John Ericson
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johnericson.me
John Ericson
@johnericson.me
Reposted by John Ericson
National democratic leadership is getting so bad that it is becoming a self censoring fact in the same way that Trump’s evil and incompetency becomes self censoring
A real banner week for Chuck Schumer, given that only a few days ago he refused to back the Democratic nominee for mayor of his home city.
November 10, 2025 at 5:01 AM
Reposted by John Ericson
Last protest was No Kings. The next one is No Senators.
November 10, 2025 at 3:47 AM
Reposted by John Ericson
(Although I did have a fun bicameral trip to Iceland a few years back where their head of parliament told us they briefly adopted that structure but quickly got rid of it because it didn't work. House members of the delegation cheered. Senators pouted. It was fun.)
November 9, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Reposted by John Ericson
Genuinely what is even the purpose of the Democratic party as an institution? It can't consolidate the liberal lane in elections (eg NYC mayor) and it can't create a united liberal negotiation front without being undermined by some members (shutdown negotiations)
November 10, 2025 at 12:23 AM
Reposted by John Ericson
Or the other way I’ll put it is they fail because they default themselves to only having a portfolio of bad assets.
Yup. Increasing returns demand large portfolios in which higher return assets cross-subsidize lower return assets and minimize project-specific risks.

Municipalization convos too often emphasize lower return projects in housing + energy, ceding market share to the private sector from the jump.
I actually believe markets *are* hard to manage because increasing returns to scale / natural monopolies are way more common than people think. But that is kind of the polar opposite of what they believe (every big entrenched market actor is evidence of something dysregulated and unnatural).
November 8, 2025 at 5:55 PM
[on pre-K] “Working-class and low-income New Yorkers come up to me and say thank you with great sincerity,” he said. “But upper-middle-class people come up to me, grab my arm, and say thank you emphatically.”

That's right!
Zohran’s win was, in part, an outcome of the growing PMC class consciousness, and I’m happy someone at the Times is noticing
Zohran Mamdani and the Revenge of the Struggling Yuppie
www.nytimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by John Ericson
After following a few links I got to www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfi8... woo!!!!
Chinook salmon leaps Keno Dam fish ladder in historic return on Klamath River
YouTube video by Central Oregon Daily News
www.youtube.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Reposted by John Ericson
Across the developed world, big city conservative mayors and council majorities are quite common—except in the US. Why are Republicans are so much less relevant in cities than their peers in every other developed country? My latest:
mnolangray.substack.com/p/why-are-re...
Why Are Republicans So Irrelevant In Big City Politics?
A little armchair political science among friends.
mnolangray.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Reposted by John Ericson
Garibaldi was like, "Hey Mr. Lincoln, I'd be happy to lead your forces to victory if you free the slaves. "
Happy Garibaldi day to all who celebrate
October 13, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Reposted by John Ericson
What could make a community of white, affluent boomers so livid? In a shocking twist, the reason is exactly what you think it is. www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...
October 12, 2025 at 10:30 PM
@chittimarco.bsky.social if you don't mind me asking, should Milano Centrale run through any time soon, and if so, to where? Porto Genova?
October 12, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Reposted by John Ericson
Trump's fundamentally a Maxis Kid and Vance is a Paradox Interactive kid and I'd take the former over the latter in a heartbeat.
October 10, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Reposted by John Ericson
[VICTORY ALERT] Governor Newsom has signed SB 79, which will make it legal to build multi-family housing near high quality transit!

Our statement:
cayimby.org/news-events/...
cayimby.org
October 10, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Reposted by John Ericson
Hope he's right
mencius moldbug is thinking of fleeing the country because he thinks the trump administration's chaotic half-assing of dismantling liberal democracy is going to bite them all in the ass
October 5, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Reposted by John Ericson
Probably dumb as hell to publish this on a Friday afternoon, but the clock is ticking to get @gavinnewsom.bsky.social to sign SB 79. Please share — and, if you're a Californian, please call the governor's office at (916) 445-2841 to ask for his signature. publiccomment.blog/p/newsom-s-f...
Newsom's Fateful Choice
Why the governor needs to sign SB 79
publiccomment.blog
October 3, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Most shade thrown in a museum description, ever!
The Stockholm Transit Museum weighing in on the LRT debate.
September 15, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Reposted by John Ericson
ny post editors so mad they inadvertently made kathy hochul look cooler than she's ever had any right to lol
September 15, 2025 at 2:39 PM
It's entirely this. That's it. There's nothing else. Everyone go home now.
I do kinda wonder how much the left's reputation being so weirdly tarnished about language-policing (and like 2014-tumblr-style maximalist interpretations of cultural appropriation) is down to social media and online article companies finding it enormously profitable to platform ragebait.
September 10, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Reposted by John Ericson
This is undemocratic and brazenly illegal.

This Board of Elections coup could deny NYC voters the chance to help end our housing crisis.
September 5, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Reposted by John Ericson
This from @aarmlovi.bsky.social is the best path forward with AVs. It's also @johnericson.me thought iirc.

Labor, congestion, vehicle utilization, and safety are all constraints on mobility (and hence growth). Let's use automation to tackle all and enhance our transit systems.
August 31, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Reposted by John Ericson
South Korea, please do Belt and Road in America, we are a primitive people and wouldn't even have real sunscreen without your leadership
August 26, 2025 at 3:26 AM
luminocity3d.org/WorldPopDen/... Wow, Egyptian land use is the GOAT. This is just some random stretch of the Nile. I knew of course that the desert--farm/people boundary was sharp. What I *didn't* know was the town--farm boundaries are *also* super sharp.
August 25, 2025 at 3:27 AM
Imagining a parallel universe in which the Brits did not only "Londonderry" but also "Londondelhi" for New Delhi
August 23, 2025 at 6:27 PM
The 1 open platform (other is closed for construction) at Harlem 125 really feels like the Berlin S-Bahn today

- every train stops
- very frequent
- urban
- above ground
- 3rd rail
August 23, 2025 at 5:37 PM
I was walking around the 5 points / city hall area, and god between the urban renewal and post 9/11 security theater it's so pedestrian hostile.

Mamdani should fix that shit because right now I'm sure it's rotting city politicians brains and making them car simps.
August 20, 2025 at 3:11 AM