Chesterton’s Fence Sitter

People call Kamala Harris by her first name "Kamala" because "Kamala" is a more distinctive first name than "Harris" as a last name.

People call Donald Trump by his last name "Trump" because "Trump" is more distinctive than "Donald". Whereas people call Donald Trump Junior by the name "Don Jr" because it makes him more distinctive from his father "Trump".

Hillary Clinton has the more distinctive last name of "Clinton" but because her previously more relevant husband was also "Clinton" she has to be distinguished from him by saying either "Hillary Clinton" or "Hillary".

With the opposite gender though - if I say the name Shelley, you'll probably think of the female writer Mary Shelley because she's more well known than her husband Percy Shelley. In this case, "Shelley" becomes the default to refer to Mary Shelley, and her husband has to be distinguished with "Percy Shelley" or "Percy." I have never seen anyone refer to Mary Shelley as just "Mary." I think it's because it's too common of a name and therefore not distinctive enough compared to "Shelley".

Comparatively, I've never heard Jane Austen referred to as "Jane." Only "Austen" because "Austen" is the more distinctive of the two names. And there's no need to distinguish her from any other Austen.

When it comes to Octavia Butler, I think Octavia is far less common of a first name than Butler as a last name, which makes Octavia more distinctive.

Those lawn mowing jobs would typically be done by high school or college age students for a few years and then they would get another job someplace else and it that job would open up to another young person looking to get their first job.

When migrants come in they stay in these jobs forever.

Those young Americans don’t get the job that’s permanently taken by the migrant, and it delays or otherwise impedes their ability to enter the job market because an entry level job is no longer available.

I'll admit it — sometimes I get so locked in on deconstructing fake narratives that I walk right past the obvious.

Today I broke down Governor Mike DeWine's argument that businesses need the labor — the same justification we've heard for years to excuse what shouldn't be excused. Never mind that the President acted lawfully on TPS and the Supreme Court backed him up.

But a follower spotted the gold nugget I stepped over: DeWine says the Haitians bought houses. Meanwhile, young Ohioans — young Americans — can't afford one. So the fair question is simple: what made that possible, and what role did taxpayer dollars play?

That.

Said it before, will say it again: Oppression is bad because it does harm.

Harmful things are not only bad when they are oppressive.