1000 Words From S. Marty Pantz

True Story I: The Philadelphia Airport is a dozen miles south of downtown Philadelphia.   There is a 400-unit condominium in a suburb immediately north of Philadelphia proper.  One of the residents of this condo is retired and makes a few extra bucks driving his fellow residents to and from the airport.  His service was generally known among the condo residents, particularly those who traveled regularly.  By reputation, he is available, dependable, a safe driver and has a decent car.  He charges less than a cab would and his clientele are generally satisfied with his service.  Every trip to the airport…

In the middle of proverbial nowhere, there is a town called Widgeton.   It was so named because the town grew up around its only factory, headquarters of a family-owned business which made widgets.  Almost everyone in town either worked directly for the Widget Company or was otherwise dependent for their income on the payroll generated by the Widget Company.  Through the entire twentieth century, the Widget Company made the best widgets in the world and was concomitantly rewarded.  The company was profitable and the small Town of Widgeton thrived.      The Widget Company was a family business owned entirely by…

I read the Letters to the Editor in the daily paper.  These can be interesting observations, funny anecdotes, elaboration on a news item or political advocacy.  The only limits are those imposed by the editorial staff of the newspaper.   Many letters, however, do follow a specific template.  The writer is usually indignant about some outrage which he/she finds offensive when held up against some value or principle which is assumed to be universally accepted (or at least that which the reader finds so obviously critical that it should be universally accepted).     These letters often take this form:   How can we…

In a recent Los Angeles Times article, the Chilean leftist author Ariel Dorfman commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the election of Salvador Allende to the presidency of Chile.     A brief historical recap:  after years of effort, the Chilean left in 1970 won the presidency in a three-man race between an old-line oligarch, a centrist social democrat and socialist Allende. In such a winner-take-all contest, the margin of victory can be as slim as 34/33/33.  Allende did not do much better. With his opponents evenly split, he garnered 36% of the vote.  As he was not the centrist candidate, two-thirds…

To the detriment of the political discourse, we do not in the common parlance draw the proper distinction between rights and entitlements. The two are distinct and should not be confused.  The perennial public debate over the role of the government in the lives of individuals would be a lot clearer if the distinction between the two were properly drawn and were better understood.  RIGHTS are inherent.   Genuine rights are not granted to persons by king or country and cannot be taken from the individual. This leaves the question of what constitutes a right and who says so.   Some see rights…