In the past week, we saw something very remarkable. In a matter of hours, Democrats saw their chances of winning the Wisconsin Governor election jump from 40% to 77%. What changed? Did new polling numbers come out? Was there a shocking scandal? Did someone fail miserably at the debate? No, it was none of the Continue reading An Idiot s Guide to Winning Elections
“When we re done with it, we may find if it s a good novel that we re a bit different from what we were before we read it, that we have been changed a little, as if by having met a new face, crossed a street we ve never crossed before.” Ursula K. Le Guin Continue reading Art Can And Should Be Measured
I’ve increasingly been hearing people assume or claim that meritocracy and social mobility go hand-in-hand. Their argument often goes like this: This argument is extremely compelling because it is part-true. Cronyism, nepotism, and bribery will indeed reduce social mobility. However, this argument falls into the trap of thinking that the reverse is also true. That Continue reading A Perfect…
What is the human will?How does the will interact with reason?Does the will follow reason’s lead, or is the will the ultimate decider?If the will is indeed the ultimate decider, how does it go about deciding, given that reason is responsible for all analysis? These are questions that many famous historical philosophers have dedicated years Continue reading A Mathematical Model for the Human Will
The developed world is headed towards extinction. Just take a look at this table showing fertility rates across every developed nation. Of the 53 countries, only one has a fertility rate above replenishment. The average fertility rate is about 40% lower than what is needed simply for replenishment. Here in America, the average woman only Continue reading We Need Drastic Measures to Preserve…
In past articles, we have explored Election By Jury (EBJ) the idea that our political representatives (ie, mayors, governors, senators etc) should be elected by a jury in a courtroom-like setting (see here for more details). Anyone familiar with the sortition movement would notice that this idea has many parallels to a similar idea Continue reading Election By Jury vs Citizen Assemblies
Who pays the tariff? To anyone who has been following the news in the past day, this question has suddenly taken on outsized importance. With the US Government firing the opening salvos in a global trade war, we have seen in just one day: All of which begs the question: is this what voters want? Continue reading Who Pays the Tariff How Voter Ignorance Impacts Public Policy
For years, I labored under the illusion that I was the first to advocate for Election By Jury at least in the modern era. Imagine my delight when I discovered that H.G. Wells had championed the same idea and made the exact same arguments an entire century before me. To anyone who (understandably) doesn t Continue reading Election By Jury by H.G. Wells
look, whatever the {official economic} charts say is a 100% bold faced lie. have you seen the price of a little ceasars pizza? it s jumped nearly 50% in the last 4 years. my salary has not gone up 50% relative to my experiece in the last 4 years. most recently i got a salary cut. Continue reading To Save Democracy, We Need to Rebuild Trust In Our Institutions
It’s hard to imagine a more incompetent group of people than literally everyone involved in the latest election season. Let’s go down the list. Donald Trump After losing a closely fought election in 2020, the smart thing to do would have been to concede gracefully and plot a comeback for the next election season. If Continue reading 2024 American Presidential Election A Comedy of Errors