I recently ran into my old friend Gary and have since been discussing everything in the world with him. We remember growing up in Chautauqua County, and it was a great place to be. We had family farms and industry and businesses. Dunkirk and Jamestown were little economic power houses.

Sixty years ago, we still had a good education system. Churches were alive, and life centered around family and friends. Kids played sandlot football and survived without adult supervision. We went hunting and fishing and went parking with our favorite squeeze. It was a great place to grow up.

But our discussions always lead back to “How did it go so wrong in New York state?” It seems we are living inside a dystopian novel like “1984” or “Atlas Shrugged.”

Our public schools now rank near the bottom in the world — yet are the most expensive. Florida spends half as much as we do but gets better results. Many of our kids have to leave New York to find jobs (unless they work for social services). Yet people still demand free stuff, as if it magically appears out of thin air. Criminals are given a get-out-of-jail-free card and do it again – especially if they are illegal aliens in the state.

We laugh at Albany’s latest brainchild: We won’t be able to say “Mother” and “Father” legally. Mother and Father have been replaced by “Gestating Parent” and “Non-Gestating Parent” in order to sound more “inclusive.” Seriously?

Sadly, our taxes pay state legislators to dream-up such nonsense. Don’t our legislators have anything more important to do? Let’s not worry about the impending energy crisis in NY caused by Albany energy policies — not when we can eliminate Mom and Dad from the legal lexicon!

Then we laugh: What do we call a biological female who identifies as a man but somehow gets pregnant. Is a pregnant trans-man now referred to as the “Gestating Non-Gestating” parent? Bring on the lawyers!

Our laughter is followed by grim reality. NY Prop 1 Part B gave the State the power to take kids from parents if the parents don’t go along with the demands of an 8-year-old to go through gender mutilation, in spite of the WPATH studies (look it up) showing how disastrous most transitions are. Remember Chloe Cole?

We incredulously ask: Shouldn’t “Gender Affirming Care” affirm a person’s natural biology, rather than prolonging an emotional delusion over a lifetime of drugs and psychotherapy?

Our conversation moves to the recent admission that Climate Doom has always been a fraud – but we knew that. Al Gore scheduled the end of the world for 2020, before AOC rescheduled the end for 2030. Whew! But that fraud cost us $79 billion for un-renewable “renewables” that makes our Grid less reliable and will make our electricity 4 times more expensive – while having no effect on climate. In 20 years, that “investment” will become a very expensive “landfill”, and we will pay again to bury it.

Did the Climate Doomers really believe we could overpower the forces of nature?

We wonder how Albany came up with ludicrous mandates like EV school buses, electric heat for new construction, and Net-Zero, while killing our best Nuclear plant. Comedian Ron White was right – “you can’t fix stupid”.

Gary interrupts our laughter, noting that New York state is still subsidizing Wind/Solar/Battery farms, even after the climate fraud has been exposed. Worse – our local governments are not protecting us. Most are selling us out to Big Wind and Big Solar. We mow-down perfectly good forests and destroy quality farmland to install $Billions in economically destructive Wind/Solar/BESS.

Then a thought: If New York City Dems want Solar power, why not put it in Central Park where they can see their handiwork in action!

The conversation turns to the state budget, where the Wizards of Smart in Albany decided we need “affordability monitors” for electricity. Seriously? The State mandates the use of economically ruinous Wind/Solar/BESS, and dictates the price Utilities must pay for it. Did Albany get a lobotomy? Its left hand does not know what the right hand is doing!

But the gold standard of stupid is still the Athenex debacle. State taxes, regulations, and energy costs were/are chasing industry out of the State, so the Albany Wizards of Smart decided to waste $200 Million more of our tax money to coax Athenex to come here. The building is still vacant, Athenex is in bankruptcy, ImmunityBio has no use for it, and welfare is still our biggest industry. Excelsior!

Gary then tells me he’d like to move out of the state, but his house is worth very little because so many people are already fleeing New York. Gary – who is retired – is trapped and can’t afford to move away.

Now that is social justice, New York style!

Michael Dee is a Silver Creek resident and Scott Axelson resides in Jamestown.