Ramblin' with Roger

You’re making decisions wrong

constraints make us better?

The opinion piece You’re Making Decisions Wrong by David Epstein REALLY spoke to me. Mr. Epstein is the author of “Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better.”

I planned a flight to visit my baby sister in Charlotte. Somehow, I booked a very early flight for my daughter and me, different from the later one my other sister had arrraged for herself, also from ALB.

Once I recognized that I couldn’t change it easily, and stopped beating myself up over it, I leaned into the error. I could have breakfast at the airport with my kid, read a week’s worth of newspapers, et al.

Epstein: “If in making decisions you are often guided by a search for the best, you are going about decision making all wrong — and you’re also probably less happy for it.” There’s a certain librarian brain I have going, in which I must find a quick and dirty way to winnow out the choices.

“In an age of information and choice abundance, we assume we can find the best of everything if we look long and hard enough. Psychologists call that tendency maximizing.” Yes, someone suggested to keep on looking for another option. Don’t wanna! Got other things to do.

“Herbert Simon, a pioneer of artificial intelligence and cognitive psychology, as well as a Nobel laureate in economics… demonstrated that for most decisions, humans can’t really evaluate the options available — there are too many, our information about them is incomplete and our minds aren’t built to weigh them all — and so we rely on mental shortcuts.”

I live for the shortcut.

When I’m watching the news, I record it and fast forward the “I don’t care” stories, the “I don’t need to know that.” Also, I was out eating lunch with my daughter, and the TV by the bar was showing a discussion about whether some player or coach should have congratulated the opponent when the player or coach’s team was down by 30-something with eight mintes left, I wasn’t watching it, but conversation among the talking heads must have lasted ten minutes. Yet I cannot tell you the teams or people involved.

Simon “coined the term ‘satisficing’ — a portmanteau of satisfy and suffice — to describe how we consider a limited set of options, then choose one that is good enough and move on to live our lives.”

When I’m asked to take on another task, my first reaction to say no. The reason I’ve done a few of those those “Moth” readings at the Madison Theatre on the last Tuesdays of the month is that the benefit of community and self-knowledge is greater than the lost of those two hours.

“Psychologists who followed up on Mr. Simon’s work have shown that his personal philosophy was both efficient and wise. Shortly after Mr. Simon’s death in 2001, a team of researchers created a maximization scale to measure where a person falls on the spectrum between maximizer and satisficer. They found that it’s usually bad to be a maximizer.”

I can find maximizers to be exhausting!

“Maximizers tend to be less satisfied with their decisions and their lives. They are typically less happy, more prone to regret and more likely to compare themselves endlessly with others. Satisficers don’t necessarily have low standards. Their standard is ‘good enough for me’ rather than ‘the best out there,’ and that makes it possible to feel satisfied with their choices, instead of haunted by the ones they didn’t make.” Regrets? I’ve had a few but mostly from an unchangable past.

“This is critical today because chronic maximizing has never been easier. In 2006 an economist calculated that the consumer options available to citizens of modern economies exceeded those of preindustrial societies roughly by a factor of 100 million. That is an almost incomprehensible multiplication of choice, and it extends well beyond consumer goods into questions of who to be, how to live, where to work and whom to love.”

There’s an hourlong video, Why Constraints Make You More Creative (Not Freedom) – David Epstein. You could watch it. Or not.

Sunday Stealing Is Artificial

Essential American songs of the last 250 years

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

Since it’s the 4th of July weekend, we’re going to keep this simple. On us all! The first question came courtesy of AI. Sunday Stealing Is Artificial.

4th of July Questions

1) If you could attend a 4th of July fireworks display anywhere in the United States, where would you choose?

I want to be somewhere with a great sightline, and not a lot of people setting off their own incendiary devices. In Albany, I used to have a great view in my former church’s parking lot on Lark Street. About 12 years ago, my daughter and I loved the view from the field behind Albany High School. But on the way home, only a half dozen blocks away, I felt as though we were going through a war zone. So, sadly, I settled for watching it on television.

2) What book are you currently reading?

Nothing. I’m doing a book review on Tuesday, July 7, at 2 pm at the Albany Public Library, 161 Washington Ave. The book is African-Americans in the Wyoming Valley, 1778-1990, by Emerson I. Moss. I picked this book because I have an ancestor, and indeed, a whole family to whom I am related, mentioned substantially in this book. Preparing a book review involves rereading, taking notes, and the like.

CCL

3) What have you been listening to?

