#publicpolicy — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #publicpolicy, aggregated by home.social.
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subject to the cloud act...?
seems likely
'Unnamed companies are looking at setting up six data centres in Tasmania, a document tabled by the state government in parliament reveals'
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subject to the cloud act...?
seems likely
'Unnamed companies are looking at setting up six data centres in Tasmania, a document tabled by the state government in parliament reveals'
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subject to the cloud act...?
seems likely
'Unnamed companies are looking at setting up six data centres in Tasmania, a document tabled by the state government in parliament reveals'
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subject to the cloud act...?
seems likely
'Unnamed companies are looking at setting up six data centres in Tasmania, a document tabled by the state government in parliament reveals'
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subject to the cloud act...?
seems likely
'Unnamed companies are looking at setting up six data centres in Tasmania, a document tabled by the state government in parliament reveals'
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Whoever owns the compute owns the world?
In my latest post, I argue that governments should own or co-own part of the infrastructure behind AI. Regulation and taxation matter, but neither gives us the control we need.
We Need Public Ownership of AI Infrastructure
https://marcpuricelli.cv/posts/we-need-public-ownership-of-ai-infrastructure.html -
Whoever owns the compute owns the world?
In my latest post, I argue that governments should own or co-own part of the infrastructure behind AI. Regulation and taxation matter, but neither gives us the control we need.
We Need Public Ownership of AI Infrastructure
https://marcpuricelli.cv/posts/we-need-public-ownership-of-ai-infrastructure.html -
Whoever owns the compute owns the world?
In my latest post, I argue that governments should own or co-own part of the infrastructure behind AI. Regulation and taxation matter, but neither gives us the control we need.
We Need Public Ownership of AI Infrastructure
https://marcpuricelli.cv/posts/we-need-public-ownership-of-ai-infrastructure.html -
Whoever owns the compute owns the world?
In my latest post, I argue that governments should own or co-own part of the infrastructure behind AI. Regulation and taxation matter, but neither gives us the control we need.
We Need Public Ownership of AI Infrastructure
https://marcpuricelli.cv/posts/we-need-public-ownership-of-ai-infrastructure.html -
Whoever owns the compute owns the world?
In my latest post, I argue that governments should own or co-own part of the infrastructure behind AI. Regulation and taxation matter, but neither gives us the control we need.
We Need Public Ownership of AI Infrastructure
https://marcpuricelli.cv/posts/we-need-public-ownership-of-ai-infrastructure.html -
Canadian governments are taking different paths back to the office
#Canada #ReturnToOffice #RemoteWork #HybridWork #Government #PublicService #PublicServants #WorkFromHome #Politics #PublicPolicy #Labour #Employment #GovernmentPolicy #PublicTransit #Equity #Economy
https://the-14.com/canadian-governments-are-taking-different-paths-back-to-the-office/ -
Is Nepal Moving Toward a Socialism-Oriented Federal State or a Capitalist Economy? A Systems-Level Reflection on Nepal’s FY 2026/27 Budget
The Constitution of Nepal defines Nepal as a “socialism-oriented federal democratic republican state.” Multiple election cycles since the Maoist insurgency suggest that democracy has matured considerably. Political parties broadly operating within the republican democratic framework have consistently remained at the center of political competition. The most recent election, following the Gen-Z movement, arguably strengthened the foundations of the republican system. Political actors advocating a return to monarchy remained on the margins and failed to translate public unrest into electoral dominance. Historically, pro-monarchy sentiment tends to gain visibility when governments fail to deliver expected outcomes. The Gen-Z movement represented perhaps the strongest expression of dissatisfaction with the status quo political order. If the Nepali public genuinely favored restoration of monarchy, that election cycle would have provided an ideal opportunity for monarchy-supporting forces to emerge as a dominant political alternative. Instead, voters largely endorsed parties committed to republican democracy, reinforcing the democratic republican trajectory of the country. Yet another constitutional question remains unresolved: while Nepal appears committed to republican democracy, is it also moving toward becoming a socialism-oriented federal state? This article adopts a devil’s advocate perspective to examine whether the latest fiscal budget advances that constitutional aspiration or whether it reflects a different economic direction.
The Budget Represents a Development-State Strategy
Viewed from a systems perspective, the budget rests on a coherent developmental logic. Its central objectives are to accelerate growth through productive investment, strengthen state capacity through reform and digitization, and attract domestic, diaspora, and foreign investment. The underlying diagnosis appears reasonable. Nepal’s challenge is not merely a shortage of money but low productivity, weak state capacity, fragmented development efforts, and bureaucratic friction. The budget attempts to connect infrastructure, energy, agriculture, tourism, technology, and investment into a more integrated economic architecture. Borrowing is presented not as a tool for consumption but as an instrument for productivity-enhancing investment. From this perspective, the budget is essentially a wager on state capacity. If government institutions become more effective, projects are completed on time, corruption is reduced, and investment translates into economic growth, then higher borrowing may be justified. Many countries such as South Korea and Vietnam that successfully modernized followed versions of this strategy. The budget therefore deserves credit for attempting to move the conversation beyond annual expenditures toward a broader development framework.
Is the Budget Fundamentally a Trickle-Down Strategy?
