Posted on by Californiacontrarian

Why Is It ?



If I am a baseball player, and need advice on hitting, I would seek counsel from a hitting coach. If I am that same baseball player, and want to learn how to paint, I would probably seek advice from a painting instructor. A prudent baseball player would not accept advice on how to improve his batting average from a painting instructor, as this would not be in the best interest of either himself nor of his baseball team. Likewise, an honest painting instructor would not think that he was qualified to give the player advice on hitting, as he has no training or expertise in that area. To me, this is all common sense! Ahh, but now to the real world.

Why is it that common sense does not seem to hold true with politicians? Why is it that someone who had earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Johns Hopkins University would think that he is qualified in the financial sphere? Why is it that the same person who in addition earned a Masters in Public Policy and Urban Planning at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government would think that he should be giving advice on which stocks to invest in? Why is it that San Diego Councilman Chris Ward feels that he should giving advice as to where the city should be investing its money? How is he any different from the painting instructor advising the baseball player how to hit a home run? The painting instructor would be doing the entire baseball team a disservice by pretending that he knew anything about hitting a curveball!  

Perhaps Mr. Ward has done something after his schooling that would qualify him to basically give financial advice to the city. Let’s review: He worked as an environmental planner at the firm EDAW, working with local government to develop land use plans and conduct environmental review, and as a researcher at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at the University of California, San Diego. None of his job experience seems to make him an expert on anything, much less an expert on where the city should invest its money! 

Does the city employ people who are highly qualified in investing and managing its money? . . . Yes, it does, and these qualified individuals are interested solely on making investments with the best possible return. That’s what they do!

Does Chris Ward realize that he is doing a disservice to the team (those of us who live in San Diego) by pretending that he is qualified to tell the city where to invest its money? Obviously not!

Why is it that he is pretending to be knowledgeable in this realm? Is it because he went to Harvard, or is it because he is a Democrat? Could it be because he is against fossil fuels, the border wall, private prisons, firearms, etc.?  Probably a combination of all three!    

Granted, I do not know Chris Ward, but I know many like him. To all of the know-it-alls, including Chris Ward, I would say, “Please MYOB, and stick to things that you actually know something about! Neither a hitting coach, nor a painting instructor, nor a money manager should you pretend to be!”

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