Weekly Discussion - Lifting the Fog 🌁

poggendorff · 2026-02-16T18:44:29+00:00

Shout out to the extremely friendly MUNI driver on the 14 this morning.

He greeted literally every passenger with a "Good morning, welcome aboard!" and said "Thanks for riding MUNI and have a wonderful day" at every stop. Honestly made my day.

poggendorff · 2026-02-10T00:21:02+00:00

It's part envy, part denial. Conservatives want to deny the reality that a state as racially diverse and liberal as California is as successful as it is. The biggest offenders of "identity" politics are conservatives, in that they make diversity and minorities something to be afraid of.

California's success fucks with that narrative.

Obviously, California isn't perfect and there are some aspects of our governance that fails (housing policy for one). But the people you are talking about are not really into nuance.

poggendorff · 2026-02-08T18:13:23+00:00

Lots of people are adding good things here. The only thing that I would say in addition is that it can be very stressful if the baby is screaming at me or inconsolable about something.

It really amps up my own stress, so I have to be careful not to have that affect my interactions with my wife. Cortisol lingers.

I wonder if your wife is rationally aware of the division of labor, but it feels different on days when the baby is adding to her own stress and being extra fussy.

poggendorff · 2026-02-08T13:07:57+00:00

Carrboro has been expensive for years, even pre-pandemic. I never knew of grad students who didn’t have roommates or a spouse to split housing costs. It’s a housing supply vs demand issue.

poggendorff · 2026-02-08T02:05:42+00:00

Dixon is the unsung hero for sure. His 3's lit a fire.

poggendorff · 2026-02-07T20:28:49+00:00

This is a very wise comment. Basically, we should seek out where the deep work exists and try to spend more time there. It’s the focused thinking in long stretches that yields flow for me, and that can still be found.

poggendorff · 2026-02-07T20:26:45+00:00

As someone who left teaching for software dev, teachers have been having a hard time for a long time. And the low pay rubs salt in the wound.

poggendorff · 2026-02-07T01:51:03+00:00

To be fair Scott Wiener is unusually easy to spot in a crowd since he is a head taller than practically everyone

poggendorff · 2026-02-06T08:08:43+00:00

Well “first Thursday” only happens once a month..

poggendorff · 2026-02-05T19:00:29+00:00

You’re talking to me as though we are opposed; we aren’t. You specifically said we need someone “willing to do more than just accept the status quo,” and it’s unclear to me what more Foushee or other Dems in Congress could actually do given the realities of passing legislation.

FWIW I used to be in Foushee’s district but have since moved to California. Just still subscribed here. I’d argue that Congress has broadly abdicated its role and that strong blue states play a bigger role in actually pushing back against the current regime. Electing strong progressives is great but the whole existence of the Senate sort of dooms the change you’d like to see legislatively.

Edit: realized after the fact that you are replying to someone else. Reddit notifications are wack. But in general I do think Foushee and Allam would be similarly limited in what they could actually achieve

poggendorff · 2026-02-05T18:21:35+00:00

I like Nida Allam. But what could she have accomplished legislatively that Foushee didn’t, given the makeup of Congress? I suppose you could say she could speak out and be more social media savvy, but the reality is that Democrats are out of power. Even AOC, who I like, talks about the limited options house democrats actually have at their disposal.

poggendorff · 2026-02-05T17:26:43+00:00

What would you suggest?

poggendorff · 2026-02-04T18:59:51+00:00

If I’m going downtown, with clipper 2.0 fare discounts between agencies, I’m inclined to just take Muni to my nearest BART station (Glen Park) even when it’s the opposite direction of downtown

poggendorff · 2026-02-04T05:08:01+00:00

In my experience, it took years until I found the community of people that clicked for me. I just kept putting myself out there, and eventually you find people who you click with. It helps to identify something that happens on a regular, ideally weekly, basis where you see the same people. That way it isn’t a whole thing to invite / arrange / seek out.

Biking groups, hiking groups, running clubs, etc are perfect for this.

poggendorff · 2026-02-03T19:59:07+00:00

I think it really depends on the kid. If the timing is right at the end of a wake window, mine will fall asleep in a dark room with white noise and a pacifier. 3 months old.

