5 questions with ... David Higgs of Harrisburg
David Higgs III is a philosophy student at SIU Carbondale and hopes to become a teacher.
Q. President Trump got good news this week when it was reported that more than 1 million people have been added to the workforce since the start of the year. Does this affect your opinion of his performance as president?
Higgs: Trump's performance has not sped up economic growth, including growth in the job market, and it seems as if the U.S. economy is in for more of the same thing under Trump which it experienced under Obama - sluggish growth, unsuccessful attempts at fiscal and monetary experimentation, and wealth being distributed to the richest first and the poorest last.
Q. Do you believe a wall will ever be built along the Mexican border, and if so, do you think Mexico will pay for it?
Higgs: Assuming Trump follows through on any of his campaign promises, it is just as possible that a wall could happen as it is that he manages to accomplish any of his agenda with health insurance. It is possible that a wall could be built, but there is no conceivable way of making Mexico pay for it unless Trump is referring to the ring of cheap, legally ambiguous Mexican labor, in which case their exploitation could be considered a form of "payment." However, I don't find it likely that such a wall will be built because Trump has not managed to accomplish any significant part of his agenda other than briefly ruining the lives of a few Syrian refugees.
Q. What do you have to say to the governor and all Illinois legislators for failing to agree upon a budget that all parties could be happy with and now for delaying payment to school districts?
Higgs: As has long been the case in the history of capitalism, rich white men such as yourselves are ruining the lives of children. Your inability to pass a budget only attests to the inability of liberal democracy to work in the interests of the working class, and the fact that any of you are in the position that you are in attests to the privilege you have that you are now pointing like a gun at the poorest in our state. Thank you for such a clear illustration of how the system fails; perhaps it might be a wake-up call for the people under you.
Q. What do you like about this newspaper and what would you add or change if you could?
Higgs: I appreciate the way this paper serves as an open forum where people can express their views and engage in open dialogue. The only thing I would like to see changed is the extent to which this is done - the more people engaged the better!
Q. We're just a little over a week away from the solar eclipse. Would you say you are excited about the event or just ready to get it over with?
Higgs: I am very excited for the Eclipse. This is a (pun intended) "once in a blue moon" sort of thing, and I am excited to get the chance to see something this beautiful for myself.