I don't wanna pretend that life is in any way okay, because things are quite bad and likely to get worse. Any blog could be my last at this point because I'm not sure I'm going to be able to keep blogging if things get worse. But at the same time--if things do get worse, I want to have what amounts to a last hurrah of having a good time.

So if any update could be my last, I want to leave a lil bit of fun to remind folks that I did a lot of really nifty things and was genuinely enjoying life. So without further ado, let's return to my second playthrough of the broken-modded-to-all-hell Rise of Rome scenario in Civ 3. The laptop busted overexaggerated over the top version, where I'm playing as Rome.

When last I checked in, it was 250 BC, one of the longest turns ever.

Since then, we've advanced to 205 BC, which...might prove to be the longest turn ever.

The Goths are gone--the Scythians wiped them out, after I captured most of their cities and destroyed their army leaving it easy for the Scythians to mop up the leftovers.

The Celts have been reduced to two cities, completely surrounded by my units, with me having killed all of their military units, leaving them effectively dead. Burdigala is their one mainland city and they have one single-tile city in Ireland, too.

Carthage, as of this turn, has lost the majority of their African territory, with me taking Tingis and Mersa Madakh, although there's 2.5 cities I want and one city I don't care for left to capture yet. The Iberian front is slower, as while I did get Cadiz, they still effectively have the entirety of Portugal and Spain. They've mostly ran out of steam, and my defenses are almost impenetrable for when they do mount an offensive, but I've not advanced much. I've sent an Army (as in, four-units combined into one) of Cataphracts (my name for the Roman equivalent to Heavy Cavalry) to take their city of Asido, their furthest northeast city, but it'll take time to actually capture. Meanwhile the Greeks and Persians are probably also gonna attack Carthage's remaining territory, so that's not a big concern of mine.

The Egyptians were convinced to declare war against the Persians, and then they roped the Scythians into it as well, leaving Scythia at war with Carthage, the Celts, and Persia, which they still are. I was content to let Persia fight the Scythians and Egyptians as a mostly neutral observer, with my pillagers picking random workers up as they could, but I knew I needed to do two things:

Strengthen my defense against the civilizations who would eventually deploy pillagers,
And to strengthen my defense against Scythia because the Goths and Celts declared war, the Scythians would sure to soon follow.

Much to my disappointment, I've been too slow on both sides. Egypt has their first Pillager (I probably need to up their cost again), and Persia produced five, in Antioch, Jordan, Babylon, Ctesiphon, and Persepolis. I don't have the means to shut their pillagers down yet, so that's gonna be a point of pain.

And Scythia...is war-ready with me. I got them to remove their forces from my territory at the beginning of my turn, but when I ended my turn and they told me to remove my forces (this was also how I discovered pillagers were on the loose), I told them to do the same and they declared war, so I closed and reloaded my end of turn save, and here we are, in 205 BC...with me deciding to ask them before ending the turn (despite having done so at the beginning of the turn), and sure enough...they declared war on me.

Now, I hate warring against the Scythians because they're arguably the most OP. They produce a large horde of units that can treat all terrain including enemy terrain as if friendly roads, meaning their units go 5 moves for foot units and 10 moves for their horse units. Scythia also has a lot of tier two spearmen, meaning that they're well-defended and have good offense, making them a terrifying opponent to face and the question usually isn't if I lose stuff, but rather how much I lose.

I think I'll maybe lose a few units, particularly captured workers, but mostly...I think if I play everything out, I'll be fine and Scythia, while not destroyed, will be crippled. But it's gonna be a slog. I've made a lot of progress already, even since taking screenshots, but there's a whole bunch I'll need to do or want to do.

So this is a city I might be able to capture, because I do have a pillager there already and more nearby. The question isn't if I can but whether I should, due to the amount of swampy terrain. Maybe I'll put a Praetorian Guard, Legionary, and Cataphract in each spot, then take the city, then clear the jungle in one single turn. Still gonna be a pain to get through that amount tho.

And this is one of the easiest spots.

Pazyryk here is gonna be a pain because their Horde Walls are...well, a wall. And they've got an army there. I may or may not be able to capture it this turn. I'm working on clearing out the units in Belgorod below.

Belgorod will be relatively easy to get, because there's only the two high-defense units, but it's still gonna be a slugfest to get there and also clear out the units slightly to the west (my current angle of attack).

Slightly to the east we have the city which was the Goth's last city, and that's why I already have so many units deployed in the area. It's gonna be painful to get through five high-defense units, but I'll be able to pull that off and then get through them all after that.

I already took Solokha, so the other main area of focus here to neuter is a nearly-invisible territory not a threat in terms of size, but menacing in terms of size of units.

Six horde walls, and an army of units, in a size-two city with one single tile. Because every time I told them to remove their units from my territory, they got sent to Melitopol. Not gonna be fun dealing with that, but even if I end up unable to kill them all, I'm cautiously optimistic I'll be able to contain them.

The majority of Scythian cities are actually pretty lightly defended, so I'm not too worried about most.

Parnii is the heaviest-defended city with the most units in it, but all the others in the area including Shibe are actually barely defended at all. I don't need to capture them, I just need to cripple them and defend my own.

Again, Great Bulgar is the heaviest city for its area, with the rest all pretty much not defended at all. They've got a single Horde Wall, and then maybe another defensive unit, and then that's it. Barely a Scythian Rider to be found, and basically nothing.

You can see here on the eastern side of the Caspian Sea that they have a single Rider to their name and then nothing else. I've run out of momentum this turn, but they can't go on the offensive, so it'll be me crushing them within the next few turns.

Not shown: Tanais, down south of Khazar, which also has a veritable army of units of all kinds and which I definitely can't capture this turn.

This is the area of greatest grind. Massagetai is relatively capturable, the problem is that I have a higher-priority target in Ulsky. Which is capturable, but to get it...will require a huge grind.

Jinjan was just captured by the Scythians, because much to surprise, they were actually winning the war against Persia. Persia has an Army unit in Khazar, and a lot of units in the area, but Scythia burned one Persian city and captured Jinjan. I wanted to watch Persia and Scythia fight further, to see if Persia could mount a counter-offensive and potentially take Ulsky, but alas. Scythia declared war against me before I could get the chance. So I've got this entire area to clear out.

And like...by the end of it all, I'll do to Scythia what I did to both the Goths and the Celts, and probably have enough territory to be at or near a Conquest victory, allowing me to finally play a third time as Carthage with the fixes and tweaks I've made from playing this round. But getting there is a grind.

These days I tend to only share the ones I probably will never actually make--not because I don't think they're good enough, not because I don't want to, but purely because I don't really have the time to make everything in my lifetime that I want to make. There's too many ideas and an increasingly short amount of time to make them.

Like, yeah, I'm only in my 30s. That's potentially two-thirds of my life left to make things, still.

But since my current state in life isn't going to advance things to where I'm likely to be able to actually make anything I think of for the next couple years minimum...that means that much time before the first could POSSIBLY be made. Which pushes all the others back behind it. And pushes the ones further back to be even further back. You get the idea. Missing a day of creativity doesn't matter. Or a week. Or a month. But when you miss a year of making things...it might not matter much, but it begins to be notable in terms of scale of missing out.

A year is greater than 1% of my life, so every year I go by without making my ideas real means I've got less of that percentage left. And like...yeah, even if it takes me an additional 30 years to get things made...that's still gonna be things I get to make. It's just that the maximum possible amount to make does dwindle as I get older and my amount of time left decreases gradually. If I get things created when I'm in my 60s, that's generously a maximum of 30 things I get to make if I complete one a year. (I'd likely make a lot less, given many would take multiple years.)

I have a whole lot more than that I'd love to make. Even if I were to pump out one project a year starting this year, that'd be 60 in my lifetime. I have hundreds, even thousands, I would like to make. So while in my lifetime I can probably manage to make a few dozen, I will never be able to make the thousands upon thousands of ideas I have be realized. Not unless the technology to make me immortal magically is invented and applied to me within my lifetime, or there's breakthroughs spiritually which would allow me as a ghost to create all of them in perpetuity.

Since both of those seem rather dubious to say the least, realistically speaking my ideas will die with me. That's motivation to make as many as I can, yes, but it is also reason to write down all of the ones I can't make. Not because I don't have the skills or talents, but because there's other things I just want to make more.

And this is one of the ideas to get the short end of the stick despite its explosive growth. I literally came up with the idea yesterday and it has already become a full-fledged series of epic proportions in my mind with multiple seasons, characters, villains, etc.

The genre for this would be Magical Girl Superheroes, and the best way to describe it I can think of is "Power Rangers meets Miraculous Ladybug meets Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt".

The name for this series would be "Fire Fist and Lightning Kicks".

It revolves around the titular heroines, the superhero magical girl martial artist Fire Fist (ironically, despite the name, most of her martial arts techniques involve an open-palm with her using an Uncle Iroh style of redirection, with her only closed-fist techniques being rapid-fire ranged attacks) and the superhero magical girl martial artist Lightning Kicks (who does more dance moves than kicks since she's a dance battle girlie and gymnast although she is still a martial artist just not as much as she is a dancer and gymnast).

Together, the titular duo are known as the "Sol Strikers", and they are a lesbian duo in a relationship with each other. (Mostly out of costume but there's times they do let it slip in-costume they're an item.)

They're the main guardians of their city (this could really be any city, I didn't choose any specific setting for the setting yet), and they mostly fight supernaturally-empowered temporary supervillains (a la Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir), as well as numerous supernaturally-created minions loaned to said supervillains (a la Power Rangers), but they also fight a bunch of beasts, monsters, etc., which appear, as well as occasionally other supers, because they're not the only permanent supers in the setting.