Last week, CBS Sunday Morning offered up Essential American songs of the last 250 years. The presentation featured Sara Bareilles singing “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” made famous by Aretha, and Jon Batiste performing “Georgia On My Mind”

Here’s the Spotify roster. Lists like this always generate a certain controversy. “Where’s X? What about Y?” The missed choice I read about most was “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver. A guy named Mike Smith had a list of 15 alternatives; I totally agree with Midnight Train To Georgia, probably 16 Tons, and El Paso.

4) What shows or movies have you been watching?

I finally watched Idiocracy, an absurd 2006 film which is becoming more believable by the year. “Corporal Joe Bauers, a decidedly average American, is selected for a top-secret hibernation program but is forgotten and left to awaken to a future so incredibly moronic that he’s easily the most intelligent person alive.” Will stupidity win out? One fan on Rotten Tomatoes wrote: “The most prophetic movie ever created. It predicted Trump’s America in an amazingly accurate and satirical way!”

My wife and I are FINALLY watching The American Revolution. We’re 2/6 of the way through the Ken Burns documentary. It’s amazing how little we knew about the period between Lexington/Concord/Bunker Hill and July 1776.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

4th of July music

Independence Day tunes

I had this apparently reckless idea to put together 4th of July music. What does that even mean?

I thought I’d start with songs that had 4th of July, or Fourth of July, in the title. But I had not realized that there were approximately 1.3 gazillion of them.

So I’m going to hit a random sampling of them. They are quite varied in genre. Relatively few of them would be considered patriotic. Only three I was aware of before: X, Pete Droge, and U2.

Soundgarden

Old Sea Brigade

X or Dave Alvin or The Bronx –

Pete Droge

Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers

Aimee Mann

Sweet

Keel

Shooter Jennings

Mariah Carey

Robert Earl Keen

Then there are the variations; yes, I knew Springsteen.

Kelis – 4th of July (Fireworks)

4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) – Bruce Springsteen

Jason Anderson – July 4, 2004

Here’s the first song I thought of:

Saturday In The Park – Chicago

Then I discovered a bunch of songs called “Independence Day”-again, a variety of cuts. I knew Springsteen and Byrne.

Bruce Springsteen

David Byrne

Martina McBride

Ani DeFranco

Elliot Smith Imani Coppola

Too $hort with Keith Murray

Here are a couple of national songs I own:

American Girl – Tom Petty

U.S. Blues – Grateful Dead

Someone recommended this one; I liked it quite a bit:

Hollywood – Marina and the Diamonds

I decided I should have a version of the national anthem. Hendrix is the obvious choice. So, I decided on a version by a band I’d heard of, but not their version.

Boston – The Star Spangled Banner / 4th of July Reprise

Finally, I came across this hour-long 🇺🇸 Patriotic Music Playlist. I’ll admit to enjoying some instrumental pieces by military bands.

I am a 1956 Republican

“unimpeachable ethical standards and irreproachable personal conduct by all people in government.”

Reading Heather Cox Richardson’s column of June 26, 2026, I realized I am a 1956 Republican.

In 1956, the Republican Party platform approvingly quoted “the great truth first spoken by Abraham Lincoln” that “[t]he legitimate object of Government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do, for themselves in their separate and individual capacities. But in all that people can individually do as well for themselves, Government ought not to interfere.”

The 2026 government DOGEs its way to harming its citizens. The top 1% of households in the U.S. own 31.7% of all U.S. wealth. So the wealthiest 1% held roughly as much in assets as the bottom 90% of Americans combined.

The platform went on to affirm the party’s determination “that our children and their children, without distinction because of race, creed or color, may know the blessings of our free land.”

The assault on diversity and equity continues largely unabated.

It called for “unimpeachable ethical standards and irreproachable personal conduct by all people in government.” Honesty was “an indispensable requirement of public service,” party officials said.

FOTUS and his friends. What else needs to be said?

Basic human needs

The Republicans of 1956 also said they were “proud of and shall continue our far-reaching and sound advances in matters of basic human needs—expansion of social security—broadened coverage in unemployment insurance—improved housing—and better health protection for all our people. We are determined that our government remain warmly responsive to the urgent social and economic problems of our people.”

A housing bill was actually passed by this Congress, but held hostage by FOTUS. Fixing Social Security by raising the earnings cap—which stands at $184,500 in 2026—would address the potential crisis in 2032, when benefits would otherwise be slashed by about 20%.

They called for helping foreign countries strengthen their economies and supported “U.S. participation in an international fund for economic development.” “We shall continue,” they said, “vigorously to support the United Nations” and to maintain U.S. military strength “as a deterrent to aggression and as a guardian of the peace…for these objectives only.”

That has been slashed.

