Midrange Weekly April 26
Your Weekly Round Up On What’s Got The Midrange Staff’s Attention
Midrange Staff @midrangeyvr
Welcome back to Midrange Weekly for April 26, and if you thought that a bout of unseasonable warmth would help us get through the month well that’s over. We are once again firmly entrenched in Raincouver mode, perpetually oscillating between talking about the weather and talking about covid numbers as if resigned to exile in the hinterlands of purgatory, forever entrenched in the existential doldrums and eventual delirium that comes with even attempting to reckon with the idea of a cruel and negligent maker besieging us with such a crushing, meaningless life and (ed note- okay time to take away the intros from Tristan until his seasonal depression wears off. Let’s try this again) - Hey there! We wrote some stuff about our opinions on things!
Dismantling The Arguments Against Statehood For Washington DC
In a once unfathomable development in the very substance of America, the prospect of statehood for Washington DC is finally being considered seriously. Decades- lifetimes even-of lobbying for the land, officially and perpetually under direct federal jurisdiction, had garnered little interest nor any proponents willing to spend substantial political capital on the endeavour. Those advocating for statehood for DC have almost exclusively been democrats, ensuring with complete certitude it would never happen under Trump. During Obama’s tenure he spent near all his political and legislative clout on digging the economy out of the globally catastrophic housing market crash and passing the Affordable Care Act. Republican opponents, forever consumed by their vindictive obstinacy, painted Obama as guilty of tyrannical over reach with these actions, and successfully wrestled back control of congress in 2011 ensuring he was unlikely to ever pass any major legislation again. Dating all the way back to Clinton- well back in the early 90s lobbying for DC statehood was still nascent enough to be unable to garner national attention.
Now things are finally changing, and at a rapid pace. Not only has the House Of Representatives passed a bill enshrining DC with statehood (specifically, all land in metro DC would be established as a state save for a small sliver of land including the Whitehouse and the national mall which would continue to fall under federal mandate) but the Biden administration has officially backed the measure. It will no doubt be a tough vote in the senate, but the fact that the democrats hold majority control ensures that the prospect will actually get a vote, which in of itself is a big step. The implications of this are considerable; Washington DC has over 700000 residents- they pay taxes and are eligible for military service just like everyone else in the country- and yet do not have congressional representation. This is and always has been an affront to the tenants of representative democracy that America was at least envisioned as. The modern day consequences of such disequilibrium were no more tragically stark than during the January 6th insurrection, when despite a treasonous attack on their land, DC city officials had no legal ability to call in the National Guard to help them- which is an option that any place in an actual state would have. Instead they were left only to the whims and negligence of Trump, who gleefully watched the attack he instigated unfold until he was convinced this might turn into bad PR for him. After the attack, proponents for statehood kicked into over drive.
Predictably enough so to has republican opposition to such a development. Indeed their recalcitrance to the idea is palpable, their responses to it ranging from arcane and dogmatic to downright hysterical. They really don’t want DC to be a state! The reasoning is simple enough from their calculating perspectives; affording DC statehood would mean electing two new senators for the state. Given the demographic make up of its population, it’s more than likely that both of those senators would be democrat further bolstering their majority and legislative power in the senate. Right now the make up of the senate is a precarious 50/50 among the parties, with VP Harris serving as a tie breaking vote should it come to that. Considering that the republican governance platform is based less around actual policy and more towards completely opposing anything democrats propose no matter what it is or how popular it may be, the dems can’t afford to lose a single vote when it comes to large pieces of legislation. With a 52/50 majority, the democrats will have more wiggle room and could get more ambitious in their legislative agenda. Things like immigration reform, gun reform, voting rights and a lot more could finally be back on the table for the first time in a generation.
As such the republicans have rolled out every argument they can think of to sway not just votes on the matter, but public opinion against the idea. So far these arguments against statehood have been less than convincing. The most easily dismissible and lazy rationale is to argue that congress does not have the authority to induct territory into the union as a state, but this ignores that every state except for the original 13 colonies were created through acts of congress. That they thought this argument would survive the light of day and even the slightest bit of scrutiny doesn’t bode well for their rhetorical position as a whole, but the republicans often employ the litigious tactics of throwing everything against the wall and seeing what sticks. It’s certainly not the congressional authority position.
Sticking with technicalities that they either don’t understand or are hoping the rest of us don’t, senator Nancy Mace of South Carolina argued that DC didn’t have enough residents to qualify for statehood; going further, somewhat mockingly, saying their population wouldn’t even been large enough to qualify as a single congressional district. This, on a mathematical and even just elementally logical level, is purely incorrect. The average size of a congressional district in the United States is approx. 710000 people. With a population of roughly 705000 DC is comfortably right in the middle of the pack for congressional sizes, hypothetically speaking. More pressingly, DC actually has more residents than Vermont and Wyoming, two whole states that literally already exist. The fact that Mace made this statement while standing next to representative Liz Cheny who is from Wyoming is ridiculous.
