social justice
How do you avoid violent redistribution of wealth?: The Story
The shaking off of burdens In 594 BCE, Athens was tearing itself apart. Debt had turned free farmers into serfs. The city elected Solon as archon with extraordinary powers and he did something no ruling class has voluntarily repeated at scale since: he canceled the debts.... Is moral progress real?: Power analysts
Six words the celebrations skipped January 31, 1865. The House passed the Thirteenth Amendment. The galleries erupted. One hundred fifty years later, the documentary 13th opened with the amendment’s text and held on six words: "except as a punishment for crime." Convict leasing... Great charts on polarization and echo-chambers in the USA. Six-Chart Sunday – Where You Sit Is Where You Stand - by some guy named Bruce Mehlman on Substack
- 90% of Republicans approved of President Trump’s job performance mid-April (~85 days in), tied for the highest own party approval at this point in the term per Hart Research.
- Much partisan difference in approval of / confidence in presidents results from getting news from different sources
- We wildly mis-estimate the views of those in the other party. As a result of partisan media, online echo-chambers, and demagogic politicians in both parties, we have very inaccurate understandings of the viewpoints of those on the other side.
Some opinions are just wrong. Homophobia, transphobia, sexism, racism, and bigotry are not political issues. They're moral issues. Simply shouting "echo chamber" and insisting that moral people agree with your immorality in the name of 'unity' does not constitute an echo chamber... May I see Your ID Please. AT the top,l et me say I pride myself as being what I call a common sense Centrist, I think good governance is good governance simple as that. I think Its Good for Gvt to defend our country, pave our roads, help people recover from disaster, provide Limited help to people who need ot be lifted out of poverty. You get the picture. NOT good for GVT; tell me what books I can read, installing religious beliefs in schools, basically stay out of my Beliefs.
Hopefully that qualifies me as a reasonable common sense human.
Having said that, Lets try this.
Some form of Identification requirement for Voting is not such a horribe Idea.
Some support for my Argument.
If I want to FLY, I must provide a Gvt issued ID
If I want to Operate a Motor Vehicle- I MUST have the GVT Issued License.
If I want to go to the library I need a "card" to do So.
If I buy Tickets for a Show and go to Willcall to get the tix. I need to Provide ID.
The Left says that VOTER ID would discourage Some from Voting. The Rght says that attitude Proves that the Democrat leaders encourage Voter Fraud AND those fraudulent voters ALWAYS vote Democratic. There is NO evidence tthat actually Happens in any organized way. And, Who are these people that want to Vote Illegally, How many of them are out there. Enough to change the outcome of elections? Im a cynic on that Idea.
Im Saying it's time to Put this debate to bed. Provide a State Issued Voter ID.
In NJ The Motor Vehicle Comission Issues the "REAL ID". It has deep proof of who I am. If the GVT trusts that and will let me get on a Plane, It seems to me that should Qualify as a way to verify I have a verified way to Vote.
I have seen a "counter" to this argument. Providing ID is all good and well. If it's the requirement, make it free and more accessible. Some portions of the populace don't live near a DMV, and don't have the means to travel to one.... An Open Letter to the Men and Women of ICE and DHS To the agents, officers, and staff serving under Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security: We write not in accusation, but in concern.... If people cannot change the commodities society depends on, then protest alone will never produce lasting change.
Protest is good at signaling pain.
It is not designed to reroute capital.That’s not a moral judgment. It’s a structural one.
Modern power does not primarily respond to outrage. It responds to demand signals, procurement contracts, financing structures, and commodity dependency. As long as the same materials flow through the same systems, the same outcomes repeat, regardless of who is in office or what slogans trend.
This is why so many movements burn hot and fade.
They change language, but not inputs.
They change narratives, but not supply chains.
They raise awareness, but leave money flowing exactly where it always has.Real change begins when money moves differently.
Jobs follow commodities.
Communities follow jobs.
Political behavior follows economic reality.My work focuses on building that missing middle layer, where social intention becomes economic participation. Through platforms like nowweevolve.com and thebioeconomyfoundation.org, I’m working on redirecting consumer demand, public funding, and private capital toward regenerative materials and domestic production systems that create real work, especially in rural communities.
