“There are two distinct ways to be politically moderate: on purpose and by accident.“— Paul Graham, The Two Kinds of Moderate, December 2019 What is the opposite of partisan politics? Where everything isn’t defined by Red vs. Blue, or labeled D, R, or I? I call it lowercase politics. A mix of small “l” liberal, smallContinue reading “Lowercase Politics”
Tag Archives: Politics
How Revolutions Really Start
What Modern Protesters Can Learn From The American Revolution If you watch Ken Burns’ The American Revolution documentary, it’s shocking how okay most early American colonists were with being ruled by the British. Sure, there were protests in colonial America, but most colonists were willing to remain British subjects as long as they got representationContinue reading “How Revolutions Really Start”
You’re Not Burnt Out. You’re Existentially Starving.
“Those who have a ‘Why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘How’.” ― Viktor Frankl quoting Friedrich Nietzsche, Man’s Search for Meaning Let me guess: Viktor Frankl calls this feeling the “existential vacuum” in his famous book Man’s Search for Meaning. Frankl was a psychologist who survived the Holocaust, and in this book heContinue reading “You’re Not Burnt Out. You’re Existentially Starving.”
Best Quotes from Ken Burns’ “The American Revolution” Documentary
In this Note, I focus on Ken Burns’ PBS documentary series titled “The American Revolution”. Burns’ six-part, twelve-hour series was released on November 16, 2025. My goal is to review one episode per week until the end this year. I anticipate this will take me 60+ hours of focused work. Well worth it to fully absorb the key ideas and events of the American Revolution!
A Positive Agenda for America
People > Politics Our politics really is rigged. But it’s not rigged by some shadowy conspiracy. It’s rigged by money. Billionaires are now spending 39 times more on federal elections since Citizens United in 2010. Most politicians are loyal to their donors, not you. They’re more worried about losing their campaign funds than losing votes.Continue reading “A Positive Agenda for America”
In Defense of Effective Altruism
The Worst Form of Ethics, Except For All The Others This would’ve been a lot easier in August 2022. Flash forward 15 months, and the EA movement is in trouble. RIP: Effective Altruism (2011-2023). Right? “The measure of a man’s life is not the number of his breaths, but the action he takes.” – AristotleContinue reading “In Defense of Effective Altruism”
Abolish The Electoral College
We Need to Directly Elect Presidents Summary: Idea: A constitutional amendment to directly elect presidents by popular vote. Problem: The Electoral College has been corrupted by the two-party system. Trend: We’re about to have the least popular presidential election ever. History: We’ve been close to abolishing the Electoral College but never got it done. Solution:Continue reading “Abolish The Electoral College”
End Accredited Investor Laws
90% of Americans can’t invest in startups. Let’s change that now. Idea: Eliminate all accredited investor restrictions for startups and VC funds.
How to Fix the FDA
We need the FDA to be 100% public funded. Compare how much time was spent on Moderna’s mRNA development vs. regulatory work: Development: Regulatory:
The Front Door
We Need A YC for Everything This is Problem #3 on my list of The World’s Biggest Problems.