Auchtoon!

This week I had to cancel an evening basketball game because of the unhealthy air conditions caused by the wildfires in Canada. It was the right thing to do, but still I was disappointed and a little bit angry. And if the recent pandemic had taught us nothing else, it’s that anger must always be directed toward something.

So naturally I blamed the Canadians. What is wrong with those idiots? Why can’t they control their damn wildfires? I’ve been inconvenienced, and I will need to speak with their manager!

But then I realized that we are coming up on Independence Day weekend where it is an American tradition to inconvenience each other ad nauseam with fireworks. I wonder if all that smoke and noise is ever annoying to our Canadian neighbors?

It probably is, and the whole wildfire situation is likely much more complex than I imagine, so I really shouldn’t act like I know more than I do (even if the pandemic also taught us that it’s perfectly fine to do that).

If I were Dan Gilbert and Rocket Mortgage, I’d be more than a little upset. Here they have invested a lot of time, money, and effort into being a good corporate citizen, particularly in Detroit. As the lead sponsor of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, an annual Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) tour event at the Detroit Golf Club, Rocket Mortgage has brought considerable esteem and economic benefit to an often maligned community. But it seems no good deed goes unpunished.

Because in a stunning move, the PGA — after furiously battling new rival LIV Golf and its Saudi Arabia Sovereign Wealth Fund money fountain — suddenly and unilaterally declared a merger with its self same evil enemy. Didn’t ask its players, didn’t ask its sponsors. Just did it.

It’s clear that the Saudi government is using its enormous reserves of oil money to buy into a popular sport like golf in an effort to improve its public image, a practice known as “sportswashing.” It’s nothing new — buying the rights to host the Olympics and World Cups have been very popular among authoritarian regimes for years. It’s just a little unsettling to see how quickly (and with no regard for others) that the PGA caved.

Side note for those in my demographic (middle-aged guys): Yes, I know I missed a golden opportunity to make a Caddyshack reference: “Pick up that blood!” But as hard as it is to believe, not everybody has an encyclopedic knowledge of that movie. (So you’ll get nothing and like it!)

Back in 2019 when Michigan’s auto insurance reform was signed into law, I didn’t have much confidence in the deal’s chances of success, in spite of all the self-congratulations going on. In fact, the analogy I used in my cartoon was that of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain circa 1938 returning from Munich — I had Governor Whitmer holding a signed agreement and declaring “I believe it is lower auto insurance rates for our time!”

I recall getting less than positive feedback from readers — it’s overwrought, it misses the mark, it’s stupid. Well, I don’t ever try to change people’s minds about what they consider stupid, but I can say now that I don’t think I was embellishing and it does in fact hit the mark.

Michiganders are not experiencing significant savings. But much worse, those who have been critically injured in auto accidents have seen their care system implode and have been left in a limbo of wondering whether they even qualify now for minimal care. Thousands are in a spiral of financial ruin and diminished lifespans.

Also, I stand by my earlier assessment that the Nazi villain in this case is not insurance companies or medical providers or trial lawyers or even politicians (directly, anyway), but our health care system. Proper health care should not depend on auto insurance or the options you happen to chose. It should be universally and affordably available, full stop.

Lots of talk in the past week about Michigan’s stagnate population. The focus has typically been on the hollowing out of certain industrial cities — Detroit, Flint, Muskegon, etc. But rural areas have suffered, too. Maybe even more. Because when the population leaves smaller towns and villages, there is a real danger of them ceasing to exist.

It’s a shame that our county’s fear-driven immigration policies continue to actively prevent what could be a key part of a solution — people motivated to come here and grow communities. Just as past waves of immigrants have done.

One of the topics at the Mackinac Island Policy Conference this week was on the shortage of affordable housing here in Michigan. And there was a Stateside segment specifically about that problem Up North. It’s certainly not a new issue — more of a chronic situation — and with a lack of easy answers.

All age groups suffer with this, but it creates particular difficulties for younger people. Home ownership has traditionally been an accessible way to build wealth in this country. But you can’t build that real estate wealth if you are never able to get started.

Sure, each generation has their challenges. But also each generation has their responsibilities. Like making the world a better place. And the generations currently in charge seem to be falling short of that, which is not so helpful to the next generations.

Side Note: Didn’t realize it till I finished drawing the cartoon, but I lifted the whole setup (especially two characters talking behind a brick wall) directly from Peanuts. Let’s just agree I was honoring Charles Schultz and a previous generation.