A central question is whether the budget’s theory of change resembles a form of trickle-down economics. Much of the strategy focuses on investment promotion, infrastructure expansion, digitization, regulatory reform, business facilitation, and productivity growth. The implicit assumption appears to be that economic growth will eventually spread throughout society through employment generation, enterprise creation, and broader economic opportunities. The concern is not whether growth is desirable. The concern is whether the benefits of growth will reach marginalized populations quickly and equitably enough. Critics may reasonably ask whether the budget places greater emphasis on investors, businesses, and the middle class than on direct improvements in the economic conditions of vulnerable communities. If economic gains remain concentrated among those already positioned to benefit from investment opportunities, the constitutional aspiration of a socialism-oriented state becomes harder to reconcile with actual policy outcomes.
Do Specific Policy Choices Reflect a Capitalist Rather Than Socialism-Oriented Direction?
Several policy signals raise broader questions about the state’s economic philosophy. First, taxes imposed on education and health services are likely to be passed on to consumers unless strong regulatory mechanisms prevent it. If the objective is to increase reliance on public education and public healthcare, improving the quality and competitiveness of those services may be a more effective first step than creating additional costs within private alternatives. Second, electricity consumption thresholds before tax appear low relative to the growing electrification of modern households. As families adopt induction cooking, electric vehicles, heat pumps, and other appliances, many middle-income households could exceed these thresholds. The result may unintentionally encourage continued reliance on gas, firewood, or other fossil-fuel alternatives. If the objective is to redirect electricity toward industrial use, expanding generation capacity may be more sustainable than discouraging household consumption.
Third, enthusiasm for data centers, AI, remote work, and digital services raises a deeper strategic question. Is Nepal building on its own long-term comparative advantages, or is it once again responding primarily to incentives created elsewhere? Nepal previously moved away from potentially transformative assets such as electric public transport systems, ropeways, and large-scale reservoir hydropower development, and increasingly relied on labor export. The concern is not that digital industries are undesirable, but whether Nepal is repeating a pattern of chasing externally driven opportunities without a clearly articulated national development vision.
These examples create an impression that the budget may be nudging Nepal toward a model closer to contemporary market capitalism than toward the socialism-oriented framework envisioned by the constitution. Ironically, some parts of the capitalist Americas are currently witnessing renewed interest in democratic-socialist ideas and stronger social welfare policies, while Nepal appears to be emphasizing investment-led growth and market incentives.
The Real Debate may not Socialism Versus Capitalism
As the world is witnessing a renewed interest in democratic-socialist ideas and stronger social welfare, the deeper issue may not be whether Nepal is becoming socialist or capitalist country. The more important question is whether the assumptions underpinning the strategy prove correct. Several unintended consequences deserve attention. First, the key question is whether Nepal can finally convert borrowing into productive assets rather than accumulating debt without generating sufficient returns. Second, growth alone does not guarantee broad-based prosperity. The strategy assumes that gains from investment will spread through jobs, enterprise creation, and economic opportunity reaching marginalized communities. History suggests this outcome is possible but far from automatic. Third concern is about governance. The budget assumes improvements in administrative efficiency, project execution, corruption control, bureaucratic coordination, and institutional discipline. If these governance preconditions fail, borrowing could become another source of fiscal stress and public resentment rather than a catalyst for development. Fourth, the budget contains numerous concepts—corridors, processing, digitization, investment facilitation, infrastructure, tourism, and energy. Yet the overarching economic vision remains somewhat implicit. It is unclear whether these initiatives are components of a strategic coherent national development strategy or simply a collection of individually attractive policies held together by optimism rather than a clearly articulated economic vision. The assumption appears to be that combining these fragments will naturally produce prosperity, which deserves scrutiny.
The fifth concerns Nepal’s long-term development challenge. For more than four decades, billions of rupees have been invested in expanding road access into hill and mountain districts. While connectivity improved significantly, many districts continue to experience population decline as young people migrate to cities or overseas employment. Agricultural land is increasingly abandoned, wildlife pressures have intensified, and local economic opportunities remain limited. This experience suggests that infrastructure alone does not guarantee development. The more fundamental challenge may be employment generation, entrepreneurship, agricultural modernization, and innovation. A clearer budgetary focus on urban and rural entrepreneurship could potentially provide a more direct response to youth migration. Finance, training, vocational education, pilot programs, market access, digital economy initiatives, grants, loans, mentoring, and long-term support mechanisms could then function as supporting pillars around that central objective.
Finally, Nepal’s strategic location between India and China remains an underdeveloped dimension of national economic planning. The bridge-economy concept appears indirectly through investments in connectivity, energy, logistics, and regional development, but it remains insufficiently explicit. Positioning Nepal within the evolving economic geography of Asia may ultimately prove as important as any individual budget allocation.
Concluding, the budget reflects a serious attempt to accelerate growth, strengthen state capacity, and attract productive investment. Those objectives are difficult to oppose. However, important questions remain: are some policy choices moving Nepal closer to a market-capitalist model and trickle down economy than to a socialism-oriented nation; is there a sufficiently explicit economic vision connecting the many initiatives contained in the budget; can Nepal finally overcome its historic weakness in execution?The ultimate test will not be the size of the budget, the ambition of the plans, or the sophistication of the theories behind them. It will be whether the strategy creates productive employment, broad-based opportunity, stronger institutions, and a development pathway that keeps young Nepali invested in the country’s future. Efficiency can accelerate development. But democratic legitimacy, social inclusion, and long-term national purpose ultimately determine whether development becomes sustainable.
