To Whom It May Concern I write not as a salesman, nor as a petitioner armed with projections and assurances, but as a man who
Category: Culture
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the Edge of Humanity
We Are Standing at the Edge of Everything Humanity Has Built Every generation thinks it lives at an important moment. Most are wrong. We are
Across thousands of years of human history, one idea appears again and again in different forms: a portion of what we produce belongs to the
Name’s Philip Randolph Wright.Mister Wright if we are doing business. There’s a little phrase some folks treat like nostalgia now — like it belongs on
Miss O: The Technique Was Not the Point There’s a coffee shop near home where the tables don’t quite match and nobody complains about it.
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Build the Libraries Again
Andrew Carnegie understood something that feels almost subversive today: If you accumulate extraordinary wealth from society, you owe society infrastructure, not favors. Andrew Carnegie did
One of the worst things my parents ever did to me was limit me. Not with cruelty. Not with obvious abuse. Not with some dramatic,
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The Full Cost of Secrecy
We tend to discuss intellectual property, security, and secrecy as necessary evils—unfortunate but justified costs of innovation. The assumption is simple: guarding ideas is expensive,
America Needs to Learn How to Build Towns Again I keep seeing the same map online. Red counties.Blue cities.A thousand arguments layered on top of
Build the World in Play Before You Try to Govern It Before anyone reaches for the word “censorship,” let me be clear. I grew up
On Hair, Evolution, and Why Bad Comparisons Keep Failing I was working on Iron Age material and putting together a visual with Brobot—one of those
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Power Shifts With Tech
Another Lesson from the Story of Copper Technology itself is not what causes disruption and instability. The disruption comes from what happens around the technology.
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A Copper Age Lesson for AI
A Copper Age Lesson for AI I’m sitting here listening to a three-hour history lecture on the Copper Age, tracing the flow of metals and
Letter on Capitalism, Necessity, and the Line We Need to Draw Capitalism is a good engine. It is not a good religion. This distinction matters,
Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Cambria County Johnstown is not broken.It is under-populated. That distinction matters, because it changes what the problem is—and therefore what the solution can
10,000 Paths Up the Mountain I don’t remember the first time I encountered this idea. “Ten thousand paths up the mountain.” I’ve seen it everywhere—sutras,
On Law, Legitimacy, and the Survival of the Republic There comes a moment in every republic when loyalty to party, faction, and temporary advantage must
Every republic is born knowing something it will later forget. Power concentrates.Fear accelerates it.Violence follows when no other release exists. James Madison understood this. He
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The Product I Wasn’t Allowed to Build
I didn’t start with a pitch deck. I started with a notebook. Six months of notes.Sketches.Measurements.Supplier calls.Market checks.Customer surveys.Prototype failures.One working model on my kitchen
This house is an example of why Johnstown never fits neatly into one architectural category. Johnstown wasn’t built in one confident burst. It was built,
Orcas, Signals, and the Problem of Being Understood When two intelligent beings meet without a shared language, the greatest danger is not aggression.It is misunderstanding.
How Plato Taught Power to Lie There is a quiet idea at the root of most modern information failure. It is older than broadcast media.Older
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Data Centers and Water
Stop Boiling Small Towns: Data Center Cooling as a Public Policy Problem Data centers are marketed as “clean industry.” No smokestacks. No slag. No railcars
Craft and Courage Meet: A Victorian Apartment House There is a moment in every building project when the plans are “good enough.” The walls are
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A note to Johnstown, PA
I left Indianapolis for a lot of reasons. None of them matter. What matters is why I came to Johnstown, Pennsylvania. A few years ago,
A Systems Problem We Have to Adress. Before anything else, I want to separate two different conversations. One is about how law enforcement treats poor
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The Singularity Is NOW
For years, the idea of “the singularity” has lived safely in the future. A cliff we were supposedly racing toward. A moment when machines would
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The Privacy Myth in the Age of Total Surveillance
We are told, constantly, that our data is “secure.” Encrypted.Protected.Safeguarded by policy, compliance, and best practices. This is a comforting story. It is also a
I’m going to step out of the usual rhythm for a moment and make a direct request. Not as a publisher.Not as a brand.Not as
Speech, Debate, and the Cowardice of Secrecy The Speech and Debate Clause was not written to protect Congress from the public.It was written to protect
The Switch I Never Turned Off I was watching Hawkeye’s “Nightmare” episode of MASH the other night, and it stirred up something familiar. Not just
WHY WE FILE EVERY GRIEVANCE Name’s Philip Randolph Wright.Mister Wright if we are doing business. Let me tell you something most folks learn too late.
