Deep Something

Some Things Should Not Be Run for Profit

September 15, 2026 B. John 177 Views 0 Comments public good, School Choice, Florida Schools, Education Funding, Educational Equity, School Vouchers, Public Education, education policy

This entry is in the series Education

What if the biggest mistake in Florida’s education debate is assuming schools should work like ordinary businesses?

Markets reward efficiency, control costs, and give consumers choices. Public education has a different job. It has to serve every child, including the student who needs far more support, the student who needs advanced opportunities, and the student whose family could never afford to buy those services on its own.

That is why I think the debate over vouchers and school choice has to go deeper than whether competition can improve some outcomes. The real question is whether K-12 education should be organized around market incentives at all.

In this essay, I look at what happens when we confuse efficiency with public duty, and why some things may work better when the goal is not profit, but making sure everyone is served.

AI Image of choice schools and State Constitution

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When “School Choice” Stops Meaning Public Education

September 13, 2026September 13, 2026 B. John 181 Views 0 Comments Public Education, Public Schools, School Choice, Florida Schools, Education Funding, Educational Equity, Education Vouchers, Henry Mack

This entry is in the series Education

Florida’s new Education Commissioner has said the state does not need to run schools at all. That raises a question that goes well beyond vouchers: what happens when “school choice” starts replacing the idea of public education itself?

Florida’s Constitution requires a system of free public schools. Yet an $8,000 voucher does not guarantee admission, does not guarantee a free education, and means something very different to a family that can add another $30,000 than it does to one that cannot. That is why the slogan “fund the student” leaves out so much.

At our Voices of Justice: Speak Up for Students program earlier this year, USF education policy professor Dr. Bill Black asked a simple question: “What is public in public education?” With Florida moving further toward publicly funded private education, that question deserves a much closer look.

Business Economy Featured Politics Stoicism

What We Owe the Worker

September 7, 2026 B. John 196 Views 0 Comments justice, labor rights, common good, unions, Labor Day, dignity of work, Workers, Stoicism

This entry is in the series Journey Through Stoicism

People often see Labor Day as just the end of summer, but its history asks us to remember something more. The day began with workers fighting for safer workplaces, better pay, reasonable hours, and the right to organize. Those fights were never only about economics. They were about dignity.

The Stoics didn’t write about labor rights as we know them, but they believed strongly in justice, cooperation, and the common good. Marcus Aurelius reminded himself that people are meant to work together, and that harm to the community eventually harms everyone. This idea matters now, when many workers still have little control over their pay, safety, schedules, or ability to organize.

This Labor Day, let’s consider what Stoicism can still teach us about work, the value of workers, and what we owe each other in a society that says it honors labor.

Stoicism Business Economy Featured Religion Society

What Is the Money For?

August 25, 2026 B. John 178 Views 0 Comments moral responsibility, billionaire wealth, billionaire philanthropy, generosity, economic inequality, Jeff Bezos, Andrew Carnegie, public good, wealth and power

This entry is in the series The Stoics

A single mother stops at a traffic light and hands five dollars to a homeless person. Jeff Bezos pledges $10 billion to fight climate change. Bezos will accomplish far more with his gift. Yet the mother may have given up something she needed.

That distinction sits at the heart of my latest essay. The world’s richest people possess more money than they could spend across several lifetimes. Their fortunes keep growing while the planet warms, public institutions weaken, and millions struggle to survive. Their philanthropy does useful work, though it rarely costs them any comfort or power.

So what is all the remaining money for? The answer takes us through the Gilded Age, the widow’s offering, other religious traditions, private bunkers, life extension, and the strange belief that enough wealth can free someone from the fate shared by every human being.