Note: This article is inspired by the article “New Team, New Budget: Nepal’s Big Development Bet [Part 1: Big Budget. Big Dreams. Big Assumptions.” published by Dr. Alok Bohora in his Substack website “Nepal Unplugged”. I was acknowledged in his successive article for contributing to the discussion. This article combines my thoughts together my synthesis of above mentioned article.
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#AgriculturalModernization #ArtificialIntelligence #bijeshMishra #BridgeEconomy #BureaucraticReform #Capitalism #ChinaNepalRelations #ConstitutionOfNepal #CorruptionControl #DataCenters #DevelopmentState #DiasporaInvestment #DigitalEconomy #EconomicGrowth #EconomicPolicy #EconomicVision #energyPolicy #Entrepreneurship #FederalDemocraticRepublic #FiscalPolicy #ForeignDirectInvestment #FY202627Budget #Governance #Hydropower #InclusiveGrowth #IndiaNepalRelations #InfrastructureDevelopment #InstitutionalReform #InvestmentPromotion #LaborMigration #MarketEconomy #NationalDevelopmentStrategy #Nepal #NepalBudget202627 #NepalDevelopment #NepalEconomy #PoliticalEconomy #ProductiveInvestment #PublicAdministration #PublicFinance #PublicPolicy #RuralDevelopment #SocialJustice #SocialismOrientedState #SouthKoreaDevelopmentModel #StateCapacity #SustainableDevelopment #TrickleDownEconomics #UrbanDevelopment #VietnamDevelopmentModel #youthEmployment -
U.S. Supreme Court’s Recent Decisions – What They Mean for You
The U.S. Supreme Court has wrapped up another historic term, issuing several decisions that could affect millions of Americans. From digital privacy and voting rules to presidential authority and gun rights, the Court’s rulings have implications that reach far beyond Washington, D.C.
Whether you live in Raleigh, North Carolina, or anywhere else in the country, here’s a straightforward look at some of the Court’s most significant recent decisions and how they may impact your daily life.
Digital Privacy: Geofence Warrants Face New Constitutional Limits
One of the term’s biggest technology and privacy decisions involved geofence warrants—court orders that require companies like Google to provide location information for devices near a crime scene.
The Supreme Court ruled that accessing this type of location history is considered a search under the Fourth Amendment and must receive constitutional protections. The case was returned to lower courts for additional review rather than creating a blanket rule for every geofence warrant. (Reuters)
What This Means for You
- Stronger recognition of digital privacy rights.
- Law enforcement may face stricter legal standards before obtaining broad location data.
- Smartphone users could receive greater constitutional protection over their location history.
Presidential Power Over Federal Agencies
In another closely watched case, the Court expanded presidential authority by allowing the President greater power to remove members of certain independent federal agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The ruling overturned a major precedent that had been in place since 1935. (Reuters)
What This Means for You
Potential long-term effects could include:
- Changes in how independent federal agencies operate.
- Different approaches to consumer protection and business regulation depending on the administration in power.
- Increased presidential influence over parts of the federal government.
Mail-In Ballots
The Supreme Court upheld laws allowing states to count mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day as long as they were postmarked on or before Election Day. The decision affects voting procedures in multiple states that already use similar rules. (The Guardian)
What This Means for You
- Voters in states with these laws may continue to have mailed ballots counted if they meet state deadlines.
- Election officials will continue following their state’s existing ballot-counting rules unless state legislatures change them.
Gun Rights Continue to Expand
The Court issued decisions that broaden protections under the Second Amendment, including striking down certain restrictions on carrying firearms on private property open to the public and limiting enforcement of one federal firearm prohibition. The rulings also signal that the Court may hear additional firearm-related cases in future terms. (Reuters)
What This Means for You
- Some state and local firearm restrictions may face additional legal challenges.
- Future Supreme Court decisions could further shape gun laws nationwide.
- State firearm regulations may continue evolving through litigation.
Why These Decisions Matter
Supreme Court decisions often become the law of the land, influencing:
- Personal privacy
- Voting and elections
- Consumer protections
- Government authority
- Criminal investigations
- Constitutional rights
Many of these rulings will continue to be interpreted by lower courts, meaning their full impact may not be known for months or even years.
How Could North Carolina Residents Be Affected?
For people across Raleigh and North Carolina, these decisions may influence:
- Privacy protections involving smartphones and digital technology.
- Future election procedures and voting policies.
- Consumer protections enforced by federal agencies.
- Firearm regulations challenged in federal courts.
- Future legal cases involving constitutional rights.
While some rulings take effect immediately, others simply establish legal standards that lower courts and lawmakers will apply over time.
Staying Informed
Supreme Court decisions often shape American life in ways that aren’t immediately obvious. From the apps you use on your phone to how elections are conducted and how federal agencies operate, the Court’s opinions can have lasting consequences for individuals, businesses, and local communities.
DoRaleigh.com will continue covering major legal, government, and public policy developments that matter to residents throughout Raleigh, Wake County, and the Triangle, helping explain what national decisions mean at the local level.