Or: What Extreme Wealth Does to a Person There is a certain kind of wealth that doesn’t simply avoid taxes. It replaces them. Not by
Beyond Posture: The Case for a Continental Republic Let’s set something aside before we go any further. The chest-thumping. The saber-rattling. The historically embarrassing habit
— A Challenge, Not a Comfort — There’s a line that gets attributed to Khalil Gibran, though like most lines that endure, it may belong
The First Time I Heard Gary Vee, He Was Right I first heard Gary Vaynerchuk speak when I was in real estate. He was touring.Talking
Every civilization walks a tightrope. Lean too far toward comfort, and you grow soft.Lean too far toward strength, and you forget what the strength was
Freedom as a Weapon: How We Were Taught to Turn on Ourselves There is a line often attributed to Nikita Khrushchev: “We will bury you.”“We
Modesty, Misplaced Anger, and the Strange Urge to Police the World An essay on how modesty becomes corrupted when it turns outward—how conviction becomes control,
Name is Philip Randolph Wright. Mr. Wright if we are doing business. Let’s get something straight before we go any further. Work is not a
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Miss O and the Manufacturing Renaissance:
Why America Needs to Move Beyond the Tip Economy We’ve all had that moment where we look down at a receipt and wonder how something
Shalom. As-salaam alaikum. Peace be unto you. This is an article about how the people who use those greetings have been at war for over
The Johnstown Tribune Building Small-City Architecture, the Free Press, and the Quiet Work of Beauty There are buildings that shout, and buildings that hold. This
Letter on Courts, Crafts, and the Cost of Being Heard I want to begin with a confession, because confessions clarify motive. I have not lived
Blue Ribbon Team Review: Bootleg Tapes, Real DIY Distro, and Why @317noiseshit Matters There’s a certain kind of person you want in your corner when
An Apology to MAGA — and a Call for Help This is an apology. Not a sarcastic one. Not a performative one. A real one.
The Stoic Argument Against Money Hoarding I was oiling the hinge on the garden gate the other morning—one of those small chores that feels unnecessary
This article reflects the view of the Cernunnos Foundation and its founder, Robert Smith. The Blue Ribbon Team webzine endorses it fully. It is also
The Culture of Separation When people ask why working folks feel so tired now, I tell them it’s because we don’t just sell our labor
Every generation leaves something behind. Sometimes it’s buildings or tools. Sometimes it’s damage. But always—whether we mean to or not—we leave lessons. Ways of thinking.
A Letter on Republican Liberty and the Discipline It Requires Introduction I have been accused, more than once, of being old-fashioned about freedom. That charge
What Was Quietly Sold Off Before It Came Gen X grew up inside systems that worked. They weren’t glamorous.They weren’t innovative in the modern sense.
On history, responsibility, and the last off-ramp There are moments in history when delay becomes a choice—and that choice writes a party’s name into the
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The Quiet Collapse of Maintenance
My name is Philip Randolph Wright. Mr. Wright if we are doing business. Right now we have something we need to talk about. Not an
Disclaimer: This piece is political opinion. Capital‑O Opinion. It is a thought experiment about culture, power, and voter behavior—not an endorsement, not a campaign proposal,
I keep seeing it scroll past. “General strike.”“Shut it all down.”“Nothing changes until we stop working.” It shows up between pictures of kids’ lunches, half-finished
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Why not treat AI as a utility?
What If Data Centers and LLMs Actually Served Everyone? There’s a strange irony in the way the future is unfolding. We’ve built the largest knowledge
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Scarcity Is a Lie. Now What?
“We already have the tools to take care of everyone; we just haven’t redesigned our systems—or our thinking—to match that reality.” That sentence is not
Why We Need to Lower the Temperature I’ve always been a little dramatic. Not in a storming-off-stage, throwing-scarves-in-the-air kind of way (though I do own
SOLIDARITY Solidarity ain’t a slogan. It ain’t a chant. And it sure isn’t something you put on when it’s convenient and hang up when it
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Peut-être préféreriez-vous la guillotine?
History is remarkably consistent about one thing. When inequality grows too large—when wealth, power, and opportunity concentrate beyond the system’s ability to justify itself—societies do
There is no “Other” in a republican state. There is no idea more corrosive to the republican tradition—nor more hostile to the virtues it claims
This is an imagined monologue. I’m borrowing a modern habit—comedians and entertainers sitting on talk shows, reminiscing about the greats, circling their influences with equal
New rule: let’s stop being mad about everything. Not “stop caring.”Not “look away.”Just stop living in a constant state of grievance cosplay. Outrage has become
And That Means Everyone Name’s Philip Randolph Wright. Mister Wright if we are doing buisiness. This country owes the working class. That’s not politics. That’s
The First four thought experiments in this chain. Before we go any further, here’s a brief recap of how this thought experiment started—and how we
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Open Source the Future: Why Food, Water, and Healthcare Knowledge Must Belong to Everyone
Open the Knowledge or Admit the System Is a Lie Capitalism, regulated trade, markets—fine.I’m not here to argue against exchange or incentive. Capitalism is very
I think one of the strangest things about living right now is how little anyone is expected to see. Not in a moral sense.In a
Cernunnos Foundation Churches and Temples Culture Design Environmental Labor Science and Research Thought Experiments
Seasonal Amnesia
This piece is offered in honor of the long side of the winter solstice. We have crossed the dark hinge of the year and come
On the Winter Solstice The winter solstice is not loud.It does not announce itself with fireworks or proclamations. It arrives quietly, almost unnoticed, marked not
My name’s Phil Wright. Mister Wright if we are doing business. I’ve been around a long time. Long enough to hear every trick word folks
There’s never a wrong day to watch the internet rediscover political theory, but this morning’s show leaned Marxist. A cluster of very confident posters were
Grammina used to say the Garden story wasn’t about snakes or shame or any of the usual Sunday-school furniture. “It’s about ease, child,” she’d mutter,
A proposal to turn blighted malls into rescue colonies, living archives, and a non-invasive research platform for animal intelligence America has a growing inventory of
The trouble with freedom these days is not that we have too little of it, but that we have forgotten what it is made of.