Business Television Economy Featured Media Politics Constitution Legislature

Marva Johnson-Spectrum Douche Bag of the Day

December 8, 2017September 29, 2018 B. John 2538 Views 1 Comment Marva Johnson, Spectrum, Charter Communications, Public Education, Religious Schools

This entry is in the series Daily Douche-Bag

Marva Johnson. Here’s a name you may not know, but you’d better learn who she is, and what here (and apparently her employer’s) agenda is for public education. She also is chair of the Florida State Board of Education, appointed by Gov. Rick Scott in 2014. In addition, In March, the governor appointed her to the 37-member statewide Constitutional Revision Commission.

Business Economy Politics Congress

H-1B Visas – The Joke’s On Us

June 16, 2017September 29, 2018 B. John 2154 Views 0 Comments Chuck Grassley, Visas, Immigration, Department of Labor, H-1B, Temporary Worker

Recently, I caught a story of an IT firm in Iowa that posted an advertisement for an H1-B only person. The ad by American Technology Consulting, posted to the recruiting website ZipRecruiter, sought a java developer to work in San Diego. Initially, it stated “H1B Only,” but has now been changed. This seems to bring home something I’ve seen frequently, and that is a perceived abuse of the H1-B program. I say perceived, because the law has changed so much people who passed it in 1952 wouldn’t recognize it.

Business Economy Featured

More Nissan Issues

June 3, 2017September 29, 2018 B. John 1390 Views 7 Comments #richardphelps, #courtesynissan, #Nissan, #Rogue

I’ve posted before about the unusually high number of issues I’ve had with my supposedly New 2016 Nissan Rogue. Since purchasing, they’ve had to make a number of significant repairs including, replacing one of the power lift gate cylinders, the steering column, three replacements of seat trim piece that keep braking, and those are the major items. If you’ve been following, you’ll also know my experience with Courtesy Nissan here in Tampa hasn’t been good.

Technology Hardware General Business Economy

Hybrid Standup Desk

September 30, 2016September 29, 2018 B. John 1647 Views 15 Comments DVT, Thrombosis, Standing Desk, Laptop Desk, Amazon

Some of you may know I had a bit of DVT scare (deep vein thrombosis) over Labor Day weekend, and spent 5 hours that Monday in the ER waiting on an ultra-sound. While there wasn’t a clot, it scared me enough to think about how much I sit at the desk and the problems that causes.

General Business Economy

UPS – Douche Bag of the Day Award Winner

September 15, 2016September 29, 2018 B. John 1391 Views 4 Comments Amazon, UPS, Delivery Services

I don’t normally have a problem with UPS, but when things go wrong, they really go wrong. The latest is a new desk chair I ordered via Amazon. The chair, due to size and weight I assume, comes only via standard ground, but that was fine. Shipped a day or two sooner than promised, and actually arrived a couple of days sooner.

Business Economy Featured

Why Increase the Minimum Wage?

August 8, 2016September 29, 2018 B. John 950 Views 0 Comments School Supplies, Minimum Wage

School starts in Pinellas County this weekend where the nieces go to school. This was the shortened tax-free weekend, so continuing a long-standing tradition, me and Lay took the girls shopping for their school supplies. We’re not rich, but compared to many others, we’re certainly comfortable. However, on the way home we got into a discussion, when Lay asked, “How do people making at or near the minimum wage take care of kids?” I did some quick math in my head, and realized that a person making around $8.00/hour would have to work nearly four hours (half a work day), when you account for taxes, to pay for the school supplies for just one child.

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Righteous Bigots Afraid to Own Their Bigotry

March 16, 2015September 29, 2018 B. John 1562 Views 1 Comment bigotry, Oklahoma, Chuck Strohm, Christianists, Emily Virgin, religious liberty

This entry is in the series Gay Marriage

We’re starting to see the backlash against LGBTQ people as the likelihood of nationwide marriage equality increases, and LGBTQ people achiever equality under the law. One of the main ways the Christianists are trying to keep us in our place, is to pass these bogus, and clearly unconstitutional, religious liberty bills. We saw how cowardly they are in Oklahoma this week.

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