Your posts excite me in a way that few do. You trace the underlying dysfunction that is baked into the structure, non-partisan. Of course our government should have as much accountability as any small company on the stock market! Of course we should be able to understand our budget. I have no idea how to make this happen, but I want in.
We're currently having to think through how to redesign our government from the ground up, around anti-corruption, affordability, and protecting our most vulnerable. It would seem that budget accountability falls under anti-corruption... because of course there is wild corruption built into an opaque system.
This kind of response is why I write. You’re making exactly the connection that matters: opacity isn’t a side effect of corruption — it’s the mechanism. You can’t have accountability without visibility.
As for “how to make this happen” — honestly, I’m still in the consciousness-raising phase. Making these structural problems visible so people stop accepting them as inevitable. The fact that you’re now asking “why do we tolerate this?” means something shifted. That’s step one.
I'm not asking you to both shine the spotlight and to spoon feed the answer - you did your part and each of us need to figure out what we're going to do with it.
What I did was to rework my vision for a more just America.
Paul Shattuck said we can't just be anti-Trump, we need a touchstone of what we're for, posted to guide our daily actions and conversations.
I had 4, but your article taught me that two of them are the same / overlapping. (Corruption and oligarchy overlap, and require similar anti-corruption tools) I redid my vision graphic after reading this.
This is exactly what I was hoping for - not just agreement, but someone taking these frameworks and doing real work with them. I can't do this all on my own. I can't diagnose every problem and develop solutions to each one, by myself.
The reorganization you did makes a lot of sense. Recognizing that corruption and oligarchy are overlapping problems requiring the same structural fixes - that's the kind of systems thinking we need. And what you're identifying in your three priorities actually touches on why I'm so focused on getting the democratic infrastructure right first.
Affordability, anti-corruption, protecting the vulnerable - these are all outcomes that depend on having governance mechanisms that actually work. When the machinery is broken or captured, even well-intentioned policy can't deliver on these goals. That's why so much of what I'm working on is about fixing the underlying architecture.
I have a lot more planned on exactly how we rebuild that infrastructure - the specific mechanisms, the precedents, the implementation pathways. Knowing there are people like you thinking seriously about what we're building toward makes that work feel urgent and worthwhile.
Your posts excite me in a way that few do. You trace the underlying dysfunction that is baked into the structure, non-partisan. Of course our government should have as much accountability as any small company on the stock market! Of course we should be able to understand our budget. I have no idea how to make this happen, but I want in.
We're currently having to think through how to redesign our government from the ground up, around anti-corruption, affordability, and protecting our most vulnerable. It would seem that budget accountability falls under anti-corruption... because of course there is wild corruption built into an opaque system.
This kind of response is why I write. You’re making exactly the connection that matters: opacity isn’t a side effect of corruption — it’s the mechanism. You can’t have accountability without visibility.
As for “how to make this happen” — honestly, I’m still in the consciousness-raising phase. Making these structural problems visible so people stop accepting them as inevitable. The fact that you’re now asking “why do we tolerate this?” means something shifted. That’s step one.
Glad you’re here.
I'm not asking you to both shine the spotlight and to spoon feed the answer - you did your part and each of us need to figure out what we're going to do with it.
What I did was to rework my vision for a more just America.
Paul Shattuck said we can't just be anti-Trump, we need a touchstone of what we're for, posted to guide our daily actions and conversations.
I had 4, but your article taught me that two of them are the same / overlapping. (Corruption and oligarchy overlap, and require similar anti-corruption tools) I redid my vision graphic after reading this.
1) AFFORDABILITY
-Housing
-Groceries
-Livable wages
-Universal healthcare
-Simple taxes (no loopholes for the rich)
2) ANTI-CORRUPTION
-Campaign finance reform (billionaires can't buy our politicians)
-Investigations and jail for corrupt officials
-Transparent budgets
-Propaganda out
-Unions
-Federal Governance Agency
3) PROTECT THE VULNERABLE
-Social Safety Net with dignity
-Consumer protections (food and products that don't harm people / environment)
-Protect the most vulnerable among us (poor, disabled, queer, minorities, etc)
This is exactly what I was hoping for - not just agreement, but someone taking these frameworks and doing real work with them. I can't do this all on my own. I can't diagnose every problem and develop solutions to each one, by myself.
The reorganization you did makes a lot of sense. Recognizing that corruption and oligarchy are overlapping problems requiring the same structural fixes - that's the kind of systems thinking we need. And what you're identifying in your three priorities actually touches on why I'm so focused on getting the democratic infrastructure right first.
Affordability, anti-corruption, protecting the vulnerable - these are all outcomes that depend on having governance mechanisms that actually work. When the machinery is broken or captured, even well-intentioned policy can't deliver on these goals. That's why so much of what I'm working on is about fixing the underlying architecture.
I have a lot more planned on exactly how we rebuild that infrastructure - the specific mechanisms, the precedents, the implementation pathways. Knowing there are people like you thinking seriously about what we're building toward makes that work feel urgent and worthwhile.
Really glad you're here for this.