Politics
For a while I had the superpower of being able to vote in both US and UK elections. Sadly the UK isn't interested in expat opinions after 15 years which is probably why they got stuck with Brexit. I still vote religiously in the US. I use this blog to help me think through the endless propositions and ballot measures that we're subject to on California (and depressingly often remember how I voted the last time). I also advocate for my beliefs on the political reform that is needed in both my birth and adopted countries.
US Politics
If term limits are a good idea, what about party limits? If party limits does work then what about forcing us to have more parties? Let's warm up our constitutional amendment passing muscles.
We should embrace open immigration in some form. There should be reasonable restrictions on firearms (or at least expensive insurance, or get rid of the senate filibuster). Math is more important than everyone learning to code. Should we weight votes by age and even life expectancy? And the Senate by population? Is this why Americans don’t have passports? Here is the betterer that Biden should have built back to.
All Politics Is Local
After three rounds of trying to provide reasonable feedback to the National Park Service’s plan to curtail dog walking in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area it would be nice to report that a huge community uprising influenced the rulemaking process. Instead, a Freedom of Information Act request revealed that the National Park Service was never listening in the first place.
San Francisco Recreation and Parks appears to hate trees. What is the San Francisco Rent Board fee? Why did San Francisco redistrict the Pacific?
Historical voting guides: 2024 (San Francisco and California March), (San Francisco and California November), 2022 (San Francisco November, San Francisco June, and California), 2020 (San Francisco and California), 2016 (San Francisco and California plus combined June election edition), 2014 (San Francisco and California), and 2012 (San Francisco and California).
Legislative Service
Our political system is broken in many different ways. One possible fix is legislative service, where members of the public are randomly chosen and then asked to decide if a bill should become law. This public service function would replace the upper chamber — the Senate in the United States or the House of Lords in the United Kingdom. Legislative Service is similar to jury duty and would substantially reduce the impact of special interests and lobbyists on the lawmaking process.
Fake News
You’re entitled to your own opinions but not your own facts, to roughly quote Daniel Moynihan. But what
happens when everyone has their own facts, their own social media filter bubble and their own 24-hour news network? It’s a
difficult problem to solve. After
falling
for some fake news on Facebook
and about a year of procrastination one answer might be to
uninstall social media from your phone
break up Facebook
and delete your account.
And the 24-hour news problem? Should we bring back the fairness doctrine?
UK Politics
If Douglas Adams was still alive he might have written something like this. Should we become State #51?
Going further back read about Scotland staying in, the Alternative Vote, and the fate of the Bishops.
Browse all politics posts on I Thought He Came With You.