The U.S. has always had a tempestuous relationship with the idea of due process. Obviously, some process requirement is necessary. You can’t actually have a “nation of laws” if the operation of those laws is left entirely up to the…
Look Outward And Up: Some New Role Models For Americans
It has been quite a year already, and it’s only March. We’ve got even more quite-a-year ahead of us. But these problems aren’t limited to the U.S.; most of the globe is seeing similar autocratic movements and uprisings these days.…
Big Sister: Forecast Is Cloudy For Alexa
I’m kind of at a loss today for not-climbing-a-clock-tower style approaches to our current political situation. So let’s talk tech instead. I’ve written before about the privacy issues with voice assistant systems; they’re … not good. I mean, they’re basically…
Left Authoritarianism: Stop Asking For Leaders
Yeah, I agree: Chuck Schumer sux0rs and he totally screwed over the last chance congressional Democrats had to put the brakes on Trump Coup.0’s stripping the federal government for parts. But calling for new leadership is not the way to…
School Yourself: The Means Of Academic Production
I mentioned yesterday that I had some thoughts on folks with PhDs setting up new universities. I do indeed. I’ve been contemplating this for a long time, since U.S. universities started reducing traditional tenure-track positions and replacing them with short-term…
Parallel Organizing: Build Your Own Society
Coming up with a title got that song stuck in my head, so now it can be in yours too. You’re welcome. Now is probably a good time for us all to take a long, hard look at our communities…
You Should Read This: Kevin Drum Has Died
You can find out more at his Mother Jones author page, his Wikipedia page or his personal blog. His contribution to our civil society will be sorely missed now, when it is needed most. He was a keen observer of…
Time Is Money: So Let’s Make Money Be Time
I was discussing the coup with a neighbor this weekend, and said that I would not be surprised if in 6 months we had no functional organizations left above the state level; their response was “no, in 3 months”. So…
Freedom Ferrets: Enough Is More Than Enough
“You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?” – Joseph Welch It shall not stand. This nonsense had already gone too far, but now they’re risking the only surviving population…
First Things First: Have A Philosophy
If, like me, you look at the world every day and think “Damn; that’s messed up” then a good place to start is to figure out what political philosophies appeal to you. Because that gives you standards by which to…