Their main nemesis is Lilith, The Queen of The Dark, The Empress of the Night, etc. She is the one who feeds off of the negative emotions of people and offers them a deal, where she empowers them to act on their impulses and become supernaturally empowered, in exchange for having their powers limited in range to be (with a few exceptions) within a 150 square mile radius of the duo, with the promise the powers would become permanent if they actually delivered a permanent defeat to the Sol Strikers and robbed them of their powers permanently.

She not only creates these temporary supervillains, but also provides said supervillains with her army of darkspawn minions, creatures she, as well as those she empowers, can mold into various forms and create a small, infinitely-replenishable, invasion force to wreck havoc at the whims of her empowered supervillain commanders.

The Sol Strikers are actually the latest incarnations of an always-female duo, with one half having the power of the heat of the sun, and the other half having the power of the power/energy of the sun. That's because they are, together, the two halves of the mortal incarnation of the Sun Goddess Solarie, the maiden warrioress of the sun, both a protector and fierce aggressor. (Think kinda like the Eye of Ra, mixed with Helia and Solarii, in that her traditional weapons were maces and morningstars.)

In a twist, it turns out that their archnemesis, Lilith?

...Was actually originally the mortal lesbian lover to Solarie. She usurped the original god of the moon, Abep the Moon Lord (think Lunord and Adepts mixed with Apophis). Abep was, originally, neither malevolent nor benevolent, being one of the most neutral forces in the world, but eventually, isolation drove him insane. He couldn't find companionship and people were scared of him so he eventually lost his mind. Lilith was both ambitious, seeking a way to become immortal to match her immortal goddess lover, but also altruistic, in seeking a way to stop Abep from overwhelming her lover, because Abep was gaining power and risked killing Solarie if nothing was done.

So what was thought to be a usurpation was actually her doing what she thought she needed to do--but it had a horrific cost. Her stealing godhood from Abep carried such a wave of chaotic destructive energy it shook the pantheon of deities to the core, negatively impacting all of them in some way. In the case of Solarie, it split her into two, mortal, woman, who have perpetually been reincarnating ever since.

And this is genuinely the first iteration of the two where neither is using her traditional weapons, and the first iteration of the two where they are lovers with each other, who know each other both inside and outside of their hero identities.

This, as it turns out, is why they are extra-strong targets of Lilith. The reason why Lilith is targeting the duo is because her ambition is just to bring Solarie back, by having a Sol Striker duo that's strong enough and bonded enough to actually have circumstances which enable them to merge into Solarie. The Sol Strikers duo is frequently known to have the ability to merge their powers to become the light of the sun, being a magical duo associated with paladins because they're embodiments of the light, but that's only half of their potential, and Lilith's goal is to bring them to their full potential.

And the only way she can do that is--by having them fight her. And her minions. And her empowered supervillains. So she's not targeting the duo to try and crush them and take over the world (the assumption she deliberately creates and has fostered ever since the first Sol Strikers duo), she's literally just trying to make them stronger and more in unison to the point where they'll actually be able to be so attuned they accidentally just become Solarie again, allowing Lilith to see, meet, and talk to her long-lost lover.

About 3/4ths of the way through the series, and/or around season 5 or so, this would be revealed...by Lilith succeeding. All of the above would be revealed, and Solarie would get to talk to Lilith. She would mention how she can see through the eyes of an observer, as if watching a movie, the actions of all her incarnations, and would never forgive Lilith if she actually killed anyone, including Solarie's mortal incarnations. Solarie points out that her mortal incarnations, especially Fire Fist and Lightning Kicks, have the right to live their lives, and her life isn't worth sacrificing theirs.

As such, Solarie's presence is only temporary, with her eventually splitting back into Fire Fist and Lightning Kicks, who remember everything the same as Solarie, a la a third person perspective who were watching a movie of the entire conversation. In a twist, the duo actually decide to, in a sense, conspire with Lilith. They point out how Lilith's empowering of supervillains is--mostly--harmless. The supervillains don't cause long-lasting harm due to the Sol Strikers' ability to partially reverse damage (again, Miraculous influence is pretty strong here), and it actually allows the temporary supervillains to work through their traumas and issues.

​In short, these dark transformations are literally therapy for the transformed temporary-supervillains. It gives them outlets (albeit technically not healthy ones) to work through their issues. In many ways, this Lilith (like her actual goddess) is a mistress of shadow-work but in a more literal sense than usual with the people who are transformed able to become stronger, permanently, and undergo real growth without her help after having gone through the ordeal. It also serves as a way where the superheroine duo gains a mortal supporting cast of characters to become their friends and allies in these adventures.

​Because the goal is a noble, understandable one they empathize with, and they know the rampages are relatively harmless, the duo encourages Lilith to keep attacking them, and they vow to try and find a way where Solarie can be brought back while they can continue to live--even if it means in the aftermath they would end up permanently depowered by it.

But wait, there's more!

An occasional ally, occasional foe, of the duo is the mortal avatar and current mortal incarnation of the Nature God, Nanoc. He was originally one of humanity's greatest allies, but in the current day and age, he is largely in opposition to humanity due to humanity's continued destruction of his realm of nature. Nanoc, thanks to Lilith's actions, is forced to continuously reincarnate as a mortal avatar, lacking a divine presence, and as such, his creatures often are set loose on rampages. These beasts target primarily the humans most endangering nature, not out of malice but also not altruistically, purely as an animal would to defend itself from a perceived threat.

Nanoc's divinity wasn't actually taken by Lilith (who was a scapegoat), but rather, by his three sons, who were immortal but lacked divinity initially until they were given the opportunity to usurp their father's powers for themselves and gained divinity to go alongside their natural immortality. Nanoc's mortal avatar thus tends to avoid conflict with the gods' chosen, but also his creatures tend to be extra hostile towards any except Nanoc's divinity.

This is partially because Nanoc's mistress (not wife, they never married and were never more than a fling), Chlia, the goddess of the unnatural, of the artificial, of the premature end, of the artificial endless, was complicit. She supported her sons' efforts because she loves her sons unconditionally, her fling with Nanoc was fading, and it felt like it would empower her nature even further. Chlia tends to mass-spawn monsters, sending them out into the world, but leaves those monsters as blank slates capable of being anything. She also empowers individuals, and she's the main source of permanent superpowers because her power has grown to the point where she's the strongest deity in existence. She has no endgoal other than to just exist eternally and support her sons in the same eternal existence.

​So, basically all of the superheroes and supervillains outside of the temporary ones made by Lilith, outside of Nanoc, and outside of the mortal duo incarnations of Solarie known as the Sol Strikers? She's responsible for, both the bad and the good. Chlia, being the goddess of the unnatural, is in many ways the goddess of chaos, because what's considered unnatural is always going to change. If mortality were natural then immortality becomes unnatural (thus how she empowered her sons before godhood); if immortality were ever to become the norm, then she would be a source of fear for inducing mortality; with superpowers not being the norm, she provides them; if superpowers were the norm, then suddenly she would become a source of depowering.

There's also her three sons as additional agents in the story, albeit indirectly.

Knom, the God of Justice and the hard rock of the earth itself, has often empowered his champions to disguise themselves as angels, because they're agents of the divine (not a lie), who serve a deity (not a lie), but are using the existing beliefs of the people to establish Knom and allow him to empower more people because the more people who pray to him, the more people he is able to empower. So by trying to hijack existing religions, he essentially is making it so that he can create more demi-divine agents, including multiple superheroes who cross paths with our superheroines sometimes as allies but also sometimes as villains with good publicity, because while they are advocates for Justice, their Justice doesn't leave any room for forgiveness.

Corda, the God of flora (plant-life) and freedom, randomly selects agents who advocate for this freedom. He's more laid-back than Knom, but despite this, arguably meddles more often. Knom might be tricking the masses for what he sees as a greater good but otherwise isn't intervening much directly. Corda on the other hand, he is always looking to create as much freedom as possible, no matter the means, even when freedom isn't a good thing.

Agrea, the God/dess of fauna and of the Soul, is a genderfluid deity (usually using bigender pronouns). He identifies as a son of Chlia and Nanoc, but she's fluid in how she presents. Sometimes he's a guy, sometimes she's a girl. Since souls are technically genderless, technically this is just him being a perfect representation of her domain, in that she is both a he and a her, and will be whatever he needs to be for the moment.

As the mistress of animals, he's basically the creator of countless beasts and is their greatest defender, but because she is also a mother of fauna that technically includes humans, he's also a defender of humanity, empowering humans with defenses against the more destructive aspects of her domain.

In general, if you haven't noticed the theme, none of these gods are good nor are any of them evil. They're all essentially personified forces of the universe, as it were. (In the case of the three sons, literal forces of nature.) The closest the deities have to a goddess of good is Solarie herself, although even she is arguably too intense and smothering in her love if left to her own devices for too long. It can safely be assumed if not for having Lilith to theoretically balance her out and for her not currently existing permanently, that she, too, would have more negative aspects. But since she has those, she is widely considered by myth and lore to be the goddess of goodness itself.

​The series would introduce these agents of various deities throughout the story, with the monsters and beasts being faced from even the earliest of episodes. While Lilith would be the source of the majority of the conflicts, any of the deities could be a potential source of the Foe of the Week, or an Ally of the Week.

After the big reveal of Lilith's true origins and motives, these deities would have a vastly increased role and presence, so while Lilith would still provide conflict, these would mostly be increasingly in the background. Instead of entire episodes, being openers and closers for episodes, or a mid-point conflict, rather than the entirety of the conflict start to finish.

So that's the idea behind Fire Fist and Lightning Kicks (which is the name of the series).

I'll never get to make it, as much as I'd love to, but I'll all too gladly share it. Hope you enjoyed.

So 250 BC has proven to be the longest turn I've ever played in any game (okay so I've had a couple of other long turns but this one is pretty darn long), but it's finally reached the end, so I'm gonna show the main points of conflict I have on the map. (Zoomed out, so I might need to describe for people to see and understand.) Let's start with the Iberian front.