This isn’t anti-protest. It’s post-protest.
If we want durable change, we have to give people a way to participate economically in the solution. Not just speak, but buy, build, fund, and work their way into a different system.
Social change scales when money flow changes.
Everything else is commentary.Love this framing of protest as a signal of pain rather than a lever that actually reroutes capital flows. It lines up a lot with how I think about discrimination and opportunity: if we never touch the institutional and structural incentives underneath, the same systems keep... Good evening potential troublemakers!
Good evening to those crazy enough to think they can change the world, and stupid enough to try! For us? We think taking Mass transit into Arlington, Texas to see a Baseball of Football Game is inevitable and the Vision 34 Corridor was created for that purpose.... Austin's Proposition Q - A misleading text that really grinds my gears. I've received multiple texts from various groups with this language:
We can debate the merits of Proposition Q separately; what I am worked up about is the absolutely false language about "Trump cuts" to city services like fire, EMS, parks, etc. The federal government doesn't fund municipal services*. The federal government shouldn't fund municipal services, and in fact our fire, EMS, and police being independent of the federal government is a fundamental part of states' rights or how our government is intentionally structured. EVEN if I don't support defunding the police, it was absolutely within Austin's right to do so, and that had nothing to do with federal funding.
*there are grants that impact some of these services, like the transportation grant Trump did cancel that would include parks over the new I-35, but that is not fundamentally a park funding grant.
can you say more? Maybe about how you currently protect yourself from systemic bigotry? I dont think i fully understand the question bc it seems like a great idea to protect yourself from systemic bigotry, regardless of whether you're seeing the world as villains and heros or... Economic Class is the biggest discrimination factor today?
Back in my 20s, I used to read Paul Graham and bought into the whole entrepreneur is a magical wizard that takes disproportionate risks and deserves all the wealth and equity they receive. But, that assumed a good social safety net and level playing field.... Help. I've been contemplating non-violence and us-vs-them and many people I admire here say that's the way to go. The Texas Supreme Court just ruled that judges can deny gay couples marriages today.
Help. Please tell me how to grieve. I never see you guys hate online. Is it weird that I don't feel loved when I just see silence on these issues?
on the object level, the fact that anyone thinks we need this ruling is eye opening for me on the illusion of 'progress' i was living under. i imagine steelman libertarian counterarguments in my head, but they don't hold up when i get into the details (how much government is... (Alignment of "Us"- Excerpt #159 from an epistolary I'm releasing next year)
Dear Johan, A great example of alignment is when someone knows that I love them even when, in the moment, I can’t feel it. A great example of alignment is when what I do, when I’m not trying to signal, signals to the other person that I love them.... “When discourse ends, violence begins,”. From the Small Stage to Center Stage
Kirk co-founded Turning Point USA when he was just 18 years old. What started as a small group of like-minded college students grew into one of the most influential youth movements in the United States.
Kirk traveled from campus to campus, never shying away from hard questions or loud opposition. For him, the university wasn’t a battlefield — it was a classroom where young minds could (and, more importantly, should) wrestle with ideas, disagree passionately, and still walk out the door as neighbors.
“When discourse ends, violence begins,” Kirk was fond of saying.
Charlie Kirk’s Legacy
Kirk’s death is a painful reminder that when we equate one’s political opinions with their morality, we undermine our own. When we stop listening to each other and focus solely on our differences, we lose sight of all we have in common.
America was built by people of different cultures, faiths, and colors who believed that we could live in harmony and even prosper, not because we agree on everything, but because freedom allows us to be the best version of ourselves.
That is what Charlie Kirk fought for — and what he died for.
Today, Kirk’s voice was silenced — but his message endures.
May he rest in peace.
- The Wellness Company
"when discourse ends violence begins". True *and* Charlie Kirk did not defend discourse. He defended policies that normalized state violence and eroded due process. He praised military crackdowns in U.S.... “When discourse ends, violence begins,”. From the Small Stage to Center Stage
Kirk co-founded Turning Point USA when he was just 18 years old. What started as a small group of like-minded college students grew into one of the most influential youth movements in the United States.
