MrJonLott

Just do it!

I condemned Chinese Uighur oppression elsewhere in this AMA, and I will do so again. I 100% denounce China's wretched behavior when it comes to Uighurs (and Tibetans, and Hong Kongers).

If we want to change China's behavior, it has to come through global sanctions and a total boycott of all the companies profiting off China's near-slave labor in Xinjiang. We don't have sovereignty over Chinese land so this is the best we can do, barring military action.

Do I think I can arrange another constitutional convention? Hell no. But it'll never happen unless people start talking about it. Andrew Yang single-handedly brought UBI into the mainstream, and now some people are seriously discussing it. And Yang almost certainly won't be the President when that gets signed into law, if it ever happens. Move the Overton window!

Just like the Green New Deal. I have no illusions that America will ever pass the GND as it currently stands. But by making noise around it, we can increase pressure on elected officials to enact at least part of it. These are ideals to strive towards. A first-term congressperson can't usually accomplish much.

I think the Democratic Party's plan is to keep kicking the can down the road, while softly continuing the surveillance state and overseas expeditions. I don't see a lot of backbone when it comes to climate or tax issues. And I lean conservative when it comes to guns, immigration, and the so-called nanny state. And there are some issues I believe that no party wants to touch with a 10-foot pole (like taxing religious institutions and having a second constitutional convention).

Any plan to solve the climate crisis needs to address our current levels of consumption, which are unsustainable. I think we need to think big when it comes to climate, bigger than the Democrats' official platform. But their plan is miles better than the GOP's.

Thank you very much for signing my nomination papers!

There definitely are drawbacks from living overseas. For example, I missed my sister's wedding reception (she was married privately earlier but I missed the party), for which I'm deeply regretful. I've gotten food poisoning in China, and I probably could've made more money if I had just stayed put in the United States. Like a lot of things, I think they're a lot clearer in hindsight, but I don't regret the time I spent out in the world.