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What Happens When We Stop Starving Our Artists
A Long-Form Thought Experiment About AI, Creativity, and the Case for Universal Basic Income There’s a moment every artist knows, whether they say it out
There are towns where public art feels like it fell out of a grant application — stainless steel, vaguely geometric, installed by a committee that
Culture Finance and Banking Labor Miss Ordinary republican Virtue The Wright Way Thought Experiments
Three Views on Wealth
An Editorial Conversation from The Blue Ribbon Team Every so often the internet kicks up a little dust that tells a much bigger story than
Thanksgiving Edition- republican Virtue Thanksgiving mornings always have a particular kind of stillness to them—a pause in the national tempo, a collective breath the country
Why Are WE Punching The Wrong Enemy There’s a strange irony in modern creative culture:people will use every labor-saving tool in existence — except the
or is it finding my inner Pennamite I didn’t expect to move to Pennsylvania and find myself admiring its political architecture. I’ve lived in enough
“A Republic, if you can keep it.” — Benjamin FranklinIn theory, a republic is a well-tuned mechanism. The many are represented in the House, the
So I Asked Around Last month, somewhere between a fever and a mountain of envelopes, I started texting a few writer friends — one in
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Innovation Isn’t Property
The Future Belongs to the Builders, Not the Gatekeepers On my workbench sits a rust-red vise, older than I am. It was forged in Ohio
Starving the trolls as a thought experiment. In our modern circus of political warfare, the central battleground isn’t reality—it’s speculation. The vast majority of what’s
Scenario: Hybrid Manufacturing-Service Economy with Universal Childcare and Single-Payer Healthcare 1. Fundamental Concept In this scenario, the U.S. transitions toward a manufacturing-focused or hybrid manufacturing-service
I just can’t leave the idea alone. The more I let it bore into my brain, the more it seems like a tenable solution to
The United States of North America—A Continental Thought Experiment Introduction Previous discussions explored scenarios of authoritarian expansion. This edition, however, considers an alternative path—a grassroots-driven
Us and them. We do it in every level of our life. Us and them. What makes up each category? In your home? Neighborhood? Job?
Reminder: this is a thought experiment. THINK! TRIGGER WARNING: This blog involves direct and honest discussion of race and the ideas espoused by various racial
In January, we explored the provocative question: “Did the USA just elect an Emperor?” As a thought experiment, it raised eyebrows, incited discussions, and led
The War on Social Security: A Thought Experiment on America’s Future America stands at a crossroads. There are those—immensely wealthy, politically connected, and utterly indifferent
American’s institutions are under attack! Across the United States, Americans are witnessing the devastating consequences of an unprecedented attack on the vital institutions and services
It seems every day someone brings up how divided America has become—how we’ve never been so at odds with one another. Now, anyone who has
An Open Letter to Democrats: To the Democratic Party, You have spent decades selling yourselves as the Big Tent Party, the party of inclusion, the
Thought Experiment: The Political Dichotomy of Federal Tax Contributions and Returns Preface: Not a Political Argument, but an Exploration The following thought experiment aims to
Last time I was up in Maine, we did a little exploring around the historic neighborhoods of Bangor. This of course turned into a half
Applying Bill Mollison’s Teachings to OUR Struggle One of the greatest myths of modern civilization is the idea of self-sufficiency in isolation. The lone wolf,
A Thought Experiment: Divesting to Disempower the Oligarchy In the ongoing struggle against entrenched power, we face a crossroads: the path of violent revolution, which—though
This is mostly humor…but its annoying too. Ah, the sweet, ironic travesty of it all! Here we are, living in an age where the majestic
Reimagining State Borders Around Population Centers to Fix Representation I. Introduction: A Call for a New Kind of State II. The Current Problem: Representation in
A Thought Experiment on American Resistance and Reclaiming Collective Prosperity We like to tell ourselves that America is built on the idea of standing up