Don’t Let the Government Get Your Goat

Cedar, the Caprine Captive Caught in the Middle of a Fatal Legal Battle, Has an Important Story to Tell

I, Cedar, may be as dead as the narrator of the film Sunset Boulevard. But from my warm and dry pen in caprine heaven, I can still hand down a hard lesson for my fellow Californians:

Never, ever, let the government get your goat.

I’m not one to brag, but the story of my short life is a parable of these head-spinning times, when cruel is the rule, and mercy is as rare as affordable housing. The circumstances of my death, still the subject of legal inquiry, also raise questions about the …

by Cedar the Goat, as told to Joe Mathews | November 28, 2023

What L.A. and Belfast Have in Common

Should Two Famously Divided Cities Forget or Remember the Past to Move Forward in the Present?

by Joe Mathews | October 17, 2023

To govern a divided city, you need to balance your remembering with some forgetting.

That was my takeaway after moderating a recent public event that used Zoom to link live audiences …

A close up of George Washington on the dollar bill, which is slightly creased.

Saving Democracy Costs Money. How Do We Pay for It?

Increasing Civic Participation Is Expensive, But a New Idea—Democratic Action Funds—Could Help Raise the Cash

by Joe Mathews | July 11, 2023

In this time of rising polarization, authoritarian populism, and maddening big-money politics, leaders often say that it’s up to we the people to save democracy.

But democracy costs money. And democracy—unlike …

California-Baja Border | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Let Local Residents Govern the California–Baja Border

The People Living with the Mess the U.S. and Mexico Made Have the Best Chance of Cleaning It Up

by Joe Mathews | November 2, 2021

To: Baja California Gov.-elect Marina del Pilar Ávila and California Gov. Gavin Newsom
Cc: Tijuana Mayor Montserrat Caballero and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria
Re: A Borderlands Assembly

All four of …

Can We Tame the Wild West of Big Tech Media?

To Retain the Promise and Decrease the Danger of the Internet, the Federal Government Needs to Rebuild Our Digital Infrastructure—Starting With Revoking Section 230

by Steven Hill | January 25, 2021

Why do so many people, including both former President Donald Trump and new President Joe Biden, keep talking about getting rid of an obscure law called Section 230?

The short …

For Global Democracy, These Are the Worst of Times, but Also the Best of Times

A Rising Tide of Authoritarianism Co-Exists With Advancing Forms of Participatory and Direct Democracy

by Joe Mathews | September 29, 2020

Right now, it can feel like the worst of times for democracy. It also can feel like the best of times.

Democracy is under stress around the world from authoritarians and …

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