Category Archives: Columns

Wealth tax: How else correct the plunge to oligarchy?

A recent New York Times story on Senator Warren’s proposed tax on the very wealthy notes that polls show it to be a popular idea among those it is intended to benefit. But some economists worry that a 2% tax on family wealth over $50 million(or 3% over $100 million) will remove incentives for growth. […]

October 12, 2019 – 11:30 am | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Slavery reparations: because bygones are not bygone

On a recent cross country road trip my wife and I stayed overnight in Memphis. Memphis was not our destination. We had booked an Airbnb there because it was conveniently located about halfway between Oklahoma City and Asheville. I didn’t have slavery on my mind. It had escaped my attention that reparations had once again […]

September 27, 2019 – 9:11 am | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged | Comments (0)

Local opposition to state bike path plan being ignored by leaders

Wellfleet citizens have been in a struggle with the state over a controversial plan to extend the existing Rail Trail to an already congested stretch of Route 6. The plan has been widely opposed by local citizens as dangerous as well as inconsistent with the idea of a scenic and peaceful bike trail. So it […]

September 12, 2019 – 1:42 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged | Comments (0)

Non-residents’ push for the vote: what’s at stake

Outer Cape non-resident taxpayers have clamored ever more loudly in recent years to be able to vote in the town where they own a house, as well as where they live. A recent My View by the president of the Provincetown Part-time Resident Taxpayers Association spells out the argument: to deny secondhome owners a say […]

September 3, 2019 – 12:19 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Unfriendly discourse is not our problem

“Divisiveness” has become a major, much lamented theme in the time of Trump. The recent series in this paper decrying the lack of civil discourse encouraged the idea incivility is an issue itself, a style that can be separated from the substance of such problems as racism, immigration, mass murder, etc. That incivility is itself […]

August 20, 2019 – 12:02 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged | Comments (0)

Sharks vs. humans at play: Which side are we on?

I went swimming over the weekend at the same ocean beach in Wellfleet where the young man was killed by a shark last September. I had been thinking that, given the shark situation, I could eliminate ocean swimming from my recreation menu. But it was day two of the heat wave and the lowtide 2-4 […]

August 8, 2019 – 11:07 am | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged | Comments (0)

Confusion and clarity in the healthcare debate

Surely we can do better than the confusion which characterizes the 2020 election debate over whether or not such basics as healthcare or education should be treated as a human right. Should we have our government (of, by, and for the people, right?) run our healthcare system as it runs other key parts of our […]

August 4, 2019 – 12:54 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Dem debate: swamped with virtuous candidates

There were so many qualified-seeming candidates on the two nights of the Democratic debate it was actually a relief to find one or two I didn’t find especially prepossessing. It was, to begin, a veritable orgy of diversity. Women candidates, “black” candidates,” brown” candidates, a candidate both female, black and the other sort of Indian.. […]

July 5, 2019 – 2:34 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Local life marinating in tourism contradictions

A dramatic feature of life in a tourist destination is the shifting of gears on Memorial Day. Secondhome owners and other visitors sweep into town for a hit of their favorite vacation spot, light us up for a few days, and then retreat until the real season (by which time it is hoped we will […]

June 12, 2019 – 11:51 am | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged | Comments (0)

Wellfleet Rail Trail extension being railroaded by state

This time the state seems determined to have its way with the town of Wellfleet. In 2018 the state’s highway pros came to town to present a solution to our Route 6 troubles. There have been numerous accidents, including fatalities, and we had been casting about for a remedy. The state’s answer was the radical […]

May 23, 2019 – 12:59 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged | Comments (0)