Connect With Us: Instagram | Facebook | BSky | Linkedin
Share With Us: Post your community News, Events, on our Submissions Page.
Advertise With Us: Interested in Advertising click here.Published by Bryan Tomlinson | BTDesigns.pro | DoRaleigh.com
#CivicEducation #ConstitutionalLaw #DigitalPrivacy #DoRaleigh #GeofenceWarrants #GovernmentNews #MailInBallots #News #NorthCarolinaNews #PresidentialPowers #PublicPolicy #RaleighNews #SecondAmendment #SupremeCourt2026 #SupremeCourtDecisions #USNews #USSupremeCourt #VotingRights -
CW: Occasional Foul Language. Always Political.
Breaking: March to the White House breaks out at the All of U.S. 250 Rally in Washington, D.C.!Find a demonstration near you at allofus250.org
Link: https://bsky.app/profile/50501movement.bsky.social/post/3mpcb24bfms22
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Reposted from 50501: The People's Movement
Join the Movement at https://fiftyfifty.one
This robot is unaffiliated w/ 50501
Replies here are only seen in the Fediverse, not on Bluesky. 50501 volunteers do not monitor this account.
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#Coup #Activism #FederalGovernment #USpol #Trump #NoKings #elections #50501Movement #WeAreTheResistance #WeHaveFriendsEverywhere #FDT #PeoplesMovement #FiftyFiftyOne #StopICE #protest #organize#MarchToTheWhiteHouse #AllOfUs250 #DCRally #WashingtonDC #PoliticalDemonstration #USPolitics #RallyForChange #PublicPolicy #DemocracyInAction #FindAProtest
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Canadians not confident public service is prepared for the future
#Canada #Politics #PublicService #Government #Economy #PublicPolicy #MarkCarney #StateCapacity #PublicTrust #CivilService #Governance #Taxpayers #Trade #Leadership #Federal #Populism
https://the-14.com/canadians-not-confident-public-service-is-prepared-for-the-future/ -
This new book explains why your elderly parents’ retirement home, the nursery where you drop your children, or the company that pipes water into your kitchen is taken over by an increasingly intricate and deregulated industry.
If a private equity fund is "buying something using a lot a debt, [then] all of that debt is loaded onto the company that the private equity fund has acquired."
"Private equity has moved into care homes, housing, water, nurseries and other essential services."
"We have the power for it to be done otherwise."Hettie O’Brien: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAJKiVQZaks via @oscarjiminy
#mortality #publicHealth #housing #publicServices #retirement #careHomes #hospital #expansion #development #LBO #privateFinance #finance #privateFinance #privateEquity #capitalism #publicPolicy #assets #England #Wales #Scotland #privateSector #UK #Britain #Blackstone #property #realEstate #buildToRent #Macquarie #childCare #careIndustry #taxBreaks #pensions #extraction
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‘Your letter has been forwarded for consideration’: A health expert on 4 ways Ottawa and Alberta avoid accountability
#Alberta #Canada #Politics #Accountability #Democracy #Governance #PublicPolicy #Transparency #HealthPolicy #PublicTrust #CanadaHealthAct
https://the-14.com/your-letter-has-been-forwarded-for-consideration-a-health-expert-on-4-ways-ottawa-and-alberta-avoid-accountability/ -
IDB Launches ‘Superheroes of Development’ Contest to Improve Lives in Latin America
The Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB Group) has officially launched the ninth edition of …
#Conflict #Conflicts #War #Caribbean #developmentprojects #IDBGroup #IDBInvest #IDBLab #innovation #Inter-AmericanDevelopmentBank #internationaldevelopment #Latinamerica #publicpolicy #regionalcooperation #socialimpact #SuperheroesofDevelopment #SustainableDevelopment #worldcup
https://www.europesays.com/3001820/ -
How the American right managed to convince itself that the programs to alleviate poverty are responsible for the consequences of poverty will someday be studied as a notorious mass illusion. In the meantime, real children — kids who get earaches and like Big Bird and are crabby when they aren’t fed and whose eyes widen in wonder when they meet Santa Claus — will pay the price for this pernicious folly.
Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (1995-12-24), “Look to the Children of the Poor in This Season of Budget-Slashing,” Fort Worth Star-TelegramMore about this quote: wist.info/ivins-molly/83595/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #mollyivins #conservatives #government #poor #poverty #publicpolicy #rightwing #safetynet #socialprogram #socialwelfare #welfare
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⚠️📚 TOP 7 Best-Selling Books in Political Corruption & Misconduct
If you study:
✔️ Political Science
✔️ Public Policy
✔️ Law
✔️ Government & EthicsInside this niche, readers want to understand:
— corruption in political systems
— abuse of public power
— ethics and accountability
— scandals, institutions, and governance📩 DM “POLITICS” for lower-cost academic access and study guidance.
#PoliticalScience #PublicPolicy #LawStudents #GovernmentStudies #StudySmarter #DiGiBOKA #DigitalLearning
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Reform fails not because people resist change, but because institutions inherit decades of emotional and procedural memory.
