James Madison in Federalist No 10 writes a virtue of a large republic is “the greater security afforded by a greater variety of parties, against the event of any one party being able to outnumber and oppress the rest”.
Though they inadvertently produced one quite quickly, the “founding fathers” never favored a two-party system. A two-party system is repellent to the logic and aspirations of the Constitutional system.
https://billofrightsinstitute.org/primary-sources/federalist-no-10
they say success is hard work, but i contend that failure is more exhausting.
doing bad things may not be the best strategy to restore our innocence.
i feel like spam from 1997 is calling.
is FileMaker Pro still in widespread use?
Screenshot of e-mail offering “FileMaker Pro Advanced client list.”
Denaturalization should simply not be a thing, for Elon or for anybody. The state gets its opportunity for due diligence up front. Once a person is an American they are an American.
i don’t even know how you would pin any of those people to a gar.
photograph of a gar (the fish) swimming under water. taken from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gar
we encounter ghosts constantly. the ghosts we encounter most often are ghosts of our former selves. boo! it says. look what you have done with us, you shithead.
deregulation + financialization = lobotomization + predation
no one’s been working on the railroad edition, by #PhillipLongman ht @drvolts
use of GDP as welfare measure was always based on qualitative correlations. GDP’s (well GNP’s) inventor said it should not be so used, but seemed to work pretty well. 1/
however, that is changing, because of increasing market power in especially the US economy, and relatedly due to the difference between cost-based and market-based pricing in GDP for govt purchased vs privately purchased goods and services. 2/
under consolidated markets, GDP comes to include rents captured by monopolists. rent extraction reduces welfare but scores as higher GDP. 3/
relatedly, the cost paid for government purchased healthcare in social democracies is much, much lower than the “market prices” of healthcare in the US. quality and outcomes are not broadly higher. 4/
so, US health pathology increases US GDP, while failing to represent an increase (arguably representing a major loss) of real welfare in the United States. /fin
“The bill would also require a ruling by two-thirds of the high court and the circuit courts of appeals, rather than a simple majority, to overturn a law passed by Congress. Wyden said the current court has been too quick to discard precedent and curtail rights by narrow majorities.” https://wapo.st/4e6qau3
( i like this proposal, on the merits but also because i’m an egotist. https://www.interfluidity.com/v2/7964.html )
It’s an adaptation. In the original, Neo was a mitochondrion.
the problem is Congress has ceased to serve the function of Congress so the other two branches fight over usurping the role.
people get so stressed about running out of thyme, but parsley, sage, and rosemary are enough.
“As for the problems with what is sometimes termed ‘regulation by enforcement,’ that’s exactly the incentive structure the right wing has set up by kneecapping agencies’ abilities to set rules.” @lopatto https://www.theverge.com/24280387/gary-gensler-sec-chair-presidential-election-2024
Speaking of Bernie, a very good profile by @Ddiamond in, um, the Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/10/25/bernie-sanders-2024-election-campaigning-efforts/
This election season feels like an active shooter drill.
he asked the genie for a grand estate. he died instantly, but his children became very rich.
one perhaps salutary consequence of Donald Trump is he’s exposed just how pathetic plutocratic “masters of the universe” really are.
“The rentier economy is characterized by low growth and therefore less material prosperity for everyone, but more guaranteed relative position for those on top. And people, it turns out, really like relative position.” @sjshancoxli https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-plutocrat-populist-axis/
high interest rates are just taxes the poor pay to the rich.
