Sam Ulmschneider

The Case for Enlarging the House of Representatives

The American Academy of Sciences did a really fantastic well researched report on the methods, mechanisms, and reasons for expanding the house - a report which also addressed common objections to the idea - a couple of years ago. Link here: www.amacad.org/ourcommonpur...

One of the things that strikes me about these old radio dramas (I know, I know, it's a stupid hobby to listen to them) is the way the writers were clearly channeling real life experiences but also catering to public tastes unscientifically. (this brought to you by 'The Wayward River Matter.')

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Finally, truth in advertising

It's hard to compare 'em. Both socioeconomic disasters, but they were so different in symptoms and structure! In both cases policy response was really unusually swift, and in both cases policy response had big problems - but very different problems in each case! Just...bad for social media limits!

That does lead to a race-to-the-bottom: all states adopt the most abusive possible districting + election rules, with no incentive to reform when that might amount to ceding an advantage in seats at some points. You may not be wrong, but if you're right it's a grim and unpleasant form of democracy.

it's hard! at what level do we define 'the rules'? Some states have chosen to entrench fairer districting rules than others. Ought they repeal + short circuit those rules if another state does differently? It's a genuine dilemma that can result in race to the bottom OR bad actor advantage like TX.

That might be an interesting prop. if the administration didn't intend to (and was likely to) negotiate a thousand special deals and exemptions for companies and groups that appease the administration sufficiently. True across-the-board tariffs are less likely than special-constituency swiss cheese.

Oh yeah, I'm absolutely with you on that front. In a dilemma with no clear solution, we've instead chosen a cynical actor with mixed motives and serious organizational cul-de-sacs to manage out the whole problem. It's worked out with predictably shambolic consequences.

....To be clear I don't LIKE this state of affairs, but I also don't see a particularly clear and easy path out of it without some structural changes that are pretty much a public policy and fiscal policy nonstarter.

In a way it's not baffling - colleges have so many applicants from so many schools, how can they TELL which 'serious high school courses' to weight strongly? They don't have the time or personnel to check in on each teacher, each course, each school's courses and policies in enough depth.

in some ways the clearest solution to this mess increasingly seems to me 'more, and!" We want high school to do many more missions - media literacy, traditional liberal arts, specific career readiness etc - in the same amt of time. Why not just give it more time, through more in-class days or years?

I agree in both cases! In a certain sense it's a little unfortunate, because it led us all to learn the wrong lessons re: how effective entertainers were likely to be as first time elected officials.

Now THAT is a political migration for the ages.

Today I learned (or remembered?) that the 1987 Running Man features two future governors of US states in a fully choreographed nearly five minute hand to hand battle to the death.

Beyond abysmal, though it has a car-wreck quality that makes watching it almost fun if you approach it like a mystery science theater or other mockery session.

one of the more striking things about this whole trade war / tariff stuff is the degree to which America's strategic and commercial planning sectors are busy dealing with this problem instead of thinking about significant near-future scenarios like, say, an attempted blockade of Taiwan.

I am convinced that part of the reason the Constitutional text is so underdefined about how a future Convention would work (rules, delegate apportionment, etc) is the desperate need the delegates felt to dissuade an impending second convention to undo their work, but that left convention unworkable.

...continuing, it's wild that an organization w the resources of Amazon produced such a misfire. Whether its BBCs recent three-episode Edwardian War of the Worlds, or Canada's low-budget 'Travelers,' constructing complex, effective, powerful sci fi TV complete with social relevance is not so hard!

This concept, while important, is so old that the unfamiliarity of powerful people with really becomes inexcusable. There's even a short James Q Wilson essay on this topic that's so short and digestible (the tradeoffs of gov't decision making efficiencies) I teach it to high school kids every year!

Doubt I've ever seen a worse perversion of the underlying story and intellectual potential than the new Amazon 'War of the Worlds.' On the other hand, Ice Cube (Ice Cube!) playing a sweater-wearing, deskbound agent of the American 'deep state' and helicopter dad is...weird enough to be valuable?

This is an example of why books and reading matter. The world of literary fiction is full of people who find ways to live well (or realize they aren't living well at all!) that are more or less disconnected from matters of sexual conquest.

Same boat! My inability to do math was so profound that my high school graduation was at risk, while I sailed through every advanced history and English course offering the school had with flying colors. Really produced a profound psychological tension in me I’ve yet to fully resolve.

This is such a well written and effective little essay, a great blend of fundamental principles, historical examples, and specific contemporary application. Thanks for the link! I definitely wouldn’t have stumbled across this on my own.

The difficulty is that despite the elements of the movement that I think might be up the wrong alley politically/culturally, they have identified something very important that College Board and a lot of curricular movements really haven't done, and focused on it very effectively.

Oh I know (I was out for her today, launched from the Nivar-only location out at short pump park). And Owen’s one of the few key districts we gotta win! The psychology around the statewide stuff is, unfortunately, also quite real.

boggles my mind to imagine how the court will decide that one must prevent racial discrimination in voting (15th amdt demands it!) without paying any attention at all to race beyond outlawing its facial use (their view of what the 14th demands). I almost look forward to reading how they manage it.

Most years I'm all-in w canvassing but I've only been out three times this cycle. W Spanberger ahead enormously in every public poll and local House of Delegates candidates facing underpowered GOP, motivation is harder to come by than in the past even if talking to voters is as valuable as ever.

The United States did have a fairly notable breakdown in the 1860s too, to be fair. The southern states didn't exactly try to coup the existing government in precisely that sense, but you can hardly say the Jan 6 was in a league all its own while the Civil War hangs out on the sidelines.

increasingly think that Dredd was a "stopped clock right twice a day" moment and, though I love the film, we may be lucky that we never got a direct sequel since it might have been totally misguided and awful.

Syllabi almost done for the year, class load shaping up. Looks like about 70 AP US Government and Politics kids, 20 in my Intro to Political Theory & Political Philosophy, and 20 in my Constitutional Law & Constitutional Politics / 'We The People' class. 110 is a small load, I feel lucky!