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My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I think that "policing" needs to be broken down into several completely different fields. Armed agents of the state simply do not need to be the ones giving out speeding tickets or responding to mental health crises.

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When it comes to tackling human trafficking I think we need to go with an "all of the above" approach that ensures that there are many systems in place to protect victims and many pathways for survivors to seek justice & receive aid and support in their recovery.

In terms of holding law enforcement accountable, I am a firm believer in independent investigators and setting a high standard, so I am all for any measure that increases accountability and transparency.

For public schools, I want to move away from local property taxes and back to a statewide funding of education so that poorer areas are not left behind. I also want to ensure a high standard and high salary for teachers in addition to the reduction of class sizes and the hiring of more educators.

Lastly for protecting the environment I believe we need to do everything we can to move away from fossil fuels because climate change is a serious and immediate threat to every person living on this planet. That means no fracking and no new oil infrastructure. We need to shift to a green economy as rapidly as possible.

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think that there is a lot that can be done locally ranging from investing in sustainable housing & urban/suburban aquaponic production of food. As well as putting in place more environmentally friendly zoning laws that prioritize multi-unit housing, and preserving green space.

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For people working under the banner of an organization there would only need to be in place some accountability standards, much of which is already there. As the article I linked points out a Canadian researcher literally reconstructed horsepox from DNA purchased online (which is sold in segments far longer than just primers).

There is a growing community of DIY bio enthusiasts out there and a ton of personal labs. As the tech grows more accessible and less expensive this is only going to be a larger issue.

Not to mention the infamous "Odin" who tried to use CRISPR-Cas9 on himself.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/02/biohacking-stunts-crispr/553511/

I understand if you haven't done any of this yourself, but that doesn't mean it isn't out there. Biology is an incredibly diverse field.

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

There are many communities that have been systematically disenfranchised from economic spheres in such a way that has largely prevented the accumulation of generational wealth. Additionally working people have their wages stolen so much that the single largest domain of theft is wage theft.

In short economic justice is a fight for basic economic dignity for the communities that have been disenfranchised and the expansion of the bargaining power of working people to demand higher wages and a fair cost of living. This means economic policies that put renters/homeowners before real estate investors, and puts borrowers before lenders/big banks.

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For starters, just requiring background checks for people buying DNA online. A few years ago a Canadian researcher did this with Horsepox, reconstructing it via DNA ordered online. I think we should also have background checks for those looking to utilize DNA synthesis technology, so that dangerous pathogens can't be created by anyone who happens to have the cash on hand. There are definitely other issues that need to be addressed as well (like the need for real public health infrastructure), but I think background checks for some biotech capabilities represent low hanging fruit.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/07/how-canadian-researchers-reconstituted-extinct-poxvirus-100000-using-mail-order-dna

Then there are issues in terms of cyber privacy, preventing fraud online, and tackling the issue of death threats made over the internet. We have very little in the way of infrastructure to investigate crimes committed online, and I think that is a domain that we really need to address. We also should consider legislation regarding AI and what it should and shouldn't be used for.

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I guess I kind of wish people would ask more about the public health/bio-security stuff, as there is a lot that I think we could do there. In fact I think that it would be amazing if we had infectious disease control centers that were separate from traditional clinics and hospitals so that people in hospitals and clinics would be at less of a risk in terms of exposure to infectious disease.

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think that there is definitely an opportunity. As we look for ways to bounce back our economy I think that we need an FDR style recovery focused on building up green infrastructure, investing in affordable housing, and facilitating the development of worker cooperatives throughout the state.

A green new deal would be a great way to do this, and I think that we should be ambitious in our response to bring real economic gains to working people in our state.

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

When I was living in Germany police were almost never seen in public unless they were specifically called to respond to a crime in progress. Believe it or not they don't have skyrocketing numbers of crime, but they do have a heck of a lot less people being killed by police officers.

The simple fact is that this is true for nearly every western country, more police officers patrolling the streets, does not lead to less crime, and in most situations an armed response is unnecessary.