So a couple turns ago or so I captured Malaca, and Carthage has been harassing me ever since, sending War Elephants into the spaces you can now see Praetorian Guards occupying. (Praetorian Guards are what I named the second-tier Spearman, Rome's equivalent to the generic Numidian Mercenary, the upgrade to Garrisons which are the first-tier Spearman equivalent native to the scenario.)

I like to take my time in my conquests, so despite having the manpower to advance, I'm waiting until the road to directly invade Cadiz is repaired so the Legionary IIIs can attack instantly. From there it'll be Carmona and then Corduba.

You can also see further north Carthage started with about six War Elephants near Nora, and I drove them mostly out. This back-and-forth has been going on for multiple turns now, and will likely go until Carthage is either unable to spam War Elephants or I have enough momentum from my units to brute force their removal from the peninsula. 

​There is a bit of an annoyance though.

So up until a couple turns ago, the Celts were allies against Carthage. They betrayed me by signing a peace treaty, but I make it mandatory most of the time that if you're gonna have a war against my enemy, your Right of Passage is tied to that war; betray me by ending the war and signing a peace treaty? You lose the Right of Passage, so those Celtic units have been stuck there, unable to get hime, because I'm not letting them through.

And you may recall, the Celts declared war against me this turn, so I've got them as a potential nuisance in the area.

I'm not too worried about this though, because I have a, relatively expensive, secret weapon.

Now, the Scythians also betrayed me in my war against Carthage. They abandoned me in my moment of need. They were supposed to use this veritable horde to wipe out the war elephants who have been harassing me in the northern parts of Iberia. But when I most needed their cannon fodder, they signed a peace treaty with Carthage and lost their right of passage, and got on my "I'm going to end you" list.

At this point only Macedon and Persia have kept their word, but that's likely because they both have forces in galleys headed to invade Carthage combined with them needing the right of passage to war against each other. (I'm not screenshotting their battle, but you can see the red there means they're not accessing each other without my say, by and large.)

But I'm pragmatic--whereas the Celts and Goths declared war against me, the Scythians didn't, and because I needed their manpower in a couple of spots, I was willing to bribe both them and Persia. (Which you'll see why later for why Persia.)

So I'm not too worried about the Celtic nuisance there, because the Scythians should have them sufficiently distracted and the Celts don't have any of their T2 spearmen or T3 swordsmen there, making them easily dealt with.

​So let's talk about the other Carthage front.

So that mid-health Praetorian Guard you see near Theveste? Just killed Hannibal. As in, the army the Carthaginians start with was near Saldae, poised to invade, but was at mid-HP. I sacced a Praetorian Guard to get the army low and then sent a second to finish it off. The one north of that was also dispatching a War Elephant. Timbuktu is currently undefended, but I'm not too concerned about it since Carthage can't take it this turn and even if that War Elephant kills my Praetorian Guard, I've got a replacement next turn. Ditto for the Sulcis area. Could I send a praetorian guard to kill that war elephant? Sure! But I don't feel a need to.

As for Carthage itself (renamed from Carthago because I was feeling petty and wanted to spite the Carthaginians), they've been sending 3 - 6 War Elephants per turn to try and retake their capital. I'm slowly building up my forces there to where I'll be able to take Utica and Tunis (artistic liberties were taken, I wanted cities in those locations), but this is going to take some time. You can also spot the Persian and Macedonian galleys bound towards the pillars of hercules I imagine since if they're not carrying armies to try and take Carthaginian territory they're probably trying to explore the sea.

Carthage isn't my main priority though. That'd be wiping the Goths out, or putting them as close to as is possible without pulling the trigger. (Ideally, either the Scythians or Persians take their final city for me.)

So the goths basically controlled nearly the entirety of the northern corner of the map at the beginning of this turn. I don't have a screenshot of what they had at the beginning of the turn, but every city without an obvious Roman name aside from Ubii? All of those were controlled by the Goths. If I had taken a screenshot over to the left, it'd be more obvious, but while the Goths might retake some of their workers and kill a lot of the low-HP pillagers, I've still got enough to be poised to wipe them out next turn, which will reduce their presence down to one spot.

So this is the area of greatest concern to me. The goths shouldn't have any 2-movement units left, except in that tile between Melitopol and Kriyvyy Rih (which are all 1-HP). The main concern is they do have a lot of swordsman-tier second-level teutonic warriors, a lot of swordsmen, and a lot of teutonic warriors. This was also a lot of why I asked the Scythians for help, and also bribed the Persians. The Celts and Goths both have a presence where the Persians and Scythians are, so by having their help, I should have a lot of assistance in handling their hordes. which will protect my cities. I'm actually thinking of not trying to take the two Gothic cities, despite how well Kuczkowo is positioned, because I don't really have the manpower in the area, all of my units are Praetorian Guards and I don't really have the ability to make many more offensive units. (Although spotting it now, I can swap Sevastopol and Kul Oba and such to units, so good thing I haven't hit 'end turn' yet.)

You can also spot a Celtic horde near Bampur and Kriyvyy Rih. It's all defensive units, but it's a lot of them, plus a bunch of settlers and workers. I don't really have the manpower to get through the horde, but it won't threaten me more than maybe a road or two destroyed, so the Scythians are probably gonna have fun there capturing that army of workers. If the opportunity arises I'll nab them, but I'm not planning on it.

The front which is newest, and of greatest concern, would be that of the Celts. Now, the British Isles area isn't too bad.

I captured and destroyed Noviodunum, which was between New Confinium, New Pompeii, and York. That Praetorian Guard you see on the cattle? Rebuilt the road from the ruins of Noviodunum, because I saw it as unnecessary to keep. I did keep all the other cities though--Bibactre, Dyfedd, and Decetia all got captured, but while I reduced the power of Gwynedd and Strathclyde, I lacked the manpower to capture them this turn. It'll probably take me a few turns to really build up the momentum for actually capturing all of northern England, and even longer to actually get to Ireland.

I'm not sure what city to let the Celts keep. I don't want to wipe them out, but I do want to leave them with only one city with no resources in a location which won't inconvenience me. It needn't be on the British Isles though because there's another front to fight them on, which is also an area that terrifies me.

The Celts have a veritable army in La Tene, including a couple Woad Raiders, their T3 swordsman unit. As a reminder, Celtic units universally have +1 movement compared to generic counterparts and ignore the movement costs of hills, mountains, and forests. Which means Naissus (well, theoretically; the units there are likely too weak to zerg rush my defenses), Verona, Grenoble, Luna, Caesarea, Lugdunum, Basel, Antium, Mediolanum, and Benevetum are all in striking range in theory.

Now, mind you, the Celts only have 6 Woad Raiders left across all their cities, so that's only six units that are 5/3/2, but they do have a lot of their T2 spearmen (how did they even get Ivory, I don't know, but they have 20 of their 3/5/2 defensive unit), 120 of their 1/2/2 spearmen, 7 2/1/2 of their archers (mostly near Naissus), 27 of their 1/2/2 warriors, and an alarming 70 3/2/2 Gallic Swordsmen.

Some of that horde is in the Scythian territory, there's a small amount near the rim of Gothic territory guarding settlers and workers, a fair amount is in the British Isles, but La Tene has about 80 different units of all kinds and all of those cities are stacked.

I do have leftover pillagers near Alesia due to capturing the Gothic cities, but that means I have to wait until next turn to mount an offensive.

Unlike the Goths, who I had to preemptively strike against, the Celts I'm actually mostly better off being defensive about because my units have better defense than their units have attack, butstill...it's gonna be scary hitting that 'next turn' button and scanning the area for the damage to result next turn.

Here's to hoping it's minimal!

Butyeah, that's my report for 250 BC. It was a long slog to get this far, but it's finally time to brace for impact and hope I did enough.

I know, I'm trying to do more than just waste my time playing video games, but at the same time, I did progress my modded Rise scenario.

The update is, the Goths are gonna be mostly gone very shortly, although I've mostly run out of Pillagers and made most of the progress I wanted to, so I'm not going to aim for a one-turn wipeout.

Then I noticed something.

I had pillagers too far away from the Goths...but in range of the Celts. So I sent a couple to capture a worker and kill a couple of their units, then told the Celts who had already removed their forces from my territory at the beginning of my turn to do it again...

...And they declared war.

On the one hand, yessssss, when I'm limited in cities this extra war allows me to make progress I otherwise couldn't.

On the other hand...the Celts have a lot of units in striking range of cities I was still building the defensive forces of. Mostly not a problem, they're still gonna burn through unit movement and my units have better defense, but...

Most of this is manageable, at least I hope. But La Tene has about 50 - 80+ units with two movements, including multiple Gallic Swordsmen not visible in the above.

It's gonna be a challenge, but at the same time, not my current issue. I'm fighting three different fronts now, the Goths and the Celts and I've still gotta fight Carthage. But I'm invoking a helping hand; I decided to pay Persia and Scythia close to 100 gold between the two of them to declare war against both the Goths and the Celts, so that should help prune their forces that I don't cull.

So hey, getting to where I want to be, but gonna be a long, long, longgggg turn to get it all done.

To be fair, it's not often I blog these days at all, but in the few times I do, it's mostly talking about political ideals which I think we can and should all get behind as a universal common ground, religious and spiritual beliefs, million-dollar ideas I think should be made, stories that I come up with but know I'll never be able to make, rambling about my works namely my novels, art, etc., or talking about life, mostly the bad but on occasion the good.

