Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com
almost 150 years ago we invented the phone.
the latest innovation has been to uninvent it, by inventing the phone tree, customer service center, etc.
i now drive miles to talk to people whom, thirty years ago, i’d have conveniently phoned. it’s increasingly the only way to talk to a capable human.
the latest innovation has been to uninvent it, by inventing the phone tree, customer service center, etc.
i now drive miles to talk to people whom, thirty years ago, i’d have conveniently phoned. it’s increasingly the only way to talk to a capable human.
November 25, 2025 at 5:19 PM
almost 150 years ago we invented the phone.
the latest innovation has been to uninvent it, by inventing the phone tree, customer service center, etc.
i now drive miles to talk to people whom, thirty years ago, i’d have conveniently phoned. it’s increasingly the only way to talk to a capable human.
the latest innovation has been to uninvent it, by inventing the phone tree, customer service center, etc.
i now drive miles to talk to people whom, thirty years ago, i’d have conveniently phoned. it’s increasingly the only way to talk to a capable human.
let’s prompt a GPT to structure the SPV!
November 25, 2025 at 6:55 AM
let’s prompt a GPT to structure the SPV!
the present is different than the past, but that doesn’t render it superior. its shape derives from path dependence and lock-in much more than it is the result of some ill-defined collective “revealed preference”.
November 25, 2025 at 3:59 AM
the present is different than the past, but that doesn’t render it superior. its shape derives from path dependence and lock-in much more than it is the result of some ill-defined collective “revealed preference”.
Reposted by Steve Randy Waldman
Barbaric
The administration just announced the end of TPS status designation for Burma, which will affect anyone from Burma in the U.S. with TPS status right now.
public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-21069.pdf
public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-21069.pdf
public-inspection.federalregister.gov
November 25, 2025 at 3:38 AM
Barbaric
the nordics aren’t “left of liberalism”.
November 25, 2025 at 3:46 AM
the nordics aren’t “left of liberalism”.
Reposted by Steve Randy Waldman
it's been about 900 years since i had beers at Crown & Anchor but this terlet warning is on point
November 25, 2025 at 2:06 AM
it's been about 900 years since i had beers at Crown & Anchor but this terlet warning is on point
xcancel.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:06 AM
was King Midas wealthy or poor?
November 25, 2025 at 1:57 AM
was King Midas wealthy or poor?
a great example of a post that refutes its own measures. no reasonable observer could conclude the typical Mississippian is better off than the typical Norweigian (except maybe the weather). if your measures say this, you’d better rethink your measures.
To put this in perspective, the median American in the *poorest state in the union*, Mississippi, has a higher annual income as adjusted for currency and cost of living than a Norwegian.
November 25, 2025 at 1:50 AM
a great example of a post that refutes its own measures. no reasonable observer could conclude the typical Mississippian is better off than the typical Norweigian (except maybe the weather). if your measures say this, you’d better rethink your measures.
Reposted by Steve Randy Waldman
posted in a Discord I'm in:
"Trump's AI agenda is (to paraphrase Matt Levine) to build God and ask it to defeat China"
"Trump's AI agenda is (to paraphrase Matt Levine) to build God and ask it to defeat China"
November 25, 2025 at 12:14 AM
posted in a Discord I'm in:
"Trump's AI agenda is (to paraphrase Matt Levine) to build God and ask it to defeat China"
"Trump's AI agenda is (to paraphrase Matt Levine) to build God and ask it to defeat China"
Reposted by Steve Randy Waldman
or getting medical care
which like housing and transportation amidst car dependent sprawl provides Americans less value per dollar spent than it should because of bad policy
which like housing and transportation amidst car dependent sprawl provides Americans less value per dollar spent than it should because of bad policy
November 24, 2025 at 8:38 PM
or getting medical care
which like housing and transportation amidst car dependent sprawl provides Americans less value per dollar spent than it should because of bad policy
which like housing and transportation amidst car dependent sprawl provides Americans less value per dollar spent than it should because of bad policy
Reposted by Steve Randy Waldman
This show was prophetic.
November 24, 2025 at 8:33 PM
This show was prophetic.
it's not great to conflate needing to cover the cost of a long commute, or to find housing where the schools are good and your kids are safe, with succumbing to the hedonic treadmill.
November 24, 2025 at 8:34 PM
it's not great to conflate needing to cover the cost of a long commute, or to find housing where the schools are good and your kids are safe, with succumbing to the hedonic treadmill.
Reposted by Steve Randy Waldman
November 24, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Reposted by Steve Randy Waldman
So far, it's shaping up to be a nice medium-sized group. Would you like to join us?
It would be cool if people in Seattle could get something going, but this is a global issue!
It would be cool if people in Seattle could get something going, but this is a global issue!
November 24, 2025 at 8:12 PM
So far, it's shaping up to be a nice medium-sized group. Would you like to join us?
It would be cool if people in Seattle could get something going, but this is a global issue!
It would be cool if people in Seattle could get something going, but this is a global issue!
Reposted by Steve Randy Waldman
Without wading in too far, I would add: There is a wild amount of heterogeneity/inequality in much of this. Many have employer-sponsored health insurance, but even with that, the cost and value can vary wildly. Same with childcare, who you know can determine if you can get a cheap spot.