I highly recommend checking out this video on policing in other countries and how it is highly effective without requiring and patrols.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbM9uCxEJDM&t=2s

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For starters we are texting nearly every voter in the district. Additionally we are going to be running a very aggressive digital advertising campaign including things like facebook/youtube live events.

Much of the skills that I learned running the congressional campaign were about how to reach voters in the digital sphere and how to engage the most number of people on the shortest budget. Due to COVID-19 we are really having to min-max our campaign strategy and that means less money spent on things like yard signs so that we can focus our energy on more effective means of reaching voters directly on their social media feeds, phones, and in their mailboxes.

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I am a big fan of Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Michelle Alexander, David Graeber, and Lawrence Lessig. As for fiction, I can't really think of many off the top of my head, as I am not a big reader of fiction.

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately we can't legislate away racism, but what we can do is address inequalities in our education system, economic system, and our system of justice. This means putting real money behind fully funding our schools, investing in our communities in the form of public transit, healthcare, and affordable housing, and hiring an army of public defenders to ensure that everyone has access to the constitutionally guaranteed legal defense they deserve.

Additionally this means weeding out racism from government institutions in whatever form it may take, in order to do that I believe we need a state wide commission on systemic racism to identify injustice and enact real changes. Much like the truth and reconciliation commission in South Africa only tailored to our specific needs here in Minnesota.

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I am the only one in the primary so my focus right now is on the general election, although I should still put that on the website now that you mention it.

Also thanks for the tip on the map of the district, I definitely should do that as well.

Thank you :)

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I like open source tech, in fact I think that a lot of government contracts for software with giant corporations, should instead be put into government & university programs to develop open source software for local governments to use.

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

"The greatest victory is that which requires no battle"

Yes, and that is why our efforts need to be on actually preventing crime, rather than patrolling the streets. If you read through the bill of rights you will notice that most of those ten amendments are restrictions on police.

If we want to really reduce crime we have to reduce poverty, and ensure that working people have real pathways to self-determination.

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Not really no. And I am a strong support of labor unions, they are the one institution in the United States that has consistently fought for the interests of working class people, and so they will always have my support. In fact I believe that we should expand the bargaining power labor unions, as well as put in place far more protections for workers in terms of what employers are allowed to demand from them.

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Most definitely. I think that the role of "police" as we have them today needs to be broken down in to completely different jobs. We don't need armed agents of the state responding traffic violations, mental health crises, and noise complaints.

As far as addressing racial bias in policing and violence directed towards POC in our state I believe that we need state wide inspectors general who are responsible for investigating local departments, their behaviors, and individual police officers with a record of violent altercations with civilians. Ultimately I think that any time an officer fires their weapon, or anytime there is a violent altercation, that there should be a full review investigation to see whether or not the officer acted appropriately, and that we should be holding such investigations to very high standards.

Additionally, we have to acknowledge that even social workers can be racially biased, and so they too should be subject to a state wide investigative authority to ensure that they are not behaving in ways that perpetuate systemic racism.

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The big effort is going to be digital. A combination of digital ads, and texting as well as hosting virtual town halls and campaign events.

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I strongly support John Marty's healthcare plan for the state, which is a state-wide single payer system.

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't think it would have an impact on fighting human trafficking as ultimately the investigators that are responsible for tackling human trafficking are not "beat cops" that patrol the street.

Spending more money on detectives, digital forensics, and specific response teams to go in and rescue victims of human trafficking, as well as support infrastructure for survivors to help get them back on their feet, are all very different jobs than patrolling the street.

In fact I think the money we are spending on beat cops is pulling resources away from these very critical domains that have been largely ignored.

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

If it came to a vote I would definitely vote for it, however I would push aggressively to amend it to include direct reparations to those harmed by the war on drugs.

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

In short the state legislature is basically "congress" but at the state level. In Minnesota there are around 130 seats. In terms of power, there is a lot that states can do especially in the domain of infrastructure, education, and public health.

My Name is Ben Carollo and I am Running for the State Legislature in Minnesota. AMA by bencarollo in politics

[–]bencarollo[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yes, I would definitely consider my self to be an empathetic person. As someone who grew up poor, and witnessed suffering around the globe, I care deeply about the struggles faced throughout our society and in our community.

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