And...that's not likely to change any time soon. Infrequent blogs, talking about quite serious stuff when they do, because life isn't improving. It's getting worse. I'm probably a month away from losing everything and I don't know how to find the path to not. I've burned so many bridges, so many resources, and it's only extended the deadline to disaster, not actually provided a path to avert it. There is very likely going to be a time where you see me blog for one final time, and then never again, and that time is likely to be soon, very soon, because I am losing hope in fixing my life.

But I do owe both others and myself a reprieve. Despite how there's the impending doom of the disaster to end everything for me personally...I do have my moments of enjoying life. This Valentine's weekend in particular, for instance. And I have my vices, which are the things that I do that couldn't possibly lead to improving my life in any way shape or form but I do them for fun despite the loss in time because they're not draining energy or money.

Now, on a spiritual and psychological level, said vices wouldn't even be considered a bad thing. They'd be called rest, relaxation, recharge time, to replenish myself by fulfilling my desires, providing me happiness, joy, etc. But despite how the body, mind, spirit, soul, arguably requires this downtime of enjoying myself and having fun, it's hard to call it anything other than vice considering just how much of my free time I've been pouring into it.

In this case the big timewaster right now is going back to an old favorite of mine, modding Civ 3 Conquests. I have over 1100 hours just on steam, have modded it on my laptop, did so extensively on my old desktop at home, and was really into refining and honing a modified scenario on my desktop, my personal favorite scenario of Rise of Rome. There's multiple reasons that scenario is my favorite, namely how it provides the best balance of conquering existing cities and expanding into new cities. Every civilization starts with cities (making it better than Mesoamerica, Mesopotamia, or Japan), there's the ability to build settlers (making it better than Napoleon), the map doesn't feel too crowded, there's not too many civilizations, and each existing civilization has strengths that can be built upon to give them unique traits and make them each provide a different experience.

So what I do, from the start, is decouple all civ units from the generic ones and tweak them and add in a generic swordsman upgrade. The generic "advanced infantry" (taking a cue from Mesopotamia) is a 5/3 upgrade and aquatic assault, and I buff the generic Numidian Mercenary to be 3/5 to match, in exchange for being more expensive and later in the tech tree. The highest level of spearman/swordsman/cavalry all have zone of control, with their civ specific versions also having it.

Then with the generic units almost-universally available, I build upon the strengths of all eight civilizations as I envision them and make all eight playable.

Persia gains a warrior-replacement of the Enkidu Warrior, with a +1 HP bar carried over into both Immortals and a new Immortals II (who are a 6/4 unit). They also gain an Archer upgrade of the Babylonian Archer, usually kept to be a 4/1 offense unit. Archers have been buffed to have a passive bombard, unable to bombard like catapults but bombarding units attacking, providing defense; the Babylonian Archer is there to be an upgrade over just the Archer, albeit requiring Gold and Silver (which, taking a cue from Fall, are both strategic resources--I also add an eighth luxury resource, with my current go-to being "salt").

Persia also has their Heavy Cavalry equivalent, Mobile Immortals, be 6/3 instead of 5/2, and have the +1 hp of immortals. The identity of Persia, as I see it, is to have the de facto victory by having the most starting territory of any civilization--if no civilization gains control of the map through war or aggressive settling, the victory will go to Persia simply by Persia not losing territory to the Greeks. And the second identity is to have the widest array of unique units to bring to the front, so they have some unique ones not given elsewhere. Their Immortals units are designed to be one stronger in offense than the Hoplite but one weaker in defense, rewarding them for striking on the offense.

The Macedonian Greeks gain a Hoplite II upgrade, with Hoplites and Hoplites II both having an extra HP bar like Immortals. They also gain zone of control and aquatic assault. The Macedonians essentially are a bit of an inverse, in that while they can technically build any unit, the one and only unit they need to build is the Hoplite. They are in many ways identical to the Persians, in that they have victory by default simply by conquering all existing Persian territory.

Carthage I give the advantage of being able to build cheaper units which cost extra resources. They have unique warriors, swordsmen, spearmen, and upgrades thereto, which cost half the shields of their generic counterpart, in exchange for requiring gold, silver, or ivory. Golden warriors/swordsmen/spearmen/mercenaries, silver warriors/swordsmen/spearmen/mercenaries, and ivory warriors/swordsmen/spearment, requiring gold plus any generic resource, silver plus any generic resource, and ivory plus any generic resource. In short, as long as Carthage has access to gold, silver, and ivory, they are able to churn out massive armies at a rate faster than any other civilization, in theory.

War Elephants are buffed to be a +1 HP unit requiring no resources and being 6/2, with an upgrade of War Elephants II with +2 HP, blitz, aquatic assault, and being 8/4 or thereabouts. They also get the Tyrian Guard, which is 3/6, a cheap defensive unit that is good on the attack as well.

Rome I build on the upgrading units and road-building by giving all of their basic units--Hastatus (the warrior-equivalent), Garrison, and "Civic Defense" (horseman equivalent), road-building capabilities at minimum, upgrading as the units do to be faster and have more actions, with their highest level being able to do every worker action and Legionary IIIs being able to form cities. Imperial Workers are an upgrade to Workers, so I give Rome an upgrade to Imperial Workers called Roman Workers.

Rome's strongest units, Legionary III (buffed to be in the range of 7/4 or so with +3 HP), Praetorian Guard (4/7 or so with +2 HP), and the Cataphract (6/4), are designed to be the strongest in the game, albeit by a slim enough margin where other civilizations CAN war with lategame Rome, it's just a pain to try and overcome their power. As I see Rome, they are both the ones building roads and terraforming the map, and the ones who have the strongest threat to expand and take over the world.

So that's the warring 4 civilizations as I tend to call them.

What do I do for the others?

Well for Egypt, I make War Chariots a 5/3 unit requiring Iron (effectively making them the Egyptian equivalent to Heavy Cavalry), but in the hills that often spawn iron randomly in playthoughs anyway, I give them a permanent source of iron they can easily settle and access. I give Egypt one of the easiest access to almost every luxury and strategic resource, and I make their land ridiculously fertile. By buffing the land of the nile area to be super-rich in terms of shields, food in particular, commerce, and resources, I give Egypt the ability to build megacities with ease, and to easily expand into some of the least-populated areas of the map.

Now, Egypt is still designed to be one of the harder civilizations to play (the game is still meant to be easiest playing as one of the warring 4 and conquering the civ you're warring with to have a nearly de-facto victory even given the expanded time to 250 turns and needed map control to 80% land/90% population), but can theoretically win passively by focusing on settlers or win aggressively by warring with Persia and/or Carthage, and I speak from experience in their War Chariots being able to fare well against both.

The Celts, similarly, are one of the harder civilizations to play, but I give their units +1 movement across the board and the ability to ignore the movement cost of hills, mountains, and forests. Celtic Workers, Migrants(settlers), Warriors, Spearmen, etc., all have 2 movement, with their chariots, horsemen, and heavy cavalry equivalents all having 3 movement. The way I envision them is that their units are just as strong as the generic equivalents, but have higher movement, able to go further (helped by me often increasing roads to 5).

This makes them a bit harder to play than the Scythians, who I basically combine with the Huns and Mongols in making them a horde with horseman focus. These workers, migrants(settlers), warriors, spearmen, etc., have the normal movement, but treat all terrain as roads. By having hordes of horsemen with this terrain-as-roads buff, this allows the Scythians to peacefully expand across the entirety of the unoccupied territory, and/or overrun the likes of the Greeks and/or Persians by penetrating deep into their territory and potentially wiping out the Goths, too. Of the non-warring civilizations, they're probably the easiest to play just because of how strong this ability is, although it is technically weaker than the Celts in mobility if the Celts are all moving along roads. (A 5-movement foot unit is outpaced by a 10-movement foot unit, and a 10-movement cavalry is outpaced by a 15-movement cavalry, but the Scythians don't need roads for their movement whereas the Celts do.)

The Goths, I lean into their Teutonic Warriors being raw offense with no defense, by making them instead of spearmen equivalent...warrior equivalent. As in, a 4/1 unit at 10 shields requiring no research, with the upgraded version being 6/1, and the third tier being 12/2. They get horsemen which are 7/1/2, and upgrade into the range of 10/1/2, or thereabouts. The way I envision them, the Goths have the best offensive units, even more than Rome or Carthage, but lack in anything resembling defense. I did give them access to spearmen, but because they lack a nearby source of ivory, they're not going to really be pumping out defensive units and require sheer raw aggression.

I do give the Goths a generic buff to industry though, by having their cities have a unique improvement provided by a wonder they start with which means they can produce anything faster in theory.

On my desktop, I intended for this to be as subtle and as balanced as possible.

Problem is, my desktop is currently not powering on. Suspected/hoped for problem is the PSU unit being fried, because it's the cheapest easiest thing to replace, but who knows? Too broke to really try to fix it, and that's not likely to change any time soon, so I'm basically without my desktop and left with only my old, ancient, archaic laptop.

Did that stop me? For a time, yes. But then I decided to just...go make the modded scenario again, from scrap, on the laptop. This time I didn't care to really balance things carefully. The values are exaggerated, terrain modified more, etc. A lot of the changes were made not as a matter of quality of life or balance, but really just to make things faster and take less time. It's vastly inferior to the desktop version, but at the same time, its over the top nature means that it can still serve as a sandbox for the real version of the mod, a testing ground for ideas I have but wouldn't know if I should implement or not.

And this modded scenario is...pretty fun.

I was in the middle of my v3 Roman playthrough on the desktop. As in, 3 full Persia playthroughs, 2 full Roman playthroughs, and midway through a third Roman playthrough. I use Persia and Rome as the tests because playing as Persia lets me observe the NPC balance between Carthage and Rome (they should loosely stalemate with Carthage having an initial edge and Rome clawing back some later), and playing as Persia lets me observe the NPC balance between Persia and Macedon (they should loosely stalemate with Macedon having an initial edge but then running into their units being too few to match Persia's with Persia unable to recapture territory but also not bleeding it).

