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July, 2026

Hello!

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to my Substack a long time ago. Thank you for your support, and sorry that I never sent anything.

Going forward I’ll post my thoughts on jackskidmore.com, paired with ~quarterly emails with links to essays, prayers, and thoughts about Eudo or other projects.

I recently posted an essay on why technological progress seems faster than political progress called ‘Who are the gatekeepers?’ Here is an excerpt:

This raises a question: is consistent political progress even possible? The answer is clear when we examine the engine of progress that creates new useful knowledge: the experiment, and where it is applied. Experiments are indiscriminately applied to technological problems. New knowledge is created and distributed, creating smooth, compounding progress.

Experiments are selectively applied to politics. They are applied downward, where citizens are the object of experiment. Candidates use them to A/B test campaign messaging. They are used to evaluate voter behavior. The United States has 50 distinct political systems that are constantly trying variations of policies, speed limits, and school curricula. But experiments are not usually applied upward, where rulers and the structure they inhabit are the object of experiment. Despite the natural variation across 50 states, the laboratory is rarely pointed at the entity creating the policies. Would sunset clauses work better if you could only renew them once? Are legislative branches more effective with one, two, or three houses? Would a dedicated emergency branch of government stop the executive branch’s slow accumulation of power?

If this looks interesting, you can read the whole essay here!

Best
Jack