Alienation, autonomy, and ideology
Some of you who know me might know I spent the last three years serving on the Iowa City Housing and Community Development Commission (HCDC). And I’ve been the chair of HCDC since July 2021. As I finish up my 3-year term, I wanted to write a bit about all that and about housing in Iowa City (and elsewhere!).
The short version: HCDC does great work on community problems, but it’s not built for solutions to deep or structural problems.
Hi all – just posting briefly to wish readers a Happy Juneteenth!
For anyone not aware, the U.S. government just last year recognized Juneteenth as a federal holiday. It commemorates the ending of legal slavery in the U.S. While the official day is June 19 (i.e., yesterday), many workplaces take off the following Monday or preceding Friday when it falls on a weekend. In line with that, my workplace gave everyone the day off today.
After a month full of Silicon Valley and sci-fi, I moved on to a much wider variety of topics. On this month’s reading list, I’ve got everything from sci-fi to food politics to regular politics to TV shows.
Some thoughts to follow, and I hope everyone enjoys!
So, here’s one of the biggest challenges on the left that I’ve been thinking about lately. We start with the core of a good idea. The idea even works well in specific situations. But then we turn that idea into some kind of Iron Law, trying to apply it way beyond its limits. The result? It doesn’t work so well any longer! I think we see this problem a lot with appeals to the notion of ‘lived experience.’
What’s going on here? What’s wrong with the appeal to lived experience?
Most people will tell you not to check the baseball standings before Memorial Day. In my version of the advice, I call it the 50-Game Rule. The rule says that you don’t evaluate your team until they’ve played 50 games. That usually happens…right around Memorial Day.
OK, so I’m a bit late on this one. The Yankees have played closer to 60 games. They were 35-15 at the 50 game mark. They’re 39-15 right now as I’m writing this, and playing really solid ball. They’ve got a 7.5 game lead in the AL East standings. And, despite a number of injuries, their pitching staff is leading the way.
Will it be this way the entire season? Of course not. But I think I like my team’s chances right now.
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