Now, I'm playing on my laptop. I completed my first playthrough on Persia, then modded the scenario more, and am on my first playthrough as Rome. I've already adjusted things (Persia is dominating Macedon, I'm happy with Persia's strength and don't want to nerf Persia so Macedonia needed to be buffed), but wanna see this Rome playthrough conclude.

I ran into an issue I've never hit before in Rise; the 512 city limit. Turns out that with the Celts, Goths, and Scythians all expanding, plus Persia also doing a lot of it, and Rome expanding aggressively as well...despite the small map size? You do in fact hit that limit pretty quickly. Like, I'm not even sure I'll be able to get the landmass number due to how much is unoccupied land, limit hit.

But I did decide that this playthrough would have a unit to menace civilizations. When playing as Persia, I was annoyed Carthage stole a city from me, and no matter my efforts, I couldn't steal it back. So in response, I made a Pillager unit, a 4/1/2 unit with lethal bombardment that treats all terrain as roads, has blitz, and is anonymous, with enslave of making more pillagers. I made it ridiculously expensive both in terms of resources and shields because I didn't want it spammed against me, but I wanted it to be something I could use to harass other civilizations.

This has turned out to be a lifesaver. Because I ended up having the Goths just declare war against me--and they had a veritable HORDE of units with massive attack, poised to overwhelm me. We're talking, one tile had at least 50 units, all of which have their lowest attack match the defense of my highest defense. They're meant to be an overpowering force of sheer offense, and they were about to overwhelm me--until I noticed...

..."Hey wait a second...I have two pillagers in their territory." (The very thing which ticked the Goths enough to where they declared war, mind you, as I was using those pillagers to capture workers.)

Those two pillagers have multiplied to have captured one of the Goths main cities, half of their territory, have destroyed their main horde, and are beginning to get poised to wipe the Goths off the map, albeit requiring a lot of save scumming to produce the necessary pillagers. Right now, the save scumming is pretty annoying, especially since civ 3 has this issue where if you're repeatedly loading you risk corrupting the save files and/or crashing the game. (The game was never optimized for modern computers, and was arguably always this level of broken anyway.)

The process is taking a ludicrous amount of time...but ultimately, the results are going to be a huge amount of serotonin. Because once I pull it off...a complete wipe of a civilization on the turn they declared war on me, having begun with only two units and multiplied into a force that completely destroys them? That's gonna be hugely satisfying. I'm already thinking ahead to what to do with this massive excess of units (it's gonna be absolutely harassing the Celts who ticked me off by signing a peace treaty with Carthage when I most needed their firepower to make advances into Iberia), and I will feel so good once I get there.

​Just...gotta get the right rand enough times.​

In the case of this screenshot, managing to actually get another pillager spawn when attacking the swordsman in the city, so I have the manpower needed to reach the areas I need more help in.

​Almost there...just gotta keep at it.

Is fun, but time-consuming.

Thank you for listening to my for-fun moment of time-wasting.

Here's a link to the Preamble to Reform.
Raw link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PTPnce2lolKIoqQaXZCFeLBITqm42__Ui8bIorGkmD0

And here's the link to the Hypothetical "New Constitution" as I for lack of better ideas deemed it.
Raw link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tTs5o37HI-ZmtCwd1qi_E1mBZH2pQufnj6fxa7iF9KY

I know, I know. Not the type of content people really want to hear these days especially from me. But maybe they should, because I feel like maybe people should hear me out. Maybe my ideas aren't too original, maybe a lot of them aren't as good as the ideas of others, but I might just have said something you haven't heard before, because by and large, I developed this on my own. Not paroting the viewpoints of others, not by copying the work of others. Just using my lived experience and giving my thoughts on a better future using what I know of the past and present.

So let me share my thoughts on building a better future for all.

There is a scene from The Newsroom, and I feel compelled to expand on the concept. I know that I am not the smartest, most educated person, so many people smarter and more educated than me have done this far better than I ever could. 

And I know that even my life experience is not unique, in having been exposed to the entire political spectrum and the viewpoints thereof. 

I know how, despite the perception of right-wing voters being primarily religious fundamentalists or uneducated country folk, how most of them consider themselves educated and even people of science, with a genuine belief that they are acting in accordance with science. 

Those who vote for right-wing candidates are a combination of religious Nationalists (largely, but not entirely, Christian Nationalists), a large portion of the tech industry, Those of military or police backgrounds, and rural individuals isolated from the world. 

How these people have a genuine belief that they know the way to help others, how these people feel others aren’t helping them, how they have visions of a better future and want to leave the best for their progeny. These individuals all have a shared belief in serving and protecting their people. 

I know how there is a fundamental divide in the left based on two different viewpoints on empathy and what it means to be empathetic, with those differing viewpoints resulting in a difference of mindset between those who demand better of their communities and those who commit to a slow, gradual march in progress. 

I know how one group defines being empathetic as unconditionally showing compassion, support, love, kindness, and caring to all, but in their demands for everyone to hold to that standard, they can become blind to the barriers people have for actually living to said standard. How many of the things these people take for granted are luxuries not afforded to those unable to join them, despite shared common beliefs. 

I know how the other group defines being empathetic as showing this genuine understanding for everyone, including those who don’t share their beliefs, and how they define compassion and support and kindness as including even their enemies who wouldn’t reciprocate, and how they feel compelled to build a better future with everyone, even those who hold beliefs they feel regressive. How these people recognize that no human is perfect, how everyone has their flaws, no system is perfect, every system will be flawed, but with time we can gradually improve and make progress if we acknowledge perfection is unattainable and imperfect progress is better than no progress at all. How these people understand that every human has different beliefs, and while we all share mostly the same framework, we will always have disagreements, and those disagreements shouldn’t alienate and divide us from each other. 

I know how the first group operates as a force for rapid progress embracing the ideal future for humanity, but their weakness in not recognizing how not everyone can keep up,
And I know how the second group operates in the way which has historically proven to be successful, but in the modern day is not able to achieve the same gradual progress and how they are failing to provide the needed bridge between people of varying viewpoints. 

But at the end of it all, regardless of political viewpoints, I know that the vast majority of people all hold the same common interests.

Everyone wants what is best for themselves, their families, and their communities. Everyone wants to build for a better future for everyone. Everyone desires the freedom to pursue this better life, to pursue their dreams and aspirations, and everyone desires the safety and security to guarantee that they are capable of this pursuit.

These are the building blocks that the vast majority of humanity desires. To fulfill their dreams, to leave a lasting legacy, to help their loved ones. 

We all have different ideas, often diametrically opposed, on how to achieve those ends, but it’s fundamentally necessary to remember almost everyone, regardless of their viewpoint, holds these same beliefs and desires. 

Yes, there will always be outliers. Those who are apathetic and greedy and selfish and ignorant and narcissistic and who have no desire to achieve any of these goals. But it is important to recognize those are in fact outliers, and that the majority of people hold to at least some of this love, some of these dreams, some of these desires. 

And it is vital to recognize even those that have abandoned the pursuit of empathy, love, compassion, and a better future, are often capable of being reminded of these things.

The same love which can drive hatred, division, and apathy can be used to inspire empathy and reignite passions and dreams.

Often, all it takes is little reminders about the best of humanity, and while the worst of humanity can never be fully removed, the reminders we aren’t defined by our worst are enough to inspire hope and drive progress, innovation, and change.

There is a lot which fuels fear, hatred, and apathy, but there is a lot which can fuel connection, love, passion, compassion, caring, understanding, and pursuit of happiness. 

And to that end, I want to talk about the subject, on the greatness in America.

For all of the imperfections we, 250 years later, can see in what the founding fathers did, it is undeniable that what they accomplished was, for their time, revolutionary. Literally. 

What they did was built on the systems they had been educated about and exposed to, but they used those separate ideas to create something entirely new, a system so robust it has lasted two and a half centuries, throughout many wars and despite all the divisions which threatened to tear the nation in half.

America was founded with the promise of an American Dream. That all people are created equal, deserve equal rights, and that all who come to and are born in America are owed the right to pursue their dreams of a better life. The nation we live in was built on this promise, of accepting diversity and equality, of coming together and building a better future for all.

The disagreements in how to accomplish this dream predate our country's existence, but the commitment to the common idea of a nation of dreams free of oppression is one they could all unify behind well enough to make it work.

In the time since our founding, we have done a great deal of good. The blueprint America made built the foundation for nearly every modern democracy. The system built by America has been used to form the modern world of elections free and fair across countless countries. 

America might not be unique in being a “land of the free” anymore, but it is quite likely, if not a certainty, that without America, there wouldn’t be lands for the free. For all of the areas America has been slow on the uptake on, we were still the pioneers in countless more.

And while the areas we once pioneered have been adapted and often improved by other nations, their progress was made possible by what we freely shared.

America, since its foundation, has become a place to have pioneered music, food, and the arts. The mixture of various cultures has created new cultures transcending any individual source.

For all of my cynicism in how America doesn’t have, outside of Native American Indians, any truly original culture with everything we consider American originating from a non-American culture, and how the cultural identity of people who come here has a tendency to vanish over generations,
The flip side to that cynicism is how we create a new culture and are building it through generations to form our own legacy and identity. 

What we build is always taking from the learned experience we have been exposed to from across the world, culture, and history. And in that time we have innovated and invented countless things.

For all of how others were close, we were still the first to split the atom. While we weren’t the first to make it to space, we were the first to land on the moon and our method of bringing humans to space is still the method used and modified. 

We have, in many ways, developed inventions such as telephones, radio, television, satellites, cable, and the internet. The electronic age was made by the likes of Silicon Valley. I would say, until about 2010 or so, America was at the forefront of technology.

