about revising the Versailles Treaty or ‘degenerate culture,’ but I always thought the persecution of the Jews a grave mistake. So I never believed in the whole fasces-bundle. So I was never truly a Nazi!’ To which Evans’s book in effect retorts: During the Third Reich, you could not pick and choose between ‘rods.’ You either accepted or rejected the bundle as a whole.”

I bring up Ascherson’s description of the rods and the bundle not to compare regimes but rather to see what one political moment can tell us about another. To be a Republican in New Hampshire in 2025 is to be for all of the things I mentioned at the top of this essay. The social, cultural, political, and economic toll of that bundle is such that no one can claim liberty to choose from among the rods, now or later. 

There was a time when a Republican could declare themselves a “moderate” or a “fiscal conservative,” but times have changed in a way that disallows that luxury. All that remains is history’s clear choice: You either accept or reject the bundle as a whole.