November 24, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Without wading in too far, I would add: There is a wild amount of heterogeneity/inequality in much of this. Many have employer-sponsored health insurance, but even with that, the cost and value can vary wildly. Same with childcare, who you know can determine if you can get a cheap spot.
Reposted by Steve Randy Waldman
I think that in most European cities, you can much more reliably predict how stressed a household would be about all this if you only know their household income.
November 24, 2025 at 4:01 PM
I think that in most European cities, you can much more reliably predict how stressed a household would be about all this if you only know their household income.
Reposted by Steve Randy Waldman
yeah i think "how much does it cost to fully participate in society" is a kind of messy, hard-to-operationalize concept... but also the core thing we want to be measuring
not just mere physical subsistence, but a full social existence
not just mere physical subsistence, but a full social existence
November 24, 2025 at 3:22 PM
yeah i think "how much does it cost to fully participate in society" is a kind of messy, hard-to-operationalize concept... but also the core thing we want to be measuring
not just mere physical subsistence, but a full social existence
not just mere physical subsistence, but a full social existence
i’d not endorse all of the cost computation choices.
but the key point—changes in the price of participation in contemporary life are not taken into account by conventional purchasing power measures, and that price has grown much more than is reflected in inflation and poverty measures—is correct.
but the key point—changes in the price of participation in contemporary life are not taken into account by conventional purchasing power measures, and that price has grown much more than is reflected in inflation and poverty measures—is correct.
Man, gotta love some Wall Street guy who decides It’s Time To Care About Poverty and uses vibe math to recalculate the poverty line, as… $136,500
Extreme “it’s one banana, Michael” energy
Extreme “it’s one banana, Michael” energy
November 24, 2025 at 3:17 PM
i’d not endorse all of the cost computation choices.
but the key point—changes in the price of participation in contemporary life are not taken into account by conventional purchasing power measures, and that price has grown much more than is reflected in inflation and poverty measures—is correct.
but the key point—changes in the price of participation in contemporary life are not taken into account by conventional purchasing power measures, and that price has grown much more than is reflected in inflation and poverty measures—is correct.
a microwave oven, but for brains!
we have never needed the internet to melt people's brains with conspiracy theories, it has just made it much faster to do it
November 24, 2025 at 10:01 AM
a microwave oven, but for brains!
a frozen conflict is not the same as a peace.
the first prerequisite of a peace is mutual agreement as to the borders.
the first prerequisite of a peace is mutual agreement as to the borders.
November 24, 2025 at 6:49 AM
a frozen conflict is not the same as a peace.
the first prerequisite of a peace is mutual agreement as to the borders.
the first prerequisite of a peace is mutual agreement as to the borders.
humans are better at organizing the doing of things than organizing a refraining from things they would otherwise do.
instead of applying incentives to try to get people not to do a thing, consider whether you could apply incentives to get them to do some alternative things.
instead of applying incentives to try to get people not to do a thing, consider whether you could apply incentives to get them to do some alternative things.
November 24, 2025 at 6:12 AM
humans are better at organizing the doing of things than organizing a refraining from things they would otherwise do.
instead of applying incentives to try to get people not to do a thing, consider whether you could apply incentives to get them to do some alternative things.
instead of applying incentives to try to get people not to do a thing, consider whether you could apply incentives to get them to do some alternative things.
Reposted by Steve Randy Waldman
SIGH
I personally date the fall of the post-Civil Rights constitutional order 2013 & Shelby County v Holder. When a reactionary SCOTUS could knock out the keystone of equal voting rights, & everyone agreed that was valid, it was an epochal change. It meant democracy was itself now a partisan issue.
I personally date the fall of the post-Civil Rights constitutional order 2013 & Shelby County v Holder. When a reactionary SCOTUS could knock out the keystone of equal voting rights, & everyone agreed that was valid, it was an epochal change. It meant democracy was itself now a partisan issue.
As we all wait for Callais to come down, our piece showing that Shelby County increased the racial turnout gap in most of the covered parts of the country has cleared the replication check and is incoming at JOP.
Gutting the VRA was bad, actually.
Gutting the VRA was bad, actually.
November 24, 2025 at 3:12 AM
SIGH
I personally date the fall of the post-Civil Rights constitutional order 2013 & Shelby County v Holder. When a reactionary SCOTUS could knock out the keystone of equal voting rights, & everyone agreed that was valid, it was an epochal change. It meant democracy was itself now a partisan issue.
I personally date the fall of the post-Civil Rights constitutional order 2013 & Shelby County v Holder. When a reactionary SCOTUS could knock out the keystone of equal voting rights, & everyone agreed that was valid, it was an epochal change. It meant democracy was itself now a partisan issue.
since they’ve fully automated the rage machine, can we just automate the rage too?
November 24, 2025 at 5:14 AM
since they’ve fully automated the rage machine, can we just automate the rage too?
guy responsible for an estimated 600K deaths thus far has opinions.
November 24, 2025 at 5:09 AM
guy responsible for an estimated 600K deaths thus far has opinions.