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Jason Kuznicki

@jkuznicki.bsky.social

5K followers 1K following 8K posts

A gay dad cultivating his garden in Puna, Hawaii. Now working on some big projects for the future.🍍🌴🌱📖🌐☸️ Newsletter: https://pacification.beehiiv.com/ Book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/3319839950/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=&sr=

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Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 1d

The remedy for a president who believes he can levy taxes and spend the revenue without congressional authorization is removal from office.

Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 5d

The remedy for a president who even attempts to invent new crimes by decree is removal from office.

Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 7d

The remedy for a president who both lies to your face and also expects you to make a deal with him is removal from office.

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Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 54m

Many of them were absolutely lying. Many others understood that our wealthy donors wanted something very wrong, and we worked to try to educate them. Or at least that's what we told ourselves.

Nowadays we're mostly fending for ourselves or landing at a small handful of still-sympathetic places.

Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 1h

I've seen some folks on Facebook go from "woke must die" to "the tariffs must die," with little apparent reflection in between. But culturally they're not going to matter; in all fairness I might not either.

Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 1h

Immigration, halfway decent property laws, lack of path dependence, lack of aristocracy, lack of war with peer powers, and... unfortunately... removing Native Americans.

Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 1h

I’m right here, sir. I’ve been on record since 2015.

Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 1h

My depressing take on political theory is that ideology doesn’t inform anyone anymore. It’s become a set of names and slogans to drop. They serve only as coordination points for doing whatever you wanted to do anyway.

Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 1h

Yes indeed.

Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social · 1h

Adam Smith! This is literally! The point! Of Wealth of Nations!!

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Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 1h

To someone born in power and privilege, that kind of indiscriminate prosperity might feel like losing. Particularly if they haven’t absorbed economic theory.

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Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 1h

Like most bad economic theories, mercantilism implies that resource and monetary stocks matter more than flows. That’s 100% backwards.

Resource flows enrich people. They’re unpopular with rulers like Trump because a free economy can potentially enrich people all over the world. Not just us.

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Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 1h

Mercantilism aims at strengthening our state at the expense of other states, with the expectation of waging wars against them. It hopes to strengthen our ruler by giving him more money than theirs has.

It is not a recipe for prosperity, only for piling up money, which is not the same.

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Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 1h

This is mercantilism. The president is the master of a big tax farm, and you’re the cash cow. The country is considered rich insofar as money flows toward the ruler and then stops.

Every modern economic theory, from Marxism to Milton Friedman, has rejected mercantilist thinking.

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Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 1h

Third parties can’t overcome our electoral system. If I could push a button and get multimember proportional representation, I would—and all of this would be over.

Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 1h

1. 2014 GOP > 2024 GOP, and it’s not close. 2014 GOP would fit the bill, if minimally, provided they could still mobilize their base.

2. I linked you a much better alternative. I’d value your thoughts on it.

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Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 1h

Imagine a party system where one party is social democratic and the other looks like this.

I’m not at all sure we can land here, but if we did, I’d vote with the right myself:

Is a Liberal Realignment Emerging from the Rubble of MAGA Authoritarianism?

Democrats have an opportunity to champion a confident, forward-looking market liberalism given that the GOP has fully returned to its reactionary roots

www.theunpopulist.net

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Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 1h

The most Bluesky-unpopular fix for what’s wrong with America would be an electorally competitive reality-based center-right party.

Most people on here would hate it, and pretty much by definition, it would work.

(Do I think Ahmari is the guy to set it up? Or Hanania? Of course not. Can anyone? 🤷🏻‍♂️)

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Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 2h

His term for the right wing crackpots. It’s not a bad one.

Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 2h

Nowhere near the worst of it!

Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 2h

I don’t share Ahmari’s view of 2020-21, but what he says about the conservative epistemological system is correct.

I don’t know how to fix it. Not even among my family and friends.

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Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 2h

One of the people who did the most to get us here muses:

“Liberal America still generally tunes into mainstream outlets while much of the right half of the electorate seems hooked on star-child radio. As UnHerd columnist Richard Hanania concluded, ‘the Right is in deep trouble.’” (Gift link)

Opinion | Somehow, right-wing fabulist crackpottery is worse than ever

Trump’s populism is in power, but that is far from satisfying the loonier conservative precincts.

wapo.st

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Reposted by Jason Kuznicki

John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 2h

I might end up talking about this graph all day.

I think one thing Dems need to realize is that "Americans" are not buying into the "cities on fire" lies of this admin.

It's JUST Republicans. So if you're a governor of a solidly blue state, or a blue-city mayor, the national story is NOT YOURS.

Gallup poll showing a wild divergence in "is crime rising" over the past two years, w GOP at 90, independents at 68, Dems at 29.

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Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 2h

If I were president I’d open the doors to everyone, Israeli or Palestinian, who wanted to escape the appalling eternal mess. It might not fix the problem, but it would certainly save some lives and improve many others while doing no harm whatsoever.

Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 2h

Liberals: International institutions are the friends of rulers, not their subjects, and not the downtrodden.

A real liberal internationalism should start at home—and make the United States a refuge for the oppressed.

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Reposted by Jason Kuznicki

Erica "digifox" Kovac @digifox.binaryden.net · 2h

The irony is I think there IS a major crime problem in this country, but it's white-collar crime and the scam economy. That's the reason people's cortisol levels are through the roof. Everyone is getting screwed, just not by people mugging you with a handgun or knife.

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Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 2h

I just don’t think supporting Israel while it conducts a genocide in Gaza is behavior worthy of a Nobel laureate. That would be like when Kissinger won.

Which means I can’t entirely rule it out, I guess.

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Reposted by Jason Kuznicki

Patrick G. Eddington @pgeddington.com · 2h

And this is exactly why an extended (6+ months) government shutdown is crucial. It's tough to engage in mass tyranny if you can't pay the on-the-street goons you need to carry it out.

Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 4h

Nothing remotely resembling an insurrection is happening anywhere in the country. Any violence associated with protest has been isolated, mild, and, in nearly every case, instigated by federal law enforcement. If we let Trump get away with calling dissent an insurrection, our republic is over.

BREAKING: Trump Admin 'Seriously' Considering Using the Insurrection Act, Reports NBC

President Trump is "seriously" considering invoking the Insurrection Act in order to more easily deploy National Guard troops to major cities as part of crime crackdown, NBC reported on Wednesday

www.mediaite.com

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Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 3h

If you’re looking for an outside reader or editor, I volunteer.