This video explains the ghost layer: the invisible structure that absorbs, dilutes, or reinterprets reform before it ever reaches citizens.
https://open.substack.com/pub/associationredefine/p/illegible-systems-why-institutions?r=6l8ed8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
#SystemsThinking
#Governance
#InstitutionalReform
#CivicIntelligence
#Democracy
#PublicPolicy
#PoliticalTheory -
How to keep plant-based foods on the table now that Veganuary is over
#Food #PlantBased #SustainableFood #PublicPolicy #Hospitals #HealthyEating #FoodSystems #ClimateAction #InstitutionalChange #Nutrition #Universities #LowCarbon #Sustainability #Veganuary
https://the-14.com/how-to-keep-plant-based-foods-on-the-table-now-that-veganuary-is-over/ -
A Diaspora That Built a Nation: New White Paper Chronicles the Enduring Impact of Indians in Britain
#TycoonWorld #IndianDiaspora #UKIndiaRelations #DiasporaLeadership #PublicPolicy #EconomicDevelopment #GlobalTalent #WorkforceDevelopment #DigitalTransformation #TechLeadership #InnovationEconomy #HealthcareWorkforce #SkilledMigration #InternationalBusiness #CrossCulturalLeadership #AcademicResearch #ThoughtLeadership #GlobalMobility #EconomicPolicy
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“Distracted from distraction by distraction”*…
Don Moynihan argues that here has been a shift in the character– the instincts, the motivations, and thus the patterns of decision and action– of our government…
One of the strangest moments to emerge from the U.S. kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro was the flurry of images posted by President Trump on Truth Social. It felt a bit like a student who can’t decide which spring break photos look cutest, so they just upload them all.
The intent seemed to be to create an iconic image reminiscent of the White House Situation Room during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden—a gathering of stoic men (no girls allowed!) staring grimly at some unseen screen. The message: “Look how serious and important our work is!” Yet, the staged nature of these photos undermines that effect, leaving the whole scene feeling less like history in the making and more like an amateur theater production of a Broadway classic.
In one image, the Director of the CIA, the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Secretary of Defense are grouped around a laptop. Behind them, unmistakably, a screen displays a feed from X—complete with a prominent yellow emoji. In other pictures, “Venezuela” appears to be in the search box.
With the best intelligence systems in the world at their fingertips, they were checking X in the midst of the mission? Combined with the curtains separating some section of Mar‑A‑Lago from the rest of the President’s resort, the images create an almost surreal air. It felt as if a group of twelve-year-old boys in a basement had been handed control of the most lethal military in history—and were using it to boost their online brands.
Trump is undoubtedly the American president who has most effectively wielded social media: drawing attention, reshaping norms, and fueling conspiracy theories. The successful use of social media, for example, turned avowed MAGA isolationists into enthusiastic colonial imperialists overnight.
But I want to suggest that what we are witnessing from the Trump administration is not just skillful manipulation of social media—it’s something more profoundly worrying. Today, we live in a clicktatorship, ruled by a LOLviathan. Our algothracy is governed by poster brains.
It’s worth remembering that social media operates like a drug, feeding us dopamine and rewiring our brains’ reward pathways. The fundamentally unhealthy dynamics are worsened by the fact that standing out online often demands being awful—channeling negative emotions like anger and outrage, usually based on misinformation or conspiracy theories.
None of this is new. Indeed, there is a booming political science literature on the effects of social media on voter behavior. Chris Hayes and others have written persuasively about the how toxic attention farming is for us personally and for our democracy. But I want to make the case that we should also consider how social media it is affecting how policymakers use public power.
What I’m arguing is that the Trump administration isn’t just using social media to shape a narrative. Many of its members are deeply addicted to it. We would be concerned if a senior government official was an alcoholic or drug addict, knowing it could impair judgment and decisionmaking. But we should be equally concerned about Pete Hegseth and Elon Musk’s social media compulsions—just as much as their alcohol or ketamine use, respectively.
Overexposure to online engagement has cooked the brains of some of the most powerful people in the world. This is not exclusively an American phenomenon. President Yoon Suk Yeol seemed to have genuinely believed online conspiracy theories about election fraud, motivating his declaration of martial law and triggering a constitutional crisis, and his eventual arrest, in Korea.
But in the US government, poster brain feels endemic. The Trump administration is made up of a cabinet of posters. For many, that’s how they won Trump’s attention. The head of the FBI, for example, is a podcaster—that’s his main qualifier for the job.
They view the world through a social media lens in a way that is plausibly corrupting their judgment and undermining their performance. Lets think through how poster brain can affect how people in government operate…
[Moynihan explores, with illustrative examples, online bubbles, conflicts between professional and online indentities, the degradation of professional norms and work practices, and the altering of decision-making to be responsive to social media– to create content]
I’m just scratching the surface here. Pick any federal agency, and you can find examples of poster brains making important decisions. This trend is likely to only get worse as digital natives enter key government roles. And there are likely a host of other ways these patterns are undermining the professional behavior of people in government that I have not identified. In particular, the Trump administration represents the intersection of poster brain, personalism, and authoritarianism that seems especially toxic…
… The bottom line is that it we need to take more seriously how social media has rewired the brains—and behavior—of those running our country.
Eminently worth reading in full: What happens to government when everything is content? “Life Under a Clicktatorship,” from @donmoyn.bsky.social.
