I didn't ask to become an "essential worker". I have preexisting conditions, as does the person I live with. I could've taken unemployment, and probably would've made more money, but made the difficult decision to maintain job security, and for a few other reasons besides. 1/x

As expected, the goodwill that haloed workers like me has all but disappeared where I live over the last couple of weeks. I'm reflecting on this as someone who would've been on the other side of this 2 years ago, comfortably working on my couch. 2/x

This is the backdrop upon which I recently started this project that I’ve been working on for a long time. For ~50% of the country, either @realDonaldTrump or @JoeBiden is the choice they're passionate about. For the other 50%, neither choice will get them out of bed. 3/x

And even if you're part of the 50% that backs one of these two candidates, you can pretty quickly discover why that isn't the case for someone outside your region. The regional pacts are the starkest example we've seen of how we can align with similarly-minded constituencies. 4/x

Most who vote are not politically engaged enough to consider their candidate far beyond whether there’s a D or an R next to their name. But that’s changing. Some now say they’ll vote for their candidate whether they shot someone on 5th Avenue or “boiled babies and ate them.” 5/x

Some are so radically against both candidates because they see one or the other of them as too corrupt. But the point is that people are radicalizing on the left, right, *and* center of our politics. 6/x

Here’s the thing though: this is all at the surface level, belying the truth beneath it. Our system of government is rotting; COVID-19 just accelerated the rot. 7/x

It’s not @realDonaldTrump’s fault. Not @JoeBiden’s fault. Not @SpeakerPelosi’s fault. Not @senatemajldr’s fault. Not @ReadeAlexandra’s fault. Not @GenFlynn’s fault. Not @BarackObama’s fault. But our country is breaking apart, and we’ve gotta do something about it. 8/x

I see this as existential, both as someone who built systems in software as a PM, and now as a restaurant worker whose tired of the system I have no choice but to take part in. You don’t have to be partisan or non-partisan to see it; I hope you’ll work with me to act on it. 9/x

Please consider RTing this thread if you resonate with the message. We’ve got to give more power to those who can achieve real change. And that starts with a #decentralized federation. Cheers to the revolution! (End of thread.)