As we see here, GDP per capita is a major factor in determining the travel freedom of citizens of a given country. Citizens of countries that have a GDP per capita under $1000 generally have very limited options in terms of countries they can travel to visa-free. Citizens of wealthy countries with a GDP per …
Author Archives: stidmatt
Party Vote Trifectas
So I have a spreadsheet where I have recorded the partisan alignment of the federal government and how Americans have voted for the President, House, and Senate. This data is from Wikipedia. If you navigate to the Organized table this is as easy to understand as I’ve figured out how to make it so far. …
Gentrification and quality of life
Most cities in the world have areas which are more expensive and least expensive. Very few cities will be only for the rich (where do the restaurant employees live), and few big cities will have no rich people. There are of course small towns which have only poverty or only extremely rich people, but those …
Path to peace
World military expenditure is increasing along with global deaths due to armed conflict reaching its highest level since 1995 in 2022. This is due primarily to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine the deadliest armed conflict in the world. Interestingly, deaths due to armed conflict follow the rank-size rule, as we observe in cities. The Russian …
Well, it was worth it
Sure, Elon Musk is raiding the treasury and halting payments to contractors he doesn’t like, Trump has done more horrible things in the last few weeks for me to even process, but we have unity in a solid government trifecta. I do believe the issues that turned the election against Harris were based on foreign …
Reactionary politics
I know how to put it. I voted for Elizabeth Warren in 2020 because she was the only candidate who was not reactionary. Bernie is obviously reactionary with his form of anti-billionaire populism. Biden is no less reactionary by his stance being a nebulous “let’s all get along.” Warren actually stood for something independent of …
Secession for the people!
The calls in 2016 were clear, from every political party except the Liberal Democrats and the SNP, the United Kingdom was going to leave the European Union and take control of their affairs. They were out. The UK was going to be a fully independent country (except for NATO purposes) in terms of trade, military, …
Vote Progressive
If I am correct, and the main objective of the Gaza war has been achieved which is to bring Trump into power and keep Netanyahu in power, and it sure looks like I am right… then thousands of Palestinian and Ukrainian civilians needlessly died to keep these two men in power. Sure you lost your …
Why we lost
64% of Americans disapprove of Israeli action in Gaza, despite Biden’s unconditional support. https://news.gallup.com/poll/642695/majority-disapprove-israeli-action-gaza.aspx 74% of Americans disapprove of how the withdrawal from Afghanistan was handled. https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/354182/american-public-opinion-afghanistan-situation.aspx Only Republicans oppose American support of Ukraine. 86% of Democrat support helping Ukraine. https://news.gallup.com/poll/513680/american-views-ukraine-war-charts.aspx On these three issues, and only these issues, the Biden administration’s actions were out …
Keys to success
There are three keys to successfully running for any political office. First of all, stand for popular positions. Don’t be undecided on major issues, have your stances aligned with your party unless you have a very good reason not to. Second, more experience is better if you are running for a state-wide office or a …