See also: “The Trump-Flavored Content Administration,” from @cooperlund.online, and “How ICE Makes Raids Go Viral,” from @taylorlorenz.bsky.social.
And a bit orthogonal, but apposite: “The year of technoligarchy,” from @molly.wiki.
* T.S. Eliot, Burnt Norton
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As we recommit to real life, we might recall that today in National Static Electicity Day.
#culture #government #history #NationalStaticElecticityDay #politicalScience #politics #publicPolicy #socialMedia #staticElectricity #Technology -
दिल्ली में दिवाली‑के‑बाद छठ पूजा की तैयारियाँ, छठ पूजा पर भी सियासत तेज़।
https://aliyesha.com/sub/articles/news/display/nd_politics_chhath_pooja_2025
#delhi #newdelhi #india #news #press #Chhath #Chhath2025 #Festivals #CulturalHeritage #UrbanPlanning #PoliticalDebate #YamunaRiver #Yamuna #CommunityEvents #HeritagePreservation #PublicPolicy #BJP #AAP
Enjoy tracker free reading with us. #privacy #privacymatters
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AI use by UK justice system risks papering over the cracks caused by years of underfunding
#Tech #AI #JusticeSystem #UKPolitics #LegalTech #AccessToJustice #CourtReform #AIethics #Underfunding #HumanRights #DigitalJustice #PublicPolicy
https://the-14.com/ai-use-by-uk-justice-system-risks-papering-over-the-cracks-caused-by-years-of-underfunding/ -
A quotation from Franklin Roosevelt
There is no question in my mind that it is time for the country to become fairly radical for a generation. History shows that where this occurs occasionally, nations are saved from revolution.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933-1945)
Letter (1930-05-12) to John A. KingsburySourcing, notes: wist.info/roosevelt-franklin-d…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #fdr #franklinroosevelt #domesticpolicy #economics #policy #politicalinstability #politics #publicpolicy #radicalism #revolution #stability
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"The first step may be to finally recognize that “running government like a business” has always been a red herring. The government is not a business — it is the thing that makes business possible. Unregulated markets frequently fail to produce good businesses so long as we define “good” as beneficial to their customers. And unregulated businesses, as we’ve recently been forced to witness, are even worse at producing good government. As the economist Mariana Mazzucato has long argued, the libertarian CEO types now running Washington are willfully ignorant of just how dependent their industries are on the backbone of public services like roads, telecoms, courts and publicly-funded research — services they have enjoyed largely for free since financial liberalization and business tax cuts have allowed them to shelter the vast majority of their profits.
Step two is much harder: articulating some positive idea of an activist government in the marketplace. For Doctorow, as for many others, this begins with “a very aggressive antitrust agenda” aimed at breaking up the monopolies that have become powerful enough to capture — and try to replace — the federal government under Trump. “You cannot have a referee who is weaker than the players on the field,” he told me.
“Anti-government nihilism cannot be countered without a defense of the government’s role in daily life.”
But there are other, more constructive roles the government could play. Doctorow suggested a federal jobs guarantee that would put a meaningful floor on the value of labor. Or a database of publicly funded, patent-free research, which would compel corporations to support interoperability — what Mazzucato has called, in the context of AI, a “decentralized innovation ecosystem that serves the public good.”"
https://www.noemamag.com/the-good-society-department/
#USA #NewDeal #PublicAdministration #BigGovernment #PublicPolicy #PublicInterest
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"The first step may be to finally recognize that “running government like a business” has always been a red herring. The government is not a business — it is the thing that makes business possible. Unregulated markets frequently fail to produce good businesses so long as we define “good” as beneficial to their customers. And unregulated businesses, as we’ve recently been forced to witness, are even worse at producing good government. As the economist Mariana Mazzucato has long argued, the libertarian CEO types now running Washington are willfully ignorant of just how dependent their industries are on the backbone of public services like roads, telecoms, courts and publicly-funded research — services they have enjoyed largely for free since financial liberalization and business tax cuts have allowed them to shelter the vast majority of their profits.
Step two is much harder: articulating some positive idea of an activist government in the marketplace. For Doctorow, as for many others, this begins with “a very aggressive antitrust agenda” aimed at breaking up the monopolies that have become powerful enough to capture — and try to replace — the federal government under Trump. “You cannot have a referee who is weaker than the players on the field,” he told me.
“Anti-government nihilism cannot be countered without a defense of the government’s role in daily life.”
But there are other, more constructive roles the government could play. Doctorow suggested a federal jobs guarantee that would put a meaningful floor on the value of labor. Or a database of publicly funded, patent-free research, which would compel corporations to support interoperability — what Mazzucato has called, in the context of AI, a “decentralized innovation ecosystem that serves the public good.”"
https://www.noemamag.com/the-good-society-department/
#USA #NewDeal #PublicAdministration #BigGovernment #PublicPolicy #PublicInterest
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"The first step may be to finally recognize that “running government like a business” has always been a red herring. The government is not a business — it is the thing that makes business possible. Unregulated markets frequently fail to produce good businesses so long as we define “good” as beneficial to their customers. And unregulated businesses, as we’ve recently been forced to witness, are even worse at producing good government. As the economist Mariana Mazzucato has long argued, the libertarian CEO types now running Washington are willfully ignorant of just how dependent their industries are on the backbone of public services like roads, telecoms, courts and publicly-funded research — services they have enjoyed largely for free since financial liberalization and business tax cuts have allowed them to shelter the vast majority of their profits.