The number of scientific research and advancements we have made is undeniable. The amount of music, art, and other culture we have produced and pioneered is incredible. 

The American dream has been realized countless times over through countless small businesses growing, endless individuals finding success in their fields of passion, and the fulfillment of the fundamental human desire to create art and share our works with the world. 

But it’s through all of that good that the shortcomings must be acknowledged for how we cannot claim to be the greatest nation, because over time, we have progressively fallen further and further behind the rest of the world. We have become more isolated and less educated. We have become increasingly unable to keep up, with more dreams shattered than let to succeed. 

America is one of the largest nations in terms of landmass, natural resources, and population. We have some of the highest diversity of any nation, and that diversity will remain our greatest strength. We have some of the greatest natural beauty on the planet, with a large variety in terrain. Just about every type of terrain in existence, there is American soil which has that type of terrain. From rainforest to jungle to island to desert to forest to plains to tundra to mountains to hills, you name it, our country has it.

We have the resources, both natural and human, to pursue just about anything we could dream of. There is enough land and food to house and feed every American, with room to spare for more, both in those yet to be born and those yet to come here.

So it should be considered the failure it is that, despite all of those strengths, despite all those merits and resources, we have not achieved the total completion of the American Dream. Homelessness, poverty, and starvation are all things we have the means to solve through our vast network of resources and land, yet they are increasingly rampant. 

While America has pioneered for over 200 years, what was revolutionary 250 years ago is commonplace in contemporary times, and we have lost the edge in what made us so special in the first place.

Through complacency, through a belief that we must be the best still, we have lost our march of progress and have stagnated, particularly in this digital age.

We are less educated than we once were. We are more isolated than ever before. Despite innovations in transportation including the invention of the car which has built modern transportation networks, it is harder than ever to connect. 

The phone, the internet, has allowed us to connect to people across the world in less than a second, yet despite the ability to reach across the world, we have less ability to connect to each other than ever before. 

America has, since its inception, been a land of great experimentation, providing the building block for both some of the greatest evils and the greatest of goods. We have the power to choose, using the freedom of the forefathers and our ancestors, to choose the path for our future, and to choose the path embracing our best.

We have more tools, more resources  than ever before, to network, to build and rebuild communities. To unite, to innovate, to pioneer. To communicate, to use resources to protect our dreams, our ability to create new ideas, by giving them the resources and needed to succeed. 

We have our diversity of ideas, but share the dream of making our ideas reality. We each have shortcomings others have strengths in, and we each have resources and capabilities others lack. By using our resources and strengths to cover the weaknesses and shortcomings of others, we all, collectively, are able to do better.

We have fallen behind technologically, culturally, scientifically, and socioeconomically. But we have every tool needed to catch up and take the lead again. All it will take is enough of us having the bravery and the passion and the compassion and the dream and the commitment to this better future embracing the strength of our diversity.

As satisfying as it can be to tear down others who have hurt us, to tear down those we see as having caused issues through their imperfections and as much as it may be cathartic to see them suffer consequences, that mindset needs to be removed, for it is one built on the destruction of those that are different from us and who have failures we refuse to accept. 

For change to be made, we must be bold enough to walk the line where the shortcomings of others are not forgotten or forgiven, but are also not used as a basis for exclusion or condemnation. We have the capability to recognize the difference between critiques designed to help improve and build better, versus criticism designed to destroy. 

We are stronger, we are better, when we can find the good in those who have good to be found, and even if we make the personal choice to not interact with those who we know bring us personal harm, we can hold the strength to genuinely wish them improvement and personal betterment where they can, in their own ways, provide a brighter future while we work to build our own.

Although we may never achieve perfection, we can achieve progress, on every level. And while it will take a generation, or multiple, in order to heal the wounds which have formed, the greatness of the American Dream can be made stronger than ever before by recognizing we have never perfectly achieved it before. 

All of humanity is connected, especially in this digital age, and while America will have a great deal of work to do in mending international bonds, it is just as possible to reconnect and reform those as it is to reconnect and reform with family, with neighbors, with community.

This progress won’t be realized overnight. It is a continuous process of recognizing the barriers we have to realizing our American Dream and gradually removing those obstacles. But I truly believe, in our lifetime, this change, this progress, can be achieved. 

Let’s use this diversity of viewpoints and ideas not to identify the weaknesses in the viewpoints and ideas of others, but instead to see the obstacles and the alternatives in implementing the ideas designed to collectively uplift us all.



Hypothetical New Constitution 


Now let me share that work in progress potential blueprint for the future I would love to see us enshrine and build upon.


Hypothetical New Constitution 


First 
We reaffirm the United States of America’s Constitution as the Supreme Law of the land. The sworn duty of every government employee, government office, civil servant, and branch of the military is first and foremost to the Constitution. 

Unless otherwise stated, the entirety of the Constitution including all Articles and all prior Amendments remain in place. 


(List the letter of them all here)

The stated wording here is designed to reiterate a commitment to the Amendments and not replace the existing wording or meaning of them.



There shall be no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

There shall be no abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people to peacefully assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. 


The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, shall not be infringed.


No Soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the Owner. Nor in times of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.


The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.


No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury.

Nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.

Nor shall any person be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against oneself. 

Nor shall any person be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.

Nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation. 


In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and fair public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law. 

And the accused shall enjoy the right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against them; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in their favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for their defense.


In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.



Excessive bail shall not be required, nor Excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.


The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

Included in this is the right to privacy. 

The inalienable rights of humans expand and evolve as society does, and the Constitution cannot provide an exhaustive list of every human right for every future generation. 


The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. 


The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.



The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President. 

The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President.

No person Constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States. 



Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 

Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 


All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State or executive branch shall make or enforce any law or order which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States. 

Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. Nor shall the executive branch deprive individuals of liberty or property without due process of law. 

Nor shall any State deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.


Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed.


No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or President, or Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, or as an executive or judicial officer of the United States, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.

But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability. 


The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.

The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. 


The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, religion, previous condition of servitude, or socioeconomic status.

The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 


The Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration. 


The Senate of the United States shall be compromised of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies:
Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct. 

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution. 


The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on the account of sex or gender.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 


The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3rd day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3rd day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. 

If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of their term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified. 

The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.


No person shall be elected to the office of President or Vice President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.


The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State.

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 


In case of the removal of the President from office or of their death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that they are unable to discharge the powers and duties of their office, and until they transmit to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of their office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. 

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that no inability exists, they shall resume the powers and duties of their office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of their office.

Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for the purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of their office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of their office. 


The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 


No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.




These Amendments remain reaffirmed, with Congress having the power to enforce every article by appropriate legislation. 






Subsequent 
Unless in contradiction with this new Constitution or otherwise stated, all prior laws shall remain in effect.



Second
Intention: Human Rights are equally owed to all humans, regardless of citizenship, regardless of race or ethnicity, regardless of gender identity, regardless of sexual orientation, regardless of age, regardless of disability, regardless of religion, regardless of medical conditions, regardless of relationship status, regardless of socioeconomic standing.


All humans in the United States of America are owed equal human rights, regardless of disability, race, ethnicity, religion, or gender. 

Transgender, nonbinary, non-white, neurodivergent, disabled, non-white, non-Christian, and non-male individuals are all owed equal rights. It is illegal to discriminate against any protected groups listed.

Pagans, witches, and other spiritual practices are included as protected just as equally as all other religions are. 

Transgender, nonbinary, and intersex individuals are recognized as existing and are eligible for gender-affirming care at any and every age.

LGBTQIA+ individuals are protected, and marriages between them shall be allowed and honored with the same laws as heterosexual marriage laws.

The right to privacy is hereby enshrined. 

Abortions and gender-affirming care are enshrined as fundamental Healthcare rights.

Freedom of religion also includes freedom from religion. 

Any human on United States soil is owed the full rights of a fair trial, and cannot be removed from the United States without consent unless a full legal proceeding has taken place. 

Citizens of the United States of America cannot be deported.

Any individual who has not obtained legal citizenship is guaranteed the right to access a means for applying for legal citizenship and will receive the full benefits of citizenship on a temporary basis while these proceedings are taking place. 

These rights are for individuals and not for organizations or corporations. 

States cannot pass laws which violate these tenets.


Third
Intention: Laying out what basic needs are owed to everyone in the current times.


All humans in the United States are owed, in addition to all prior human rights, the following:

Access to free, clean, drinking water 24/7;

Access to non-spoiled food meeting dietary requirements and religious beliefs;

Access to free 24/7 shelter from the elements;

Access to clean, free 24/7 bathrooms with all the needed equipment functional within;

Access to free means of cleaning oneself and one's clothing at least once per month at minimum;

Free access to 24/7 medical care;

Free access to 24/7 mental health services;

Free access to at minimum basic internet;

Access to free means of working out;

Access to free means of documented education;

Access to free or cheap and affordable means of transportation regardless of location. 

States may not pass laws in violation of these tenets.


Fourth
Intention: Establishing a commitment to science over doctrine, to education over indoctrination, to facts over feelings. Additionally, providing reform to safety for children and establishing age-appropriate education for safety in the digital age.

The United States of America commits to laws following the most recent science, and dedicates itself to following the scientific method.

Laws must be made in accordance with the systematic process used to acquire knowledge through observation, experimentation, analysis; through hypotheses tested through experimentation and drawing conclusions based on the results. 

The empirical method of careful observation, rigorous skepticism, hypothesis testing, and experimental validation, shall be recognized by law, with the removal of cognitive assumptions. 

This law shall recognize the building on previous knowledge and the unifying understanding of studied topics over time, and how this process is continual and never-ending.

As such, just as through the ninth amendment, 
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain scientific consensuses, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 



All laws must be made with the consultation of experts in all fields related to the law in question. 



Education expectations and requirements must keep pace with advancements in the fields of science and history at minimum. 

