Elon Musk is to invite us back to Twitter but I am farming in Tanzania and blogging on the Stack
Meh. My famous tweet for Gary Johnson's libertarian campaign in 2012
I had one last campaign— leading the tech and website effort for the Libertarian Presidential campaign for Gary Johnson in 2012.
Working for the candidacy of Gary Johnson was glorious. I got to write my ticket. Gary handed over complete control over everything related to technology and digital from scratch with plenty of funds. I’d worked a decade dragging the Democrats into the digital age, but here, I had no one looking over me, no one to explain it to, and no oversight at all. I built the best-integrated campaign I could and loved it.
That he performed historically well was not my most satisfying moment. That was up in New Hampshire when I got his phone out and was able to announce his campaign for President on Twitter. A first.
The former New Mexico governor — who favors legalizing marijuana — on Thursday skipped the step of an exploratory committee, saying bluntly on Twitter: “I am running for president.”
The backstory is that it was so damn cold, and having no gloves, I could only type a few characters. At least it didn’t have a typo. That burned the bridges, and I meant it so.
I don’t regret getting out of politics at all. The 40 campaigns in a decade burnt me out. After I sold some early shares from co-founding Vox Media, I retired. I helped raise our children, got my Ph.D. from George Mason in Peace and Conflict studies, and authored books and articles on yoga. It was the best decade I could imagine living in the States.
The past 2-3 years have been disruptive on so many levels for all of us. It also sucked me back into politics, but I can’t stand just being an observer, and I am not at all interested in working in politics. This fall, I watched my daughter be the captain of her high school dance team at every football game. If I were working in politics right now, I’d miss them all.
We’ve bought land in Tanzania this past year, where we will build a retreat and wellness center. It views Kilamanjaro for sunrises, and the sunsets are over the Serengeti. I planted 200 fruit trees and 600 others this past Spring. And I have a contract with Macmillan for another book for India, this one a travelogue along the Ganges. I am going back to living the life I create.
I’ll still blog about world affairs, but more about embodiment, the transformation of conflict, and life not centered around talking politics and looking into a black box. Abroad, I don’t think about US politics at all. That’s where I am headed after this election in November.
But one thing I’ve realized here on the Stack is that I like the blogger community and set up a lot more than I do Twitter. I can’t stand the algorithm control of Twitter, so Musk should decentralize that component first, IMO.
My election prediction is not going to shock you as much as it will as when it happens. Stay tuned.