Step two is much harder: articulating some positive idea of an activist government in the marketplace. For Doctorow, as for many others, this begins with “a very aggressive antitrust agenda” aimed at breaking up the monopolies that have become powerful enough to capture — and try to replace — the federal government under Trump. “You cannot have a referee who is weaker than the players on the field,” he told me.
“Anti-government nihilism cannot be countered without a defense of the government’s role in daily life.”
But there are other, more constructive roles the government could play. Doctorow suggested a federal jobs guarantee that would put a meaningful floor on the value of labor. Or a database of publicly funded, patent-free research, which would compel corporations to support interoperability — what Mazzucato has called, in the context of AI, a “decentralized innovation ecosystem that serves the public good.”"
https://www.noemamag.com/the-good-society-department/
#USA #NewDeal #PublicAdministration #BigGovernment #PublicPolicy #PublicInterest
-
"The first step may be to finally recognize that “running government like a business” has always been a red herring. The government is not a business — it is the thing that makes business possible. Unregulated markets frequently fail to produce good businesses so long as we define “good” as beneficial to their customers. And unregulated businesses, as we’ve recently been forced to witness, are even worse at producing good government. As the economist Mariana Mazzucato has long argued, the libertarian CEO types now running Washington are willfully ignorant of just how dependent their industries are on the backbone of public services like roads, telecoms, courts and publicly-funded research — services they have enjoyed largely for free since financial liberalization and business tax cuts have allowed them to shelter the vast majority of their profits.
Step two is much harder: articulating some positive idea of an activist government in the marketplace. For Doctorow, as for many others, this begins with “a very aggressive antitrust agenda” aimed at breaking up the monopolies that have become powerful enough to capture — and try to replace — the federal government under Trump. “You cannot have a referee who is weaker than the players on the field,” he told me.
“Anti-government nihilism cannot be countered without a defense of the government’s role in daily life.”
But there are other, more constructive roles the government could play. Doctorow suggested a federal jobs guarantee that would put a meaningful floor on the value of labor. Or a database of publicly funded, patent-free research, which would compel corporations to support interoperability — what Mazzucato has called, in the context of AI, a “decentralized innovation ecosystem that serves the public good.”"
https://www.noemamag.com/the-good-society-department/
#USA #NewDeal #PublicAdministration #BigGovernment #PublicPolicy #PublicInterest
-
"The first step may be to finally recognize that “running government like a business” has always been a red herring. The government is not a business — it is the thing that makes business possible. Unregulated markets frequently fail to produce good businesses so long as we define “good” as beneficial to their customers. And unregulated businesses, as we’ve recently been forced to witness, are even worse at producing good government. As the economist Mariana Mazzucato has long argued, the libertarian CEO types now running Washington are willfully ignorant of just how dependent their industries are on the backbone of public services like roads, telecoms, courts and publicly-funded research — services they have enjoyed largely for free since financial liberalization and business tax cuts have allowed them to shelter the vast majority of their profits.
Step two is much harder: articulating some positive idea of an activist government in the marketplace. For Doctorow, as for many others, this begins with “a very aggressive antitrust agenda” aimed at breaking up the monopolies that have become powerful enough to capture — and try to replace — the federal government under Trump. “You cannot have a referee who is weaker than the players on the field,” he told me.
“Anti-government nihilism cannot be countered without a defense of the government’s role in daily life.”
But there are other, more constructive roles the government could play. Doctorow suggested a federal jobs guarantee that would put a meaningful floor on the value of labor. Or a database of publicly funded, patent-free research, which would compel corporations to support interoperability — what Mazzucato has called, in the context of AI, a “decentralized innovation ecosystem that serves the public good.”"
