Iron Lady of Manipur breaks fast, wants to be CM
The Muslims are not in the mainstream. The Dalits are not in the mainstream. The women are not in the mainstream. The people in the South are not in the mainstream. And the people in the Northeast are not in the mainstream.
So who runs India? India remains a fundamentally flawed democracy. Vast swathes of the population stays marginalized. Is India even a democracy?
I have talked of the Age Of Abundance, I have talked of a Universal Basic Income. To the untrained especially the latter might smack of "socialism." That would be misleading.
This is talk of a new reality that asks for a new grammar. A lot of old rules are going to get junked.
Socialism has had two strains, one absolutely appalling, the one where there is no human rights. There has been another, the left of center variety that has been ridiculed for not knowing the fundamentals of wealth creation. I am not talking about that.
I am a small d democrat, which basically means taking the one person one vote one voice to all its logical local, state, national and global conclusions.
I am a free marketeer. Economics to me is like physics. Just like physics can come up with astounding technology, I believe economics as an academic discipline is capable of coming up with intellectual frameworks for massive wealth creation. If I am a capitalist I am one likely to speak of human capital in the same breath as financial and technological capital.
It is said in physics if you go to a high enough energy level all four basic forces are the same. The physics of liquid water is fundamentally different from the physics of steam.
Talk about being at the right place at the right time. It is about this point in time, this point in history, lucky you, lucky me.
The productivity gains driven almost entirely by technological innovation are about to be so astoundingly astronomical that many of the old rules will no longer apply. But there is a need for accompanying political innovation, and accompanying advances in economic theory. I lost a lot of respect for the discipline in 2008. They were royally surprised.
The most obvious thing to do is create a world government. That is knowledge we already have. Europe has suffered for attempting an economic union without a political union. Globalization is unstoppable but you go off the wheels if you don't create a world government.
The 2008 meltdown happened because politicians had stayed light years behind globalization. Banks go global but the governments are all still only national.
In a democracy everyone gets to vote, everyone matters. In a market there is free competition, there are no monopolies.
America is uniquely positioned to take the lead. It is the oldest modern democracy with mature institutions. It has a young about to be ex president. It is the most diverse country. Just in New York City you could find at least one person from every town on earth.
These are exciting times, even though Planet Earth right now is Titanic, on course to hit the iceberg in terms of Climate Catastrophe. But the same collective will that will steer humanity away from the iceberg will also usher the Age Of Abundance. It will be like a new birth to humanity. There is no parallel in history to what is about to happen. I am wildly optimistic.
It really is just about one person, one vote, one voice. Democracy can be magic. And if you just keep building the matrix, the lattice, there is no upper limit to how big your party can be. It is power. It is also in-built humility.
The voters are required to vote, go above 80%. That is all you really need to do. But you do have to do that much, every two years, by the clock. And if your rear end can't move that much, do not have expectations, do not complain.
The voters also should be part of the conversation. This happens in person. This happens in small groups. This happens on social media. This happens at rallies. You voice your opinions. You consume information. You learn more about issues and the political process. You ask questions. You have your questions answered.
The politicians are to ziggy withit the government machinery, the political machinery, are to connect the academics and the voters. Running the government machinery is brain surgery, it takes a lot. Only the most qualified can do it.
And then there are badly paid academics. They are the ones who think the thoughts and connect the dots, but they don't much care for retail politics, and most of them don't much care for politicians either. But even the most obscure academic is part of some social network or another, and there is no dearth of academics who are fond of glamor. If the academics are part of the diamond triangle then running the government becomes like physics and engineering. You are looking at data, you are collecting data, academics are making sense of it all. Academics should always, always, always be three steps ahead of politicians and voters.
You can really quicken the heart and the pace of the political process by forming this diamond triangle. It is the political machinery's job to take the academics to the voters in digestible formats. Some might want to read journal articles. Most might prefer summaries. Some might like a minute long YouTube video. You give it to them.
