Strategic Planning Group Fall 2023 Newsletter

The Contagion of Common Sense
is Rapidly Emerging
By Ryan Craner
Taking the client advocate and consumer protection approach, Ryan has always viewed every
client as a long-term and very important relationship.
A Look Back and Ahead. Our Society has had a Rough Three or Four Years.
When you look at our world,
our country, our cities over
the last three years, for many, it
is frightening and depressing.
In early 2020, we experienced
the largest and most devastating
pandemic in world history. We
experienced the most draconian
lockdowns, vaccine mandates,
mask mandates, and restriction
on lifestyle and commerce that
have ever been imposed on the
American public. We watched
our country descend into
incredibly divisive arguments
over how to respond to this
pandemic. Perhaps some of
these lockdowns and mandates
were necessary, and perhaps
some of them were overboard.
By the summer of 2020,
beginning with the murder of
George Floyd, we saw protests
and riots break out in nearly all
of our major cities. Some were
very violent, and some were
peaceful. All of them appeared
to involve burning buildings
and communities. Countless
businesses and residences were
destroyed, burned, or looted.
Police officers were killed and
wounded, and protesters died,
while thousands were injured.
We have seen policies coming
out of the pandemic and
protests that make absolutely no
sense. Things like, defunding the
police, no bail rules, and local
and state prosecutors that refuse
to prosecute violent crime. As
a result, we’ve seen the murder
rate and violent crime skyrocket
in nearly all of our major cities.
Local leaders and mayors have
gravitated toward a policy of
“compassion and rights” for
the homeless. This policy has
resulted in massive homeless
camps, grotesquely insanitary
conditions, and we’re witnessing
hopeless untreated mental
illness and addiction right in
front of our eyes. The policy in
the past was such that when a
mentally ill or addicted homeless
person began to sleep or camp
out on a sidewalk, local officials
would triage that person’s
needs and get them access
to mental health resources,
addiction treatment, housing
assistance, and various other
support that is already available
in our communities. Leaders in
3 Strategic Planning Group