Schools are to be structured in ways conductive towards the most effective approach for every student to receive a comprehensive basic education. 

Higher education is to always be easily accessible with every citizen at minimum given a path towards achieving a degree in a field they choose. 

Students may opt for pursuing a trade, but any trade education should still be augmented by a general education to encourage creating an informed populace regardless of vocation. 


Companies, corporations, websites, games, and apps must have recognition for devices and internet connections with “child locks”, “family mode”, “parental guidance”, and similar, and provide appropriate restrictions for those connected using those settings. 

Corporations are forbidden from selling data about any children they detect as using their products through any digital means.


Children are hereby required to receive age-appropriate lessons in internet safety, and are to receive education in electrical, digital, and online literacy. 


Public, free classes are hereby authorized to be provided to the general public on lessons in internet history and safety, providing education on best practices especially for parents. 



States are obligated to follow the same rigorous scientific method for the process of creating state laws.


Fifth
Intention: To establish every citizen as capable of voting upon reaching voting age,  and to ensure votes provide proper representation, and to establish a Direct Democracy free of influence from money, corruption, and oligarchy. To guarantee term limits exist for time spent in public office, to reaffirm no allowance of nepotism, and to remove generational politicians.


Everyone who is a citizen of the United States of America is automatically enrolled to vote upon reaching voting age, and may cast a vote free of barriers. Protections against voter fraud will be implemented in a way free of voter suppression.



Political parties, across all levels of governance, are hereby abolished. Individuals running for office at any level of governance must do so as individuals, without the backing of any political party, Super Pacs, or corporations. 

Any individual who is a citizen of the United States of America eligible to run for an office may do so, free of barriers. There is no limit to the number of people who can run for any position at any level of governance. 


Felons guilty of high crimes and/or numerous federal felonies are ineligible to run for federal offices.


Candidates must provide select statements about their political beliefs and areas of focus, emphasizing their merits for the position, why they are campaigning for the position, and lay out what they intend to accomplish if elected.


Every candidate is required to make a public appearance by some method, in order to provide an explanation of their platform. If necessary, they will be given the needed aids for conveying their platform. 


There is no limit to the number of candidates in a Primary Election. 


The number of candidates for a General Election should be no less than three and no greater than sixteen. The three to sixteen eligible candidates with the most votes from the Primary Election are the candidates in the General Election.

Included in every ballot both for the Primary Election and the General Election is the option to vote for a Vote of No Confidence. Should a Vote of No Confidence receive more votes than any individual candidate, then the election for the positions which receive this Vote of No Confidence will be re-done, with the process restarted and the ability for new eligible candidates who missed the previous window to run for the position a chance to announce their candidacy.


States reserve the rights to how they run their elections, but the above regulations are federally guaranteed. 


At their discretion, when the number of candidates is greater than two but less than seventeen, states and local governments can opt for ranked voting between candidates. 

The handling of this ranked voting would be left to those states/local governments on how to implement, with the only federal requirement being the candidates are all eligible for the position and the option for a vote of no confidence is included. 


No person can hold any individual office for a duration of longer than twenty years. Any office with an existing shorter term-limit has that shorter term limit still apply.



Across every level of government, no individual may hold public government office for a duration exceeding forty years. 



Term limits apply regardless of whether the time in office is consecutive. 


No official may appoint a relative or individual of close association to a position of governance.


The child of any individual to have held governance is ineligible for the position their parent held.





All proposed laws must be voted on by the people. While congress can pass temporary emergency laws, these laws must then be voted on by the people on whether they remain in effect. 


The executive branch must have its executive orders reviewed by congress and be turned into proposed laws.



At any time, if mass-protests against a policy, law, or elected individual in a position of governance break out and there are sufficient petitions in support of it, a special vote of no confidence can be called against that policy, law, or elected individual. 



The role of Congress to enforce these articles by appropriate legislation shall be expanded, with Congress given the power with fewer barriers.


Sixth
Intention: To ensure individuals who are taxed are able to choose where their tax dollars are sent, and reaffirming corporations are not people and do not possess the rights of a person. Additionally, to bring the United States of America to the standard of other countries where taxes are automatically done. 


Taxation requires representation, and this representation is reflected in where individuals are allowed to allocate their tax dollars. 

All individuals who are taxed may select where their tax dollars are to be allocated. Examples include, but are not limited to, education, transportation, military. 

Up to 30% of their tax dollars can be allocated locally, either generically or to specific local offices (examples include, but are not limited to, education, transportation, local law enforcement).

Up to 65% of their tax dollars can be allocated to the state, either generically or to specific state offices (examples include, but are not limited to, education, transportation, environmental conservation).

Corporations are not people, and thus, because they are not an individual, may not select where their taxes go to.

Both individuals and corporations are to be taxed proportional to their income and value of their assets, unless given exceptions.

Anyone who is a citizen of the United States of America, who resides within the United States of America for a duration exceeding thirty days per year, who does business within the United States of America, or is employed by a business within the United States of America, is subject to taxation by the United States of America. 

Any corporations performing business within the United States of America, regardless of whether they reside within, are subject to taxation by the United States of America. 

Individuals are not required to file taxes, but may opt into manually filing taxes if they have reason to believe the information the government has for taxes may be incomplete. 

For the purpose of filing taxes manually, those who make an amount low enough to file manually for free may still do so.


Taxation is hereby deemed to be proportional to a combination of yearly income and possessed assets, both liquid and material. 

Seven
Intention: To tackle wage stagnation and pay inequalities and provide a system which will assure the cost of living never outpaces the income of Americans.


The federal minimum wage is hereby raised to a minimum of $10/hour, without exception. 

No job may offer a rate lower than $10/hour for any reason. 

The federal minimum wage is to be raised, yearly, by the approximate estimated rate of inflation. 

All jobs offering merit-based increases in pay must have the merit-based increase exceed any increase in the minimum wage, with the merit being on top of the minimum wage increase rather than a replacement for it.

All existing employees shall receive a matching increase in pay to any new hires, and to have their seniority reflected in additional wages.




All businesses with 25 or more employees posting job offerings are required to disclose both to internal applicants and external applicants the salary range for the position being hired for. They must disclose the expected pay, and the range may not be greater than $50,000.

Businesses may not post “phantom job offerings”.

All businesses must seek first to internally fill every higher job position before opening the position up to external applicants. Promoting existing employees to higher-salary positions shall take priority over hiring externally. 

Businesses must promote the most qualified employee who applies for the position. They may set standards on whether most-qualified is based on seniority, merits, or a combination thereof; however, these standards must be publicly disclosed to all employees, including prospective applicants. 

If a business advertises they are hiring, they must fill the position listed after they have candidates apply within 30 days of the posting.

If a business takes down an existing posted job offering in less than thirty days, then they must hire a candidate who has applied for the position before the job listing is removed. 

Businesses must hire the most qualified applicants for listed job offerings from the pool of existing candidates within thirty days of the job listing. 


Businesses with more than 25 employees must staff at all times they are open for the maximum capacity of the buildings they reside within. Businesses are forbidden from redefining the existing maximum capacity of existing buildings to be lower than their current amounts. Businesses are forbidden from reducing their existing hours open in response to this law.


Businesses with more than 25 employees are required to staff the appropriate level of staff for their operations, and may not reduce the number of staff for operations. 

Businesses may not reduce the hours of employees in response to this law. Businesses are required to attempt to meet the requested hours of their employees. 


Businesses are required to provide easy, barrier-free, publicly available and advertised, means for employees and prospective hires to apply for disability accommodations. 

Businesses are forbidden from discriminating against employees on or applying for disability by refusing to hire, terminating the employment of, increasing hours beyond listed availability, or decreasing hours below listed preferences, in response to these disability accommodation requests.

Disability accommodations do not require a signed doctor's note, but a doctor's note shall always be sufficient proof without requiring additional proof beyond the doctor note. Other forms of accepted evidence include, but are not limited to, a copy of medical record; testimony from individuals appointed by the employee or applicant; demonstration of the disability; sworn testimony under penalty of perjury from the employee or applicant. 


Businesses may not raise the price of their product by a rate exceeding 20% above the rate of inflation. Nor may businesses increase the cost of essential products in anticipation of, or in response to, disasters and/or supply shortages.

Businesses may not price any product they do not modify by an amount exceeding 200% the price they received the product at. Exceptions shall be made for items of historical significance and which have had production discontinued. 


Businesses may not price any product by an amount exceeding 1000% the combined price of all the component products for the final product. 

For businesses with more than 25 employees, they may not price any product by an amount exceeding 500% the combined cost of all component products and the labor involved in assembling and distributing the products.


Businesses with more than 25 employees at the time of this law are forbidden from reducing staff to be less than 25 employees. Should there truly be no need for more than 25 employees, those businesses can petition the government to reduce their workforce, but will remain bound by the restrictions of a company with more than 25 employees. 


Businesses with fewer than 25 employees yet more than 18 may petition for exemption from the “more than 25 employees” clauses should they need an increased workforce yet be unable to operate with the increased restrictions. 


Businesses are hereby forbidden from disposing of items such as books and other products with no expiration date. 


Businesses are required to offer products half-way to their expiration date at a reduced price, to avoid waste. These prices shall continue to drop as the product gets closer to expiration. These products shall be clearly marked as nearing expiration. 

If a product is about to expire and cannot be sold at a reduced price, the business must, with appropriate markings as to how near the products are to expiring, provide them for free up until they expire. They may choose the method of giving the product away, from either directly handing it out or providing it to charitable services. 


“Shrinkflation” is hereby deemed illegal. Companies may not reduce the amount of product involved without appropriately labeling the product as reduced.

Companies retain the right to reduce the volume of a product and to set the price for their products within the bounds defined, but may not reduce the volume of a product without properly labeling the reduced product as such.