With this matrix/lattice in place, you can have a vote share of 60% or more and still not suffer the mindless, irrational, quirky pendulum swing two years after snatching a massive mandate. You keep delivering and you keep looking forward.
Either you will eventually have an opposition that is also finally into evidence based decision making and is past bigotry, xenophobia, racism and sexism or America will stay a de facto one party state for a while. Doesn't hurt.
People coming together in small groups and large groups, people voting religiously and in large numbers and unfailingly every two years, people doing their civic duty, the civic duty of showing up to vote every two years and not just during presidential elections, people meeting in person and talking policy, people being heard by the national leadership, because technology now makes it possible, building a structure of one person, one vote, one voice, the national leadership passing a constitutional amendment to take money out of politics, the national leadership doing away with the nonsense called voter registration, a country that is capable of knowing who its taxpayers are is capable of knowing who its voters are, the national leadership getting rid of the agricultural era concept of an "election day" and instead putting in place an election week, making it possible to vote on smartphones through biometric IDs, you press your thumb and you vote, and taking the voting percentage to 80%, voters should not have to get organized and register and canvass and make phone calls, people should simply have to vote, 80% plus: the work will merely begin when Hillary takes all 50 states in November.
Hillary needs to appoint three female progressives to the Supreme Court. The only way the first female president is amazing is if women holding office after that is not news. America should have 30 women governors. 50 female Senators.
The Dean/Obama/Bernie/Warren crowd needs to run for public office at all levels. Bernie lost fair and square. Now how much you get of what you want is going to be in direct proportion to the size of the mandate. Work your heart out. Sweep all 50 states.
I hope someone from that crowd, preferably a female, becomes mayor somewhere, then Governor, and then president in 2024, and puts in place the Universal Basic Income, an idea Bernie never talked about, but an idea whose time will have come.
The Green Party is bonkers. They are afraid too much of what they want they will get if Hillary gets too large a mandate. They are out to steal votes from the only person who stands between Donald Trump and the White House. I accuse them of political illiteracy. They need to get out of the race and get behind Hillary. Trump is Mr. Climate Change Denial. If you are helping him you are Ms. Climate Change Denial. And if you are helping him and are not even aware you are helping him, well, you are a fool.
The most qualified candidate in history is up against the most unqualified candidate in history. This election is a no brainer for any thinking person regardless of party or gender. The most unqualified candidate is also the most dangerous. Not even in the 1930s did America come anywhere even remotely close to electing a fascist. Trump is a fascist. Trump is a sociopath. I can't imagine someone asking, why can't we use nuclear weapons? This guy is going to think the nuclear suitcase is his lunch box. Trump is insane.
Bill Clinton is badass! Sharp as ever.
Bill Clinton Urges Immigrants To Vote
Speaking directly to illegal aliens, Clinton stated to an applauding audience of delegates that “if you love this country, you’re working hard, you’re paying taxes and you’re obeying the law and you’d like to become a citizen, you should choose immigration reform over somebody that wants to send you back.”
GST may have just handed Modi govt a $200-billion cheque
The passage of the GST Bill has now made it much more likely India will have hit a 10% growth rate by the time Modi goes back to the voters in 2019. At 10% he will win.
If Hillary sweeps all 50 states and the House, this is not about Hillary. This is about getting things done. The Hillary team has to give the best two years anyone ever gave. And they have to build the grassroots organizational infrastructure. The people have to stay involved. The people have to keep feeling they are getting heard.
The Republican Party is dead. It might be a few cycles before the Libertarian Party takes that vacant spot in this two party system. In the mean time the Democratic Party is going to have to do the democratic work of two parties.
Hillary should nominate three progressive women to the bench. And the goal should be to retain the House in 2018. You do that by delivering and by staying level headed.
Hillary Clinton Holds Big Lead Over Donald Trump in New Hampshire, Poll Shows
"Nationally, according to a new Fox News poll, Mrs. Clinton holds a 10-point lead over Mr. Trump."
Voices From Donald Trump’s Rallies, Uncensored
Sheer hatred. Naked hatred.
