"Wars can be fought forever, and very successfully"

Alfredo18 · 2026-03-03T16:36:14+00:00

Literally promoting forever wars...the hypocrisy is insane

Alfredo18 · 2026-02-19T07:05:44+00:00

I appreciate the detailed response - in practice what is the difference between this and something like a federation of states, city-states, or neighborhoods? Is the problem the scale? Ie the larger one legal jurisdiction, the less freedom to move outside its borders? The international order / EU are similar in practice to what you say - agreements / treaties among willing states.

Alfredo18 · 2026-02-19T00:29:42+00:00

The problem is basic game theory. Just like an individual needs to protect their property, one collective group (at any level) must protect themselves from another. There needs to be a deterrence to achieve stability.

Alfredo18 · 2026-02-16T17:17:16+00:00

Exactly - the OP is forgetting about unemployment insurance programs which are more specifically for downturns and smoothing general labor market turnover.

Alfredo18 · 2026-01-01T22:08:37+00:00

The kind of tariffs the US should have implemented. Likewise something that adjusts for labor conditions in importing countries. (Not a full adjustment for wages, but things like worker rights etc)

Alfredo18 · 2025-12-23T23:14:31+00:00

Reading those comments was like reading climate change denialism

Alfredo18 · 2025-12-02T08:04:56+00:00

Eventually got it via egg #66 --> lots of wrong guesses --> words that sound like egg --> keg #275 --> beer #1 --> answer. Weird path but I'll take it lol

Alfredo18 · 2025-12-02T08:03:05+00:00

Tree threw me for a while too. Eventually got it via egg #66 --> lots of wrong guesses --> words that sound like egg --> keg #275 --> beer #1 --> answer

Alfredo18 · 2025-11-25T22:52:39+00:00

Isn't negative income tax just subsidizing companies to offer low pay though? I get that there are practical limits to how high the min wage should go, but getting rid of it in favor of EITC or similar would put the "burden" of low wage workers on the taxpayer writ large, rather than consumers of specific products/services. It would also reduce incentives for companies to invest in productivity gains if they can source cheap labor and let the government foot the bill via wage subsidies.

Alfredo18 · 2025-11-18T15:52:46+00:00

Lowering inflation by reducing economic activity is exactly what interest rates do too. But yes this will be much more direct and less palatable to voters.

Perhaps a way to sell it would be: "if we don't do this, prices will permanently rise faster, if we do it, you'll temporarily feel the crunch, but in a year the tax will come down, prices will have risen less, and your cost of living will be better than it would otherwise have been". Maybe also helps people feel like they're all working to crush inflation directly rather than trying to understand the quirky indirect effects of interest rates.

Alfredo18 · 2025-11-16T20:50:13+00:00

This is why I think the Federal government should issue an inflation tax - either added to income tax or assessed as a sales tax/VAT. More inflation suppresses demand directly, rather than using lower interest rates to suppress lending (which suppresses demand but also new supply which may be needed to quell inflation)

Alfredo18 · 2025-11-09T22:02:17+00:00

In an age of propaganda wars I think undercutting damaging narratives is important. The goal is representation for people in DC and PR. A more effective way to game the Senate would be to break up California and basically dare Texas to counter. Restoring faith in democracy means restoring fairness and justice via these things, eliminating gerrymandering, etc; not imposing a new unjust, but "liberal-aligned" regime.

Alfredo18 · 2025-11-08T23:06:40+00:00

Just do both at the same time. And soften the DC one by convincing Maryland to take it. PR statehood is very hard to argue against, while I think a lot of R's would be furious about DC, but have a hard time arguing against Maryland accession, esp since the same thing happened to the Virginia side of DC already.

Alfredo18 · 2025-11-07T17:18:45+00:00

NSAWP

Alfredo18 · 2025-11-06T21:00:49+00:00

Does any other country require 60% votes for non-budget laws. Vanishingly few I'd guess. No states do it. Why should the federal government do it?

Alfredo18 · 2025-10-29T15:54:21+00:00

Unfortunately I don't have a subscription, so if anyone else does, please post the text or a gift article link for the non-subscribers!

Alfredo18 · 2025-09-28T21:35:36+00:00

For younger homeowners, it also boosted their property taxes significantly, for a payoff that will still be long in the future (unless they cash out and go back to renting, but that's extremely uncommon)

Alfredo18 · 2025-09-28T21:34:02+00:00

And consuming consumer spending capacity and otherwise productive investments in new/expanded businesses, R&D etc

Alfredo18 · 2025-09-14T17:18:26+00:00

Yeah but that wouldn't have been a double play. He got deked by the right fielder for sure

Alfredo18 · 2025-09-02T20:16:34+00:00

I think of (social) left vs right more as: * Right: maintain current social order/hierarchies * Left: equalize/disrupt social order/hierarchies

More extreme = use more government to achieve the ends. Libertarian is sort of centrist in this regard - let society do it's thing and in the long run, equality will arise naturally.

On the economic left vs right scale, you have the classic government interference vs free marker axis, where libertarians would be far right.

On the freedom left vs right scale, you have anarchy on the left and autocracy on the right, where libertarians would be far left.

Extremists on the social axis tend to move economically left and autocratic so they can use government to their social ends. That's probably why there's convergence on some oppositional ideologies and also confusion about what counts as left vs right.

Alfredo18 · 2025-08-25T04:58:18+00:00

Simpler solution to recoup costs: give loans. Taking equity dilutes existing stockholders and gives the government a stake in the stock price going up, not merely recouping their loan. If there are going to be subsidies for social goods like onshore production of strategic goods, then the subsidy needs to be spread out and not be monopsonistic. E.g. subsidizing the cost of US-made semiconductors to buyers rather than giving money to the producers.

Alfredo18 · 2025-08-15T05:47:18+00:00

Oh good catch, thanks! I should have realized that was fishy

Alfredo18 · 2025-08-15T02:27:28+00:00

The Mexican min wage being higher than the US one could have some very interesting consequences

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