@_dm it’s a problem of collective epistemology. it would be via trusted representation, likely mediated by participatory political parties that closely reflect voters’ values and interests that (1) could become true. under two massive political parties and “representation” (often anti-representation) as one representative for 760,000, no (1) will not hold. 1/

@_dm until we restructure to a form of democracy able to think coherently, we’re left with (2), delivering tangible, material benefits within a tightly compressed electoral time frame, front-loading benefits perhaps inefficiently, choosing fast tricks like sending checks over forms of public investment that take time to ripen. 2/

@_dm Democrats, a party dominated by people who style themselves expert, good-government professionals, are particular bad at (2). if “the right thing” would be a Gantt Chart stretching forward several years, of course we’re not going to just hand out quick goodies, in addition or instead. that would be, like, corrupt machine politics! So they feel virtuous and blame the public and lose.

We really need electoral reform to resuscitate (1). /fin