Though I am an incredible cynic about the larger-scale state of American democracy, I am not one of those people who just sits out the vote altogether. Local governance is still an important thing that hasn’t been completely corrupted by forces of capital, and when done right, can substantially better the lives of community members.

Here in Los Angeles, we have an incredibly important mayoral race that will very much determine whether or not this city even has the potential to improve over the next decade. If Nithya Raman can pull off a win, there’s actually hope that this city can change some of the issues that are currently being completely ignored by city hall. There are also broader California measures—such as taxing billionaires—that are not remotely close to what I want but still better than nothing. (This would be a one-time, five-percent tax that I believe should be annual and closer to 35%.)

Yet, nationally, everyone is expecting a blue wave of Democratic candidates to win seats in the US Senate that are currently held by Republicans. Like, cool, good for y’all who care, but I really don’t understand the psychology of people excited about this. The Democrats have long-proven they will do nothing on major issues. Even if they had a supermajority in the Senate, I bet they’ll say, “Trump will veto our legislation and we can’t get a 2/3 majority, so why bother?”

It is a party of corrupt, mostly right-leaning Zionists and capitalists who have always voted to fund ICE and Israel. To think they’ll do anything about either of those—much less somehow control the global economic landscape and bring down gas or food prices—is legitimately insane at this point. Let’s not forget when Obama was elected, the Democrats also had a supermajority in the Senate and held the House and still didn’t pass universal healthcare or close Guantanamo Bay.

In 2026, to believe in the Democratic party, much less expect anything from them, is a fool’s errand. It has been nearly 20 years of complete disappointment that goes even further back to Bill Clinton rolling out a fairly right-wing agenda in law enforcement, telecommunications, and public services. While I understand any measure to curtail the insanity of the Trump administration is at least a step in the right direction, I will be shocked if the liberals do anything more than write strongly-worded letters about why the United States is doing bad things.

At a national level, Election Day has become a moment where pundits on the news networks try to justify their existence and the people can feel a remote garnish of hope to temporarily mute the stink of the pile of shit that is the US government. It is a profoundly stupid day, a performance of smoke and mirrors by a bunch of snake-oil salesmen, and the continued belief in it is exactly why the people are doomed to a future of ruin.

The rain has subsided

Back in college, one of the apartments I lived in had a ‘house rule’ about alcohol: all of it must be finished before another run to the liquor store was made. So, every few weeks there would be a scattered few bottles of mixers and stuff people brought over at one point and time, and we would have a night of making strange concoctions to finish everything off. We’d mix different types of alcohol into strange shots that ranged from somewhat enjoyable to completely undrinkable. It was a dumb college thing with completely forgettable (and, easily forgotten) results.

It was, for the most part, literal slop.

This is sort of what I see AI as in the long-run. Cheap entertainment for a night in college. At high levels of processing, yes, it will be able to solve complex math problems. But for your average consumer, it’ll be somewhere between an assistant and a joke—something the most uninspired kids at university will use as a party trick.

People will always want to discover and create. Nobody who isn’t financially invested in AI wants to see it take over the arts. Company founders talk about a future where people will have to work less—what do they think those people will want to do with their time? Nothing? Being creative is part of human nature, and I don’t just mean painting or making music. Some people want to build houses, some want to tend to a garden, some want to explore caves. All of this comes from curiosity about the human experience, and none of it can be replaced by a computer.

Yet so many resources are being poured into this concept that a financial collapse of the industry would take down the entire economy. The people in charge are sociopaths with no appreciation for human potential; they’re neck-deep in a god complex with only the idea for the evolution of ‘intelligence’ as a north star. People want to go to concerts and museums and visit cool buildings and archeological sites and experience reality—not the mish-mash of stolen art prompted by someone who doesnt’ want to consider anything about what it means to have a heartbeat.

Homes

Various from around the city over the last few days.

It’s the best time of the calendar year for sports: we’re in the meat of the World Series, both college and professional football are in full swing, and the NBA season has officially begun. There’s no shortage of something to see on TV if you’re into the general idea of, well, anything sport-related.

However, now that means you see more gambling ads than ever. The NBA just announced an official partnership with two major ‘prediction market’ apps. (Prediction market has to be the dumbest ‘just make sure we don’t call it gambling’ workaround ever.)

Even if there weren’t so many disgusting celebrity-packed advertisements for this shit, and even if every broadcast of any sporting event wasn’t filled with sponsored, real-time betting lines, the fact remains that gambling addiction is a real thing that is being treated like nothing at all. The media in the United States has laws in regards to marketing alcohol and cigarettes, but when it comes to gambling, it’s not only unregulated, but these companies are allowed to sponsor sporting events that people bet on.

I don’t know anyone who likes sports who supports any of this—most people I talk to find it all infuriating. But I do feel for the people who have a gambling problem out there, because this can’t be easy. I know a guy who goes to GA (Gamblers Anonymous) and watched him go through a six-month relapse a couple years ago. Every day it was hours and hours at the tables, up thousands, down thousands, wild swings of financial fortune and loss in rapid succession.

It just feels like these companies are counting on people like this, waiting to take their money, regardless of the consequences, and the leagues and broadcast networks are all-in.