Conversation, Collaboration, Persuasion
When I learned about Global Warming, I was immediately drawn to writers who were thinking about the practical problems of implementing solar and wind power. I read a lot about Molten Salt Nuclear Reactor designs that promise carbon-free energy without the dangers of nuclear meltdowns, exploding reactor domes, and nuclear waste products with 30,000 year half-lives associated with the pressurized-steam, solid fuel reactors in current use. In contrast, the Climate Change Summits and articles receiving the most attention were preoccupied with creating fear and paranoia instead of promoting evidence-based, affordable solutions calibrated to win widespread support.
I get the same feeling reading most of the political essays before and since the January 6, 2021 invasion of the Capitol. There are plenty of warnings about the evil motives of the “other side,” and there are plenty of legislative ideas intended to force the other side into submission. However, I haven’t read much about building bridges, making compromises, and collaborating to reduce tensions.
In short, there is a dearth of interest in what we share as Americans, and whether we should be interested in preserving and strengthening whatever remains to bind us together as a nation.
This blog is initiating the project to rewrite the US Constitution, a Re-Constitution. This Re-Constitution will start conversations and promote collaboration between partisans on all sides of the American political debate. The best test of your talents for persuasion is drafting a new Constitution and convincing your political opponents that they will be better off if they support it.
In addition to the Re-Constitution, I will tackle current political topics like Election Reform where I see the potential for offering win-win solutions in place of acrimony and insults.
A First Draft of the US Re-Constitution
My role is to be a focal point and clearinghouse of like-minded political pragmatists and peacemakers who believe that the incentives and structures created by a Re-Constitution will significantly improve our political ecosystem. I especially seek Constitutional Scholars and experts in writing legislation to contribute their knowledge to this important endeavor. I have no formal training drafting legislation or legal training in Constitutional Law, and that might be a feature instead of a bug for starting a discussion.
The Man Behind the Blog
I was born and raised in San Francisco, CA, and I moved to Southern California for college, graduate school, and remained to marry and raise a son and daughter. I spent a semester of college working as an intern for a House Member in 1979. I’ve also been involved in several initiative campaigns, and I served on a Citizens Oversight Committee for Los Angeles Unified School District. I make a living as a commercial lender, but my passion is reading non-fiction and writing about politics.
Whatever acumen and success I’ve enjoyed in business and in political writing comes from my passion for understanding all the reasons that someone might disagree with something I’m recommending. Putting myself in someone else’s shoes so that I can form a connection with them is essential for compromise to reach agreements. My circle of friends range from Progressive Bernie Sanders supporters, Critical Race Theory advocates, to Trump Lovers and Never Vaxxers. I listen to everyone, and I get along with almost everyone.
My favorite authors are: Daniel Dennett, Joseph Henrich, James C. Scott, Napoleon Chagnon, Daniel Everett, Friedrich Hayek, and Michael Oakeshott. I believe that Sociobiology, Anthropology, Linguistics, Geography, History, and Economics are foundations for clear thinking about politics. I’m bored by writers pontificating about philosophical precepts that demand conversion rather than using evidence and reason to persuade.
For example, How many times have you heard anyone talk about how Turkey’s dams have strangled the flow of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers through Syria and Iraq, and how that has sharpened those conflicts? If you overlay a map of the Kurdish population centers with the headwaters of these rivers, then you will understand the motivation behind Turkey’s persistent persecution of Kurds and fear about their independence. Any Peace Proposals for Syria and Iraq that don’t begin with these Geopolitical and Ethnographic fundamentals is dead on arrival. But the experts opining about what must be done to achieve peace are not discussing these factors on Sunday morning news programs or in their opinion columns. No wonder these conflicts never seem to end. This is one example of why I find most political writers irrelevant and boring.
I’m interested in finding common ground to resolve conflicts instead of continuing to inflame them with “submission” tactics grounded in theological convictions of righteousness. I’m interested in working with others that share this passion for building relationships.
In the past I’ve offered creative solutions for Immigration, Debt Limit Referendum, and Public Support of Private Education to resolve apparently irreconcilable conflicts. I continue this practical and pragmatic spirit for this blog.
Welcome!
David Barulich
