Fresno’s big chance to make lemonade!
The Human Development index is an old way of looking at how other nations are doing. It simply measures 1) Health, 2) Education, and 3) Income.
You haven’t heard about it before because the way America has graded itself in the past has been to look at the pure economics. Our nation’s take on things has been, “we’re doing fine, when our citizens are making enough money,” and “we can tell that they’re making enough money when they’re shopping enough.”
We traditionally look at consumer indexes, and try to judge consumer confidence by retail sales. Honestly, even with an A.A, a B.A, a J.D., and an M.B.A., that stuff seems so much harder to understand than the straightforward: 1) Health, 2) Education, and 3) Income measures.
It also makes sense to rate America in terms of Human Development because it’s actually the way we judge the rest of the world.
The tool is old because it has been used as an effective means of communicating Human Development abroad. Thanks to three researchers here in the U.S. we will now be looking at America with the expanded lense.
The researchers took a look at the 436 U.S. Congressional Districts. Some say it’s political for that reason, and the researchers say it’s just an effective way to look at objective data. I agree with the researchers. I love it when data comes with accountability, it makes it so much easier to do something about the stuff that makes you upset.
The 20th Congressional District ranked 436th out of 436. The 20th Congressional District includes Fresno (it includes Coalinga too–the small town I was from when I ended up in Fresno).
The very sad truth is that no matter which index you use, when you look at Fresno, particularly the 20th District, we rank dead last. [see: More LEMONS below]
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Political Side Note
This year I think politics should not be played out as usual, especially in Fresno. I’m all for working together toward progress, but now is no time for anyone on the fence to be a sell out — including me. For that reason I need to expand on my future relationship with Congressman Costa.
You may already know that the Congressman for the 20th District, Jim Costa, is an old time politician. He’s a blue dog, a member of a fiscally conservative democratic group. My hope is that he won’t be as fiscally conservative this next term. We need investments in every direction, and my take on government is that if used properly federal taxes can stimulate investment (just like it has with farmers for years), create jobs, and with some regulation provide affordable health care. It’s not rocket science, in fact other nations — yes with higher tax rates — have been spending money on education and healthcare for decades. And the ones that are really good at it even have higher incomes than us because of it. It’s a positive feedback loop!
Americans unfortunately have grown up with a strong distaste for taxes and for big government…but I don’t think it’s about the taxes as much as it is about the people running our government.
As far as the representation in the 20th District goes…
I’ve met Congressman Costa, and I hope to meet him again soon. I learned about his questionable past because people felt compelled to tell me that he was once convicted for picking up an undercover police officer that he thought was a prostitute. I have thought about his past, and did a little research on him. I think that I can work with him, without being a sell out, but it would be a little easier if we could be frank.
The next chance I get, privately (or maybe with my husband there too), I’d just like to clear the air. I don’t expect him to say “I’m sorry about that incident in 1986,” to all of the 20th District again — just to me. You see, Costa was arrested only 3 short years before I was forced into prostitution myself. I could work with him fine if we can talk about it, once. If we don’t talk about it, then I’ll always wonder if he realizes that it could have been me he picked up.
I’m lucky if I get a chance to talk to Costa. Most of us in California don’t have conversations with our representatives. I think that is the number one reason why we stand back with our hands up. We have such a distaste for politics and big government because we are rarely able to get things off our chest. (I base this partly on my visit to the politically hyper state of New Hampshire. There is unbelievable access to politicians in New Hampshire. I think I met the governor and the former governor, and the top candidate for the U.S. Senate, as well as a small fraction of the state assembly — and that was on a short three day trip without leaving the living room!).
Anyways, after I get that small matter off my chest, and the world realizes that I’m not selling out, then I think Costa and I can be well on our way to talking about the motel projects that are located in his district.
Hopefully it will happen soon and over lemonade. But I’m in no rush, I can certainly wait for the appropriate moment. In case he is wondering (or his staff) I do realize that he served his time on probation for his offense. It just seems like probation is a slap on the wrist compared to the jail time I served, when I was 12 years old and picked up on the other side of a similar street.
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Back to “THE AMERICAN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT PROJECT” — I think that this report is very SAD, depressing, almost makes you want to move away from this place and find a better place, where people have a chance in life. True poverty is nothing to celebrate, but on the other hand what good can come out of knowing we’re the poorest of the poor?
I really don’t know the answer yet, and it’s not a rhetorical question, but the reason I think something good will come out of being dead last in terms of human development is because it’s something people care about.
My take on very bad news can be summed up in a lesson I was taught when I was 15 years old. I was attending continuation high school, and I was super sad. I think I had just bombed the standardized writing test, and I was so depressed because I really wrote my heart out.
I was sitting alone kinda quiet looking at all the bad comments on my exam booklet, when Barbara, the teacher’s aid (who is now like a mom to me) walked over to my table and sat down next to me.
Barbara said to me in a very matter-of-fact way: “You’ve got to make lemonade!”
I replied: “What do you mean?”
She went on to explain because I obviously had never heard this saying before.
“When God gives you lemons you’ve got to make lemonade.” Then Barbara did the sweetest thing. She gave me a hard lemon candy to brighten up my day, and with that little Lemonhead she sealed this story in my head for life.
So what’s this all have to do with Fresno? Everything!
My first step when I’m done with this bar exam is to open up a dreamy lemonade stand, the best in town…and you know exactly where it will be. It will be in the city and in the neighborhood that has the most lemons!
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More LEMONS: Fresno is also dead last in terms of concentrated pockets of poverty. Read the Brookings Institution study. http://www.brookings.edu/speeches/2006/0906metropolitanpolicy_berube.aspx