https://www.noemamag.com/the-good-society-department/
#USA #NewDeal #PublicAdministration #BigGovernment #PublicPolicy #PublicInterest
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The 2023 US 50-State National Seismic Hazard Model - Overview And Implications
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https://www.usgs.gov/programs/earthquake-hazards/science/2023-national-seismic-hazard-model-whats-shaking <-- USGS technical article
--
https://doi.org/10.1177/87552930231215428 <-- shared paper
--
#GIS #spatial #mapping #earthquake #seismichazard #risk #hazard #shakemap #cost #economics #geology #engineeringgeology #hazardmodel #model #modeling #seismicity #faultruptures #groundmotions #probabilistic #probability #geostatistics #engineering #planning #management #mitigation #NSHM #forecast #infrastructure #publicsafety #hazardassessment #fault #faulting #structuralgeology #intensity #mercalli #buildingcode #design #publicpolicy #shakemap #engineeringrisk #future
@USGS @FEMA -
The 2023 US 50-State National Seismic Hazard Model - Overview And Implications
--
https://www.usgs.gov/programs/earthquake-hazards/science/2023-national-seismic-hazard-model-whats-shaking <-- USGS technical article
--
https://doi.org/10.1177/87552930231215428 <-- shared paper
--
#GIS #spatial #mapping #earthquake #seismichazard #risk #hazard #shakemap #cost #economics #geology #engineeringgeology #hazardmodel #model #modeling #seismicity #faultruptures #groundmotions #probabilistic #probability #geostatistics #engineering #planning #management #mitigation #NSHM #forecast #infrastructure #publicsafety #hazardassessment #fault #faulting #structuralgeology #intensity #mercalli #buildingcode #design #publicpolicy #shakemap #engineeringrisk #future
@USGS @FEMA -
The 2023 US 50-State National Seismic Hazard Model - Overview And Implications
--
https://www.usgs.gov/programs/earthquake-hazards/science/2023-national-seismic-hazard-model-whats-shaking <-- USGS technical article
--
https://doi.org/10.1177/87552930231215428 <-- shared paper
--
#GIS #spatial #mapping #earthquake #seismichazard #risk #hazard #shakemap #cost #economics #geology #engineeringgeology #hazardmodel #model #modeling #seismicity #faultruptures #groundmotions #probabilistic #probability #geostatistics #engineering #planning #management #mitigation #NSHM #forecast #infrastructure #publicsafety #hazardassessment #fault #faulting #structuralgeology #intensity #mercalli #buildingcode #design #publicpolicy #shakemap #engineeringrisk #future
@USGS @FEMA -
The 2023 US 50-State National Seismic Hazard Model - Overview And Implications
--
https://www.usgs.gov/programs/earthquake-hazards/science/2023-national-seismic-hazard-model-whats-shaking <-- USGS technical article
--
https://doi.org/10.1177/87552930231215428 <-- shared paper
--
#GIS #spatial #mapping #earthquake #seismichazard #risk #hazard #shakemap #cost #economics #geology #engineeringgeology #hazardmodel #model #modeling #seismicity #faultruptures #groundmotions #probabilistic #probability #geostatistics #engineering #planning #management #mitigation #NSHM #forecast #infrastructure #publicsafety #hazardassessment #fault #faulting #structuralgeology #intensity #mercalli #buildingcode #design #publicpolicy #shakemap #engineeringrisk #future
@USGS @FEMA -
The 2023 US 50-State National Seismic Hazard Model - Overview And Implications
--
https://www.usgs.gov/programs/earthquake-hazards/science/2023-national-seismic-hazard-model-whats-shaking <-- USGS technical article
--
https://doi.org/10.1177/87552930231215428 <-- shared paper
--
#GIS #spatial #mapping #earthquake #seismichazard #risk #hazard #shakemap #cost #economics #geology #engineeringgeology #hazardmodel #model #modeling #seismicity #faultruptures #groundmotions #probabilistic #probability #geostatistics #engineering #planning #management #mitigation #NSHM #forecast #infrastructure #publicsafety #hazardassessment #fault #faulting #structuralgeology #intensity #mercalli #buildingcode #design #publicpolicy #shakemap #engineeringrisk #future
@USGS @FEMA -
As a former National Teacher of the Year, I’ve seen how federal protections in education are more than policies—they’re lifelines.
Eliminating the USDOE risks dismantling decades of progress.The cost? Lost opportunities for our children. Educational justice is non-negotiable.
Read my article on why equity in education is essential for all:
https://medium.com/@shannapeeples/who-will-protect-our-students-when-the-department-of-education-is-gone-904b6fddf52a -
"Noticing who isn't in the room is the first step. Next you can ask, What would it take to change this?" --Anna Zivarts, author of When Driving Is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency.
https://islandpress.org/books/when-driving-not-option#desc
#transportation #planning #UrbanPlanning #Urbanists #PublicPolicy #PublicHealth #PoliSci #sociology #disability #accessibility #MoveEquity #MobilityJustice #EBikes #transit #micromobility #BikeTooter #inclusion #equity #CarCulture #nondrivers #WeekWithoutDriving
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TODAY! Friday Dec 8 is final day for submissions to the @fosdem #EU Policy devroom. In a refreshing format designed to directly engage policy makers and @FOSS developers, CFP seeks ideas and engagement, not talking heads, to envision improved public consultation. Also seeking volunteer rapporteurs. Please share. #FOSS #opensource #publicpolicy #CyberResilienceAct #PLA #DigitalMarket #InteroperableEurope https://fosdem.org/2024/schedule/track/eu-policy/
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There are 3 things we think you should know about the youth homelessness crisis in California
https://www.kidsdata.org/blog/?p=10890#Homelessness #Housing #HousingAffordability #Children #Youth #Families #Crisis #Data #DataGap #PublicHealth #PublicPolicy
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2008, Koch was included in #Businessweek's list of top 50 American givers. Between 2004 and 2008, #Koch gave $246 million, focusing on "#libertarian causes, giving money for #academic and #publicpolicy #research and #socialwelfare."[Yeah right] [49] Koch was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from #GeorgeMasonUniversity in recognition of his financial support "through scholarships, faculty recruitment, and research grants".[50] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Koch#Libertarianism
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In an era of perma-crisis, our governing institutions need to enable resilience & local adaptation to respond.
The shocks of inflation, pandemics and the climate emergency have different local consequences: rigid nationally-led systems have diminishing returns.
My piece for the MJ (https://www.themj.co.uk/Is-our-governance-fit-for-purpose/224566)
#Permacrisis #ukpolitics #publicpolicy #climate #pandemic #crisis #policy #thinktank