Kirk traveled from campus to campus, never shying away from hard questions or loud opposition. For him, the university wasn’t a battlefield — it was a classroom where young minds could (and, more importantly, should) wrestle with ideas, disagree passionately, and still walk out the door as neighbors.
“When discourse ends, violence begins,” Kirk was fond of saying.
Charlie Kirk’s Legacy
Kirk’s death is a painful reminder that when we equate one’s political opinions with their morality, we undermine our own. When we stop listening to each other and focus solely on our differences, we lose sight of all we have in common.
America was built by people of different cultures, faiths, and colors who believed that we could live in harmony and even prosper, not because we agree on everything, but because freedom allows us to be the best version of ourselves.
That is what Charlie Kirk fought for — and what he died for.
Today, Kirk’s voice was silenced — but his message endures.
May he rest in peace.
- The Wellness Company
I didn't know anything about Charlie Kirk and the policies he advocated, but I know that we cannot have a society we love without due process in determining someone's guilt and punishment, and we are very very unlikely to have a society we love without freedom of speech.... Keep up the racist statues, but add whips to them
I don't know if this is still happening, but a few years ago a bunch of statues got replaced because they were of people whose ethics don't match our what our society currently thinks is OK. Our new ethics is a vast improvement—slavery is abhorrent.... What if Tariffs Are a Good Thing? I was surprised to find that this podcast made me wonder whether tariffs would actually be really good for the US economy and, more importantly, for midd-class American people.
With all the raging about how awful Trump is, it's been very hard to find any thoughtful analysis about which parts of his policies might actually be beneficial for Americans.
In this podcast, Ross Douthat (NYT) interviews Oren Cass, the Founder and Chief Economist at American Compass, a conservative think tank. Oren makes a really good case for the following:
- we've been living through a period of mostly-unchecked globalization
- because GDP has been rising, economists generally argue that globalization is good
- HOWEVER, Oren provides compelling reasons why GDP growth is not a sufficient indicator of the health of the economy. He cites things like increasing income inequality and the overall reduction in purchasing power when you factor things like households now having to have two full-time incomes to buy the same basket of things
The opportunity that tariffs provide is to buffer globalization and proactively re-shape the American economy to be more self-reliant, more inclusive and more balanced (geographically, industry-wise, etc). For example, Oren notes that globalization has been driving wealth toward tech & financial hubs, like NYC, Austin, San Francisco, while middle America has been largely stagnant. With more manufacturing, job distribution could be more equitably spread across the country.
What I liked most about this podcast were a few things:
- it provides a thoughtful challenge to the mainstream chatter that "tariffs are bad!" and "Trump is ruining our economy!"
- the basis for tariffs is actually to improve the well-being of middle Americans who are not participating in the white collar tech and financial services boom
- that it challenges the assumptions that an unfettered globalized world economy is what works best. Maybe it isn't?
The price of my favorite ice cream has nearly doubled. I like the idea of inclusiveness but don't see how making it harder for people to get medicaid is going to do that. And it is already too hard for people to qualify if you ask me.... Deportations in Dominican Republic
This morning, on my drive home after dropping my boys off at school, I saw a pickup truck full of Dominican soldiers stopping various vehicles, mostly public transport, looking for dark-skinned Haitians to arrest and deport.... Oppress me. Is it possible? Can you oppress me right now?
Context:
The guy I’m dating (Ken) had said he was frustrated with the Austin School District teachers that he’s teaching Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to because they were all giving wrong answers to the question,Who is the oppressor in your classroom?
According to Ken, and apparently according to the book the teachers had been assigned to read, the oppressor in a classroom is the teacher.Last night I was telling my friend Arun about it and he said
Oppress me! Right now!
All of this post is rooted in my discomfort with the premise that all teachers are oppressors in their classrooms. I can see the roots of truth of it, but making that its own conclusion point looks wildly flawed to me.
In order to oppress someone the oppressor needs to hold some kind of power over the oppressed right? I think the only way for me to oppress you would be to use my power from being employed at uptrust to bid for your comment to be removed and your voice to be silenced.... Oppress me
Is it possible? Can you oppress me right now? Context: The guy I’m dating (Ken) had said he was frustrated with the Austin School District teachers that he’s teaching Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to because they were all giving wrong answers to the question, "Who is the...