Kerith Strano Taylor

A blueprint of how to move toward a more perfect union

Revisado: 12-07-24

While others were working on Project 2025, law Professor Maxwell Stearns was working on Parliamentary America. Where our legislative system has been captured by the industries it was meant to regulate, our democracy has been captured by the Impact of the freewheeling and utter guilelessness of the modern social media landscape.
We have become so siloed that we no longer believe our options in each and every election speak to our finely curated preferences in political representation. Some want to be represented by a Green Party President. Others, America First. Still others, desire a Progressive Party President. Desperate to use their solitary vote to strike a blow against a stalled system, every cycle we risk enough voters casting that vote for a third party, holding their nose and voting for the candidate closest to their values, or not voting at all.
Imagine a reconfigured system that allows them to have the best of all of those options. Better than what we have now. Better than Ranked Choice Voting. A system that assures more representative government and that invites the majority, comprised of a broader mix of voices to cooperate to form a governing coalition. In this scheme, the people will see their Green Party representatives fighting for the Earth, alongside their more tradition Democrats, perhaps aligning on some issues and diverging on others. The same would be true across the aisle; America First Representatives might align with traditional Republicans on some issues, but certainly not all. And sometimes traditional Democrats and traditional Republicans might join together to ensure a system not captured by extremes.
Professor Stearns articulates that more than half of our population feels politically homeless. Progressives often feel homeless in the Democratic Party. MAGA felt homeless in the more traditional Republican Party. Democrats feel homeless in the pull of the more socially progressive bend of AOC and her squad. More traditional Republicans feel homeless in the new MAGA era of the Republican Party. The answer is more parties (but not too many) and a doubled House of Representatives. Two ballots, one by district representation, most commonly Democrat and Republican as we have now, and the second ballot by party preference, with results allotted by the percentage of overall party votes in each state.
No longer would voters be stymied by the choice of the lesser than two evils. There is so much more packed into this book. How we pick our President, for one. But that shouldn’t be the headline. Because we have allowed our system of governance to govern less and less competently over time. This fix requires fundamental change. Our founding fathers believed we were capable of building a more perfect Union. They gave us the means to amend. Professor Stearns has given us a blueprint.
Maybe we start obsessively focusing on what is working, allowing us to finally fix what is broken?

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Haunting and heartbreaking with a delayed impact

Revisado: 01-21-22

Kazuo Ishiguro has a way of drawing the reader into a story with shocking underpinninings yet he lulls you along as if boating on quiet seas. Even when you suspect the shock and awe, you are held in a state of serene dissonance. It is wonderful and horrifying at the same time.

The characters will stay with you days after the last page.

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Even better the second time around!

Revisado: 12-04-21

Great science fiction, strong character development. Just wonderful! If you enjoy this book, try Blackout and All Clear next.

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Maggie Gyllenhall was a pleasure to listen hear.

Revisado: 09-19-21

Maggie Gyllenhall was a pleasure. She gave nuanced performance of the myriad characters. she brightened up a notoriously dark tome.

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practically listened straight through

Revisado: 06-05-21

If you enjoyed The Martian, this will not dissappoint!
Those who enjoyed The Children of Time by Aidian Tchaikovsky will enjoy this read immensely and vice versa!

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For my fellow white people looking to learn

Revisado: 05-24-21

Tremendous. This book weaves the personal narratives of three people who made the move from the South, at different times, with different motivations, and to different cities in the North, with snapshots of the violence and degradation they were fleeing and backs it all up with social science.

It is a powerful book.

I am embarrassed that I am just learning much of this history in my mid-40s. We have a long way to go, but The Warmth of Other Suns is an excellent welcome to the work.

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Excellent investigative journalism

Revisado: 09-08-20

Great telling of a true story. Interviews with the main players in the story. Highly recommend.

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Hauntingly beautiful.

Revisado: 01-16-20

This is one of the most beautiful stories I have ever read. Listening to it in the accented English made it even more enjoyable because it brought to life this otherworldly place where words sound like music.

The narration was perfect; the story layered with surprise and suspense.

Fans of epic Russian novels would enjoy this story.

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Excellent. Harrowing.

Revisado: 10-26-19

We are living through frightening times.
Listen.
Be informed.
Be vigilant.
Protect democracy in your town or city or state.

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Steady and superb

Revisado: 07-25-19

A fascinating tale of a woman numbly wading through her present until she is nudged to unpack her traumatic past. It left me inclined to pause and reflect on the small kindnesses in my own life that all amount to a sense of security that not everyone enjoys.

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