Murphy? Guadagno? It just doesn’t matter

And now, in no particular order, an incomplete list of the problems facing New Jersey: The public employee pension disaster, high property taxes, widening wealth inequality, aging infrastructure, a public education system that favors the rich, home rule.

Should I go on? Open space, marijuana laws, the opioid epidemic, NJ Transit falling apart, affordable housing, affordable healthcare, good jobs, economic growth, general fiscal health …

These are all legitimate, major issues facing the state. Some — the pension disaster, property taxes, aging infrastructure — are top-of-the-page, A1, get-on-it-now problems. Others can wait a day or two.

But by any measure, New Jersey certainly seems to be, at best, treading water, at worst, going full Leo DiCaprio at the end of “The Titanic.”

Of course, tomorrow we’re going to elect a new governor, and all the problems will go away.

{wait for it} {wait for it} {wait for it}

No they won’t. No chance, no how, no way. There is no way Murphy or Guadagno will fix what ails this state. This is one of the reasons I came around to agree with our “NONE OF THE ABOVE” editorial from Sunday. I’ve been vacillating between the two candidates, depending on which single issue struck my fancy that day. In the end, when I go to vote tomorrow, I expect I’ll end up choosing someone else. A bit of a protest, I suppose.

But also a dash of nihilism thrown in for good measure.

Because the facts are these: The problems facing this state aren’t going away, ever. Don’t mean to be a Debbie Downer here, but really: You think the pension mess is going to be fixed? It’s impossible. Not going to happen. You think the public schools in the cities and poor districts are all of a sudden going to start churning out Ivy League material? Forget it. You think the roads are going to fix themselves? You think we’re going to become business friendly? You think your property taxes will ever go down? Come on. Stop it.

There’s only one way to fix New Jersey.

We need a dictator. A benevolent dictator, to be sure, but a dictator nonetheless. And while I’m (reasonably) confident this will never happen, it’s truly the only path I see.

I mean, if I were dictator, I’d rip the whole thing up and start over. There would be pain, but there would also be long-term fiscal health and social justice.

We’d get rid of home rule, for starters. Get rid of all the layers of government, strip it down to what’s needed, have it all flow from one source.

I’d make sure education of our students does not depend on how much money you can afford to spend on your home.

I’d fix the pension mess, and if it means some people get shortchanged, so be it.

I’d make college free. I’d legalize drugs. I’d fix the roads.

I might tax you more, I might tax you less. Not sure. Have to see how it all shakes out. I have, hopefully, 40 years or so to make it work before I pass it on to my first-born son, Ed-Jeff-un.

OK.

Obviously we’re not getting a dictator anytime soon. I promise I have no plans to storm the State House as far as you know.

So just expect more of the same, just with a different face.

But you know what the worst part is, the part that stings? We all know what the problems are. We all know we need a massive overhaul of the system. And we all know it’s never going to happen. We’re just going to continue to circle the municipal drain.

This went more nihilist than I thought it would, if I’m being honest.