Then the Republican Party platform addressed the needs of workers. Quoting President Dwight D. Eisenhower, it said: “Labor is the United States. The men and women who, with their minds, their hearts and hands, create the wealth that is shared in this country—they are America.”

Support the workers!

The platform noted that Republicans had worked to raise the minimum wage and expand Social Security, unemployment, workers’ compensation, and retirement benefits. They supported the growth of labor unions and collective bargaining.

The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 since 2009.

They would, they said, “continue to fight for dynamic and progressive programs which, among other things, will: [s]timulate improved job safety of our workers; [c]ontinue and further perfect its programs of assistance to the millions of workers with special employment problems, such as older workers, handicapped workers, members of minority groups, and migratory workers;…improve the effectiveness of the unemployment insurance system;…[a]ssure equal pay for equal work regardless of Sex;” extend minimum wage laws; [c]ontinue to fight for the elimination of discrimination in employment because of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry or sex;” and “[p]rovide assistance to improve the economic conditions of areas faced with persistent and substantial unemployment.”

“The Republican Party believes that the physical, mental, and spiritual well-being of the people is as important as their economic health,” the platform said. “It will continue to support this conviction with vigorous action.”

I would DEFINITELY vote for these 1956 Republicans! Kenneth Keating was a House member and later Senator from New York who was “influential in passing the Civil Rights Act of 1957.” Jacob Javits, Republican senator from New York from 1957 to 1981… championed the rights of the average American, often supporting federal spending on health care, education, housing, and the arts and humanities.” Both men would be instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964.

Their 2026 counterparts? Based on what I’ve seen, I wouldn’t consider any of them at all. FOTUS called the high court’s ruling on birthright citizenship “too bad,” but said “Congress can ‘easily’ pass legislation on the matter. In the wake of the ruling, multiple GOP lawmakers backed legislative changes to birthright citizenship.” Fortunately, they are likely to need a constitutional amendment.

Collections

FantaCo?

Recently, Chuck Miller wrote: “I’m sure you have unique collections of objects in your own personal life.

“I’d like to hear what those are. That’s why I have a comments section.

“Let me know what your collections include and why those objects bring you joy.”

As I contemplate the question, I wonder what constitutes a “collection.” And of course, I’ll post it here, because, you know, I need content.

In rough chronological order:

Stamps – my great-aunt Deana gave me a book of stamps from around the world, which I still have. For a time at FantaCo in the 1980s, I’d tear off the interesting stamps we received. But I never committed to it.

Coins – back in 2009, I wrote about why I hadn’t collected the state quarters released from 1999 to 2009, because my childhood collection had been stolen. Yet eventually, I DID collect not only the state coins but also the Presidential dollars.

Still, I lost interest in the America the Beautiful coins, in part because I couldn’t feel the rhythm. The states were in the order in which they entered the Union. Presidents were, of course, by their time in office.

Not incidentally, there wasn’t a Jimmy Carter presidential coin in that series because 39 still alive. (The notion that we have a $250 bill with FOTUS on the face was absurd, and Scott Bessent’s defense of same was disingenuous.)

Baseball cards – I had a collection that was stolen from my grandmother’s house in the 1970s. I dabbled subsequently, but I had no heart in it.

Yugoslavia

Maps – my grandfather Mac had a subscription to National Geographic, and they usually contained maps, which he would give to me. This stopped shortly after I went to college, but I STILL have them. Maps are like automobiles: they go from being out of date to being antiques.

LPs – that I still have, except for the ones stolen from grandma’s place, but I haven’t added to it.

Books – is it a collection, or do I just acquire them? And what does that mean? I will note that within the collection is a shelf of hymnals, possibly not enough to be a “collection” as such.

Comic books – I definitely had a collection from 1972 to 1994, when I sold it for about $1000 because I had no real income. The comic material I still have is books of Marvel comics, Swamp Thing, and the like.

Compact discs – I make an effort to play all of them at least once a year.

Hess trucks – I’m still getting them.

Ultimately

If I have anything approaching a collection, I suppose it’s from FantaCo, the comic book/convention/mail-order/publishing place I worked at from 1980 to 1988. I have all of the publications that came out. But I also kept the newspaper clippings, T-shirts, even my little Rolodex. That thing had names of comic book distributors, writers, and artists; it practically tells a story.

Moreover, I have hundreds of photos from that time: everyone from the staff to customers to artist/writer signings to our UPS guy and merchants on our street, including World’s Records when it was at 22 Central Avenue.

The Young Rascals – Collections – Full album – 1967. Playlist. The second Rascals album and the second one I owned, after Groovin’, the third album. My favorite song on the album: Love Is A Beautiful Thing.