The highest-paid position in any company may not exceed 50 times the wage of the lowest-paid position in the company. In effect, this caps the wage of a CEO to a maximum of fifty times the wage of a new hire. 


Corporations may not implement any policy designed to drive out local and/or small businesses and then change policies after their competition has been bought or driven into bankruptcy.


All For-profit businesses reserve the right to profit, but must disclose their profit margins publicly. Should these laws prevent profit from being attainable, then the government will open up options for a profit margin up to a maximum of 300%.

Eight
Intention: To tackle the housing crisis and guarantee cheap, affordable housing available to all.


Monthly rent is capped at (need to find objective definitions for Studio vs One Bedroom vs Two Bedroom etc., but loosely…)

30* the hourly minimum wage for (smallest/Studio),
40* the hourly minimum wage for (One Bedroom),
And 60* the hourly minimum for any house or apartment exceeding (size).

At the rate of $10/hour minimum wage, this would cap monthly rent to $300 for (smallest),
$400/month for (One Bedroom),
And $900/month for anything larger.

With the exception of utilities handled by the PUD,
The additional charges from utilities and services may not exceed 50% of the monthly rent. This includes sewage and trash.

In total across all services, the final cost of rent may not exceed double the cost of the monthly rent cap.

The application fee for any place to rent may not exceed 1/10th of the monthly cost of rent.

The security deposit for any place to rent may not exceed the cost of three months’ rent.

All landlords and companies who rent property are still responsible for providing the appropriate services to their tenants, including, but not limited to, property and utility maintenance.

In exchange for these limits, landlords and companies renting property may file for situational tax exemption for their properties rented and income from rent.



(Probably more housing rules here)

Nine
Intention: To provide a commitment to infrastructure, especially targeting the support of farmers. Give farmers a lifeline to ensure lifelong and generational success.


Food is the backbone of America, and the production and distribution of it shall be hereby reinforced, empowering our farmers to feed their communities and our nation.



(Infrastructure)

(This section needs refining based on the demographic and to also account for communal farms)

Farmers may classify themselves as an independent small business for the purposes of taxes, should they choose to. 

Any property with four or more acres reserved for either crops or animals may classify itself as farmland.

Any farmland which is the primary residence of the owners of the property is exempt from property tax. The owner of the farmland must reside on the farm for at least seven months per year at minimum. 

Farmers are to be given incentive to first sell locally.

Farmers are to be provided the resources they require for the upkeep of their farms for free.

Family-owned farms are classified as a Trade for the purposes of education, and receive all of the resources thereof.

Corporate farms, defined as farmland not owned by the primary residents of the farmland, shall have increased taxation, with the taxes paid by those that own the farmland. A grace period will be given to allow for converting corporate farmland into family-owned farms, and existing corporate farms which opt for this route will be compensated for the conversion.

Communal farms, defined as farmland owned by multiple individuals collectively, are exempt from taxation in a similar fashion to family-owned farms.


Farms are to be provided with free access to renewable energy, including the replacement of any diesel or gas-powered devices, engines, and vehicles with renewable resource alternatives. They shall additionally be provided with the needed funds for refining infrastructure to support these renewable systems. 



All gas stations are required, within 12 years of this becoming law, to provide a minimum of two free recharging stations for electric cars.

In exchange, all taxes on gas shall be dropped for stations in compliance with this legislation. 

Gas stations found to not be in compliance with this law after 12 years have passed, shall have taxes on gas reimposed and exponentially increased.


Car companies are hereby mandated to have, within 12 years of this law, at least 50% of their vehicles be powered partially or entirely by renewable resources. 

A higher percentage of renewable energy will provide grants proportional to the increase, and a failure to meet the percentage will incur fines proportional to the amount below the target percentage. 


Companies producing vehicles are mandated to, within 32 years of this law, have at least 80% of their vehicles partially or entirely by renewable resources. 

A higher percentage of being entirely powered by renewable energy shall be rewarded by additional government grants.


(Other gas vs renewable energy stuff here)



Ten
Intention: Decriminalizing drugs and providing an avenue for reform. Additionally, laying out the Intention of prisons to reform individuals into productive members of society, remove inhumane practices from prisons, make forced labor completely illegal, and to ensure prisoners are given options and never required to perform any action to receive their basic human rights.


The possession, usage, and distribution of cannabis is hereby legalized as a controlled substance identical to alcohol. 

All individuals found to have committed a crime by the possession, usage, or distribution of cannabis shall have their cannabis charges dropped and expunged from any criminal records. 


The possession and usage of drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl, and other opioids, is hereby decriminalized. The distribution of these substances remains unchanged in legality.



Those found to have addiction to such substances shall be provided a free path to rehabilitation.



The purpose of all prisons shall be first and foremost to reform individuals into productive members of society, by identifying and humanely removing barriers leading to criminal activities and to provide those detained avenues to successfully reforming their lives.


For-profit prisons shall be reformed to provide profits not off of number of inmates detained, a process hereby declared illegal, but instead receive profits only off of those released, with exceptions made only for those ineligible for parole.

Prisons are required to provide services designed to reform prisoners into productive healthy members of society, preparing them for a civilian life outside of prison. Failure to provide these services adequately may incur fines, or if found egregious, result in the shutdown of the prison. 

If a prison is found to have released an inmate who then relapses and commits the same type of offense, they will incur penalties if it is found they are in any way liable for the repeat offense. 

Prisoners are owed all basic human rights as defined by the Constitution, including but not limited to:
Clean drinking water;
Food meeting their dietary requirements;
Usage of bathroom facilities;
Right of privacy;
Access to Healthcare. 

These services are to be provided without the inmates needing to perform any service, and shall not be denied to those detained for any reason. 

While prisoners may be provided the option of performing labor, it shall never be mandatory. Should labor be a recommended sentence, the sentenced individual may opt for other forms of rehabilitation or punishment.


























(Work in progress)

Closing Declaration 

It is the fundamental right of every American to be owed all of the liberties in life outlined by this Constitution, and the duty of every government official from judges to congressmen to senators to governors to department heads to the President to uphold this Constitution and ensure the liberties and justices within are provided to all within the United States of America. 

As such, it is the duty of all people to hold these individuals accountable. Should the system of checks and balances fail to accomplish this to the satisfaction of the American people, then the Constitution declares those holding those positions to be in violation of their oaths, their offices invalidated, and the people in the right to mandate a removal of those in power who have failed to abide by their constituents in their Constitutional duties.

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with each other, a decent respect to the opinions of humanity requires they should declare the causes which impel them to do so.

It is self-evident truth that all humans are created equal, and are endowed with unalienable Rights. Among these include Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. To secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among the people, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Whenever any government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new Government, laying its foundations on such principles and organizing its powers in such a form, as to best set the path for their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, dictates that Governments long established should not be changed for light, nor for transient causes. Experience has shown humans will suffer while evils are sufferable, in acceptance with a fear nothing better can be done in clash with a demand of instant perfect change. To right themselves and abolish the evils to which humans are accustomed is a task to be taken seriously.

However, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, when there is a gradual rise in all forms of Despotism and Fascism, it is the right, it is the duty, of the People to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

A rule by the people, for the people, demands a Government which serves the people and responds to the people, not to any corporate or foreign entities. For the Government should respond to the needs of the People, not have the People respond to the demands of a Government.

It is the duty of the Government to listen and follow the will of the People, and if they instead ask the People to listen and follow the Government, it is the right of the People to call for the removal of their Government and reform it. 

The Government is hereby abolished from deploying armed forces, including any paramilitary organizations, to intimidate, threaten, control, or otherwise influence the populace. 

The right to replace those who have been found by the people to have abused and misused their position of power is hereby guaranteed, for those who choose to be a part of the Government are mandated to serve the people and must be removed if they fail in this duty.





A Preamble to Reform


Thank you for hearing me out, and listening to these ideas. I personally don't think many of them are actually at all radical. In fact I think a lot of these are things most of us can get behind regardless of belief. Yeah, the implementation of them would have disagreements and challenges. Yes, it wouldn't be something we could make happen overnight. Yes, there are currently some very strong barriers to implementing this change.

Notably, everyone in power would not wish to willingly give up their existing power to pave the path for the new generation. To implement these changes would require such a generation, a collective rise of all regardless of their political background and beliefs to implement a wide-sweeping change not seen in over half a century. It would require the majority of Americans to band together and to, through representatives actually representing the people rather than a political party, unite behind this common faith and belief we are in fact able to truly govern ourselves collectively without the need for oligarchies.

To achieve this dream would take time, and lots of it. But I believe it can be done, in our lifetime, if enough people can get behind enough of these ideas. We needn't agree on everything. We just need to agree on enough. And the most fundamental of things, we by and large already do, even if we don't realize it.

Everyone wants to afford the cost of living.
Everyone wants to receive help from others without barriers, obstacles, or guilt.
Everyone wants to help others, without barriers or obstacles.
Everyone wants to have the freedom to choose how to live their lives.
Everyone wants to have their future secured.
Everyone wants to pursue their dreams and ambitions.
Everyone wants the best for their loved ones.
Everyone wants to leave the world a better place than it was before.
Everyone wants to leave a lasting legacy.

Or at least enough people want enough of these things that we can all commonly agree upon them being such universal desires, wants, and truths that we can band together in the name of ensuring those wants are made possible, free of the current obstacles which block us from achieving them.

I might not be the best at writing words. I might not have the platform to share my words and beliefs. I might not have the best of ideas. But I still have them, am sharing them, and want to work towards them. And if you share enough of my stances, if you hold enough of my beliefs...maybe you can take my work and improve upon it. Maybe you can fix the flaws in my message and make it your own. Because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter who spreads the word of these ideas--it matters that the ideas are given the momentum to be implemented.

​And that's the dream of dreams I want.