@codinghorror @nikclayton

I think his point is "the actual science is already done, and they are ignoring it. Shouldn't we focus on making them stop ignoring it?".

@jgg @codinghorror Indeed.

That you or I have the money to fund things like this is ultimately a political failure that needs to be addressed.

Philanthropic millionaires distributing money is no substitute for a fairer tax code.

@nikclayton @jgg no one is saying otherwise. When in doubt, I will put my money in the hands of people who desperately need it.. and generate OVERWHELMING amounts of sound scientific evidence that this works. Problem is, the red state brigade doesn't believe in science. Tell me how I fix that, and I will try my best.

@codinghorror @jgg If "the red state brigade doesn't believe in science" then why do you think more science is going to solve the problem?

Wouldn't funding political efforts to turn the red states/counties blue be more effective?

I'm not saying it has to be an either/or choice. But your blog post that started this thread made no mention of any sort of political effort alongside direct distribution of cash.

@nikclayton @codinghorror @jgg Perhaps that political effort is not necessary. From a scientific point of view, the traditional political lobbying has also been proven to hardly make a difference. In the end, I suspect that the only way to change the political situation is to vote differently. Empowering people to do so by funding _them_ instead of the politicians is at least an effort worth trying.

@mauritslamers @codinghorror @jgg

How do you get politicians to vote for what you want without either (a) standing for election yourself, or (b) lobbying people who are either standing for election, or already in office?

For example, 83% of US voters support Medicaid (https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/06/17/nx-s1-5435312/medicaid-cuts-big-beautiful-bill-trump-kff-poll).

This means **nothing** if they have no one to vote for who also supports it.

@nikclayton @mauritslamers @codinghorror

Politically speaking, not voting is always the worst possible strategy.

@jgg @nikclayton @mauritslamers look up this story. It’s not well known, but it should be. This alone is why our third GMI study is in Mississippi. I met the Dahmer family. Incredibly inspiring people.

@jgg @nikclayton @mauritslamers Nik, I'm happy to put you on the phone with Dennis Dahmer if you want to truly understand all this. I talk to him regularly. Just send me an email and I'll set it up for you.

@jgg @nikclayton @mauritslamers Nik, you had so very many opinions about all this that you shared at quite some length, so your silence here is striking.