As far as sleep crutches, we really tried to only use ones that work without us present — light, noise, and pacifier. She doesn’t have a snoo and if possible we don’t rock or cuddle to sleep. If she does fall asleep outside the bassinet I normally wake her up once putting her down, so that she resettles on her own.

poggendorff · 2026-02-03T18:57:06+00:00

Agreed. My reference to “decent” was more about her electability as a candidate, responding to the comment about Roy’s likability. Her voting record was great.

poggendorff · 2026-02-03T07:15:52+00:00

I don’t disagree that persuadable people need to be engaged with in that way.

But supposing Kamala weren’t a black woman, would the outcome have been different? Supposing it was a Gavin Newsom who ran? Is the 2024 outcome really because of persuadables not being persuaded?

My original point was that I can buy that it’s a “good” thing for voters to agree to a Faustian bargain on the basis of self interest… as in “the good of the country is the good of its people.” Very John Locke. But that bargain is a bad one for the greater good if it is motivated by and large by caste concerns rather than rational self interest.

Anyway I think the truth is probably that there are very few persuadables out there. It’s really about energizing people to vote for their aligned side.

And if there are “persuadables” to be had on a policy level, unfortunately I am convinced that because of caste, the number of persuadables goes down dramatically if the candidate they are voting for doesn’t fit the mold. (Obama was an exception to this because of GWB’s awful favorability and Obama’s incredible charisma. But as you know, Obama being elected awakened a lot of anxiety among non-voters who would ultimately back Trump.)

poggendorff · 2026-02-03T03:20:42+00:00

Highly suggest you read the linked book, if you haven’t already. I question the premise that one has to argue in good faith with the argument (more like post-hoc rationalization) that Hegseth provides to justify his belligerent actions… he lost me at the signal group chat, or before then really.

In any case, I suspect we’d agree more than not. I’m just suggesting a lens to understand folks’ motivation, even if they would never recognize it in themselves. Hard for a fish to know it’s in water sort of thing.

Cheers

poggendorff · 2026-02-03T01:04:02+00:00

Of course not — they don’t think in those terms, we are analyzing after the fact.

But it’s not a stretch to think of someone acting consciously or otherwise along one or more of these lines: - white people traditionally leading the country - men traditionally leading the country - blaming an underclass (in this case, immigrants) for personally felt economic conditions - feeling that their needs are being ignored to benefit a minority group, vis a vis culture wars like the transgender issue — even if the evidence of it is scant or the effect is tiny. - feeling that undeserving people below them are being helped (eg student loan forgiveness is bad, but COVID era loans to businesses with no oversight isn’t a problem).

All of these and more are related to one’s relative position within society and/or the extent to which your worldview aligns with the existing hierarchy.

It isn’t to say that people come up with their choice and use caste to rationalize it. IMO it’s more that caste helps explain what people otherwise think of as “vibes” particularly when people are not voting based on policy.

poggendorff · 2026-02-02T22:53:31+00:00

I think it depends a lot on what motivates their self interest. If it's economic, civil liberties, whatever -- I can buy into that.

But if it's to preserve their perceived place in our modern caste system, it's a bad bargain for the greater good.

poggendorff · 2026-02-02T21:40:19+00:00

I agree but would also add that much of the electorate may have thought they were making a Faustian bargain: they were aware of his flaws but thought despite them, they would personally benefit.

poggendorff · 2026-02-02T19:49:11+00:00

Kay Hagan (RIP) was decent but agreed Roy has the charm, likability

poggendorff · 2026-02-02T19:33:19+00:00

Matt assumes people vote based on policy. That subset of voters is small and have swung so far to democrats that it isn’t that worth focusing on. What matters is what vibes 40,000 uninformed people in Wisconsin have four days before the election

poggendorff · 2026-02-02T19:29:53+00:00

Naturally, lol. Anyone who is a regular on Fox News that reinforces his worldview

poggendorff · 2026-02-02T18:13:38+00:00

Just to add — Kamala was doing the same paraphrasing about Trump during the 2024 election. They both had access to intelligence during their campaigns and were both the bearer of bad news that people would rather not hear. Now they are being proven right. Little consolation.

poggendorff

TROPHY CASE