Doctora Malka Older

You know this, of course, but it’s all emotional management. I’ve taken to calling it “power” instead of “progress”. And I assign you and Victor on the trap of “social progress”. There’s only power. You build some or you has none. That’s the story of everything.

we usually don’t take a chemistry class expecting the instructor to "cut to the chase”. but in classes on racism, people can go from “wow I had no idea” to “what next” with nothing in between. It feels like wanting ChatGPT to tell you you've just rewritten physics.

I periodically get this written question from students ~4 weeks into the semester: when are we going to learn about the solutions?
It started feeling like a means to end inquiry, rather than a question sparking the beginning of inquiry.

Yes. I find that they either want to “speak to the manager” or they want to be elected manager. Either way they want someone to be in charge so that their personal responsibility is diffused through a bureaucracy.

They want a solution that requires no effort on their part.

The vibes aspect of wealth also matter: for the wealthy, donations are a way of securing public adoration. Now that no longer feels like the case. See these comments from a wealth manager, and a much more histrionic version from Marc Andreessen.

Peter Thiel is a good example: he is funding opposition to a wealth tax in California, threatening to leave the state, while also trying to persuade his fellow billionaires to rescind their commitments to charity.

The Billionaire Backlash Against a Philanthropic Dream

It is undeniable that there is a) both extraordinary new concentrations of wealth and b) those benefiting don't want to share it any way.
The "Giving Pledge" was a nod to some form of social contract. Now, billionaires are walking away from it.
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/15/b...

Vast concentrations of wealth have sometimes - but not always - generated political pushback. In some cases, the very wealthy tolerated higher taxes or committed to philanthropy to offset populist dissent.

Now they pretend to be the populists, and keep the money. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/14/b...

I wrote a little song I sing when I am watching the news sometimes. 🎶they don’t talk about the middle class because they don’t intend to have one 🎶

I’m not sure white people have realized that, yet. But I’m *pretty* sure the doubling down on fossil fuels, dismantling credentialing and forcing AI down our throats means they fully intend for a lot of you to also be surplus labor.

A 50-year-old woman “had never been on an airplane until authorities flew her to North Dakota last year to face charges” based solely on AI facial recognition.

I want to say that if this dragnet snags enough white people, we might finally get meaningful action. But I am pretty sure the elites have already called off even the pretense of caring about poor white people AND they’re actively making middle class white people poor. Sooooo…

I knooow. And I don’t want to be that person but in so many ways this unironic — and likely totally unintentional — cosplay of a confederate soldier embodies the Kentucky myth of itself as anti-slavery. It likes that story like my man Jack likes Black culture here. But it’s not exactly true.

To be clear: the SAVE Act does not simply require the identification voting ALREADY requires. It demands proof of CITIZENSHIP— a birth certificate with a name that matches yours now (bye, bye, married women), or a passport— both of which are expensive and take a long time to obtain.

Correct.

www.kolumnmagazine.com/2026/03/12/t...

We need to:

✅ overturn Citizens United

✅ ban Congressional stock trading

✅ get dark money out of politics

To get corporate influence out of our politics and return it to the people.

Another one

Denver just had its AOC vs Crowley moment.

For the first time in 30 YEARS, Dianna DeGette LOST the Denver County Assembly by 33 points (66-33).

Melat Kiros, backed by DSA & Justice Democrats, won the top line w/ a SUPERMAJORITY

DeGette 3% from missing the ballot entirely.

Giving up two weekend days is a small price to pay in order to put the fear of primaries from the left into politicians.

I hope that Julie will win. She will be better than Hick, and I believe in her. But whatever happens in this election, she is forcing Hick to be slightly better.

In the months since Julie Gonzales announced her run for Senate, John Hickenlooper has gradually shifted from "ICE needs oversight" to "ICE needs commonsense reform" to "ICE needs an overhaul" to "ICE needs to be completely overhauled or shut down."

I have seen that change so, so rapidly.

Part of it is demographic: Colorado has been gaining people swiftly, and those people tend to have come from blue areas.

Part of it is voting system: Colorado enacted mail-in voting, which made voting easy and painless, a thing you could complete in your home and drop a mile away at the gym without even needing a stamp.

One of the reasons I spent over 14 hours in zoom caucus & assembly these last eight days is that I think Colorado is in a position to send a message.

This state was purple when I first moved here. We elected Cory Gardner to the Senate in the first handful of years. A lot of my reps were red.

Dead bunny. Live parrot. Also cat. All beautifully if gorily arranged with fruit by Jan Fyt in 1647. Today is his day.

🌴 Nova genera ac species plantarum, quas in regno Chilensi Peruviano et in terra Amazonica.
Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Sumptibus F. Hofmeister, 1835-45..

[Source]

this would be mistakes 1 (doing it in the first place) and 2 (doing it again)

friend, this is Marcus Junius Brutus

CAESAR has declared himself DICTATOR FOR LIFE and MUST BE STOPPED

can you rush a donation of ten denarii today to show that you STAND WITH THE REPUBLIC?

Some sunshine from earlier today.

Never been here before - Cuckmere which is on the bus route between Brighton and Eastbourne.

It was v windy today so no video or recording to share.