As always, the republicans- ever the ardent defenders of American heritage-hide behind the scriptures of constitutional originalism. Their arguments in this realm are swirling and coalescing around the same statement, repeated ad-nauseum, that the founding fathers never intended DC to be a state. The problem with this is that constitutional originalism doesn’t really exist and is only brought up when it’s convenient to do so, certainly not as a consistent or coherent ideological doctrine. The founders never intended for there to be political parties but here we are. In fact the original political parties were formed against President Washington’s wishes while he was in office. A founding father was actually alive to literally and unequivocally protest changes to government and representative structure and politicians did it anyways. The founding fathers also never intended for women to be able to vote or for black people to be free and equal citizens, but things change. That’s why the constitution has a number of major amendments. This isn’t the founding father’s country anymore; it belongs to the people that actually live there. The founding fathers were not messianic figures worthy of hagiography, stop pretending otherwise. Their word is not gospel.
This brings us to the republican argument against statehood that is at once the most cynical and hypocritical- but also the closest to being legitimate. This being that democrats are only doing this to cravenly grant themselves two more senate seats. Who knows, maybe! But when a policy goal that bolsters one’s position also happens to perfectly align with what is morally and ethically the right thing to do, why the hell shouldn’t they? Also Republicans only (correctly) assume that DC statehood would tilt the balance of power away from them because DC is made up in large part of constituents they have neglected and demonized; working class minorities and people of color. If they hadn’t treated them like shit the country over for a lifetime maybe this potentially new state would be in play electorally speaking. This is also a pretty myopic view considering the democrats just flipped both senate seats in Georgia for the first time since 1992. One never knows what future political trends will emerge so maybe look at this as an opportunity and put some work in my dudes! Finally, it’s pretty galling that republicans would have the nerve to decry such alleged senatorial opportunism considering they did the exact same thing in the past. Why do you think there is a North and South Carolina? Because the republicans wanted to take a solidly red state with two reliable republican senate seats and turn it into four reliably republican senate seats. None of these arguments against DC statehood are any good, certainly not worth engaging in a good faith argument. The best course of action is to see how things play out in the senate. If DC is given statehood, should you be faced with any of these aforementioned arguments complaining about it, one needn’t respond with much else beyond, “tell someone who gives a shit”. -Tristan
Making Sense Of Apple Podcast Subscriptions
via tech cruntch
Audio, Audio, Audio.
Oh boy has this sphere seen plenty of action of late. In the last year, look at what has transpired.
Spotify has spent millions as it’s looked to dominate the music and podcast game. In early 2020 they bought Bill Simmons media company, The Ringer, for $200 million. Then they signed Joe Rogan for $100 million. This doesn’t even count what they did before in buying Gimlet and Anchor. Spotify’s sole aim to is to be the Netflix of audio. They’re on their way.
Clubhouse, the live audio app that caught the internet on fire a few months back, has given a new look to how we can converse with instant chats. The audio quality is not as good as podcasts and its numbers have fallen precipitously since February with copycats emerging, but even still, what they offer is unique and could change the audio landscape.
Facebook has also come out in this arena with news that it will be launching several audio designs within the next few months. One format will be short “sound bites”, while another will be something similar to what Clubhouse if offering. I’m still not convinced this will take off as I just don’t see many users wanting to use Facebook for audio.
Then there’s Apple, the platform which essentially started this medium back in 2005 when they added podcasts to iTunes. Since then, they’ve been hanging back with their influence compared to how they’ve managed other features they control, namely the App Store and Apple Music. That is, until now.
From The Verge:
The most popular podcasting app putting its weight behind subscriptions could be monumental. Apple has the chance to popularize paid subscriptions by making it easy to listen and subscribe in one place, and it could influence the industry to shift slightly away from its dependence on advertising at the same time. Plus, unlike other solutions, Apple will also allow listeners to try these subscriptions for free for a limited amount of time, giving people a chance to preview what they’re paying to access. Apple’s not precious about the content podcasters offer there, either. Shows and bonus content don’t have to be exclusive to the platform, and they can mix free and paid content.
It’s easy to understand why they’ve come out with this now. Spotify is emerging. Apple dominates the landscape currently, but they won’t forever and adding subscriptions will help balance the arena, which ultimately is good for everyone.
The skinny:
The way I see it, Apple moving into subscriptions is big news for guys like me who currently produce a small local podcast. If I can monetize our work by putting each episode up for say $1, this revenue will help give our podcast added cash flow, which in time will help us to develop our brand. What Apple is doing here in adding subscriptions isn’t far off from what Patreon already offers, outside of the massive 30% cut they’ll take versus Patreon’s 10%.
Nevertheless, even in light of this blatant tax grab, there’s a sizeable added bonus to working with Apple.
Leverage.
Apple has a massive user base. This is what separates them in this field. Plus Apple will control all payments, which is good in one way and bad in another. The good starts when a listener wants to listen to my podcast, if they have Apple pay set up, all they’ll have to do is double click and voila, they’ll have access to that episode just like that. The ease of use is mightily important here. The bad, however, is that I don’t get to control or learn who my listeners are. Not the hugest deal, but this is where the Patreon model has an advantage.
Regardless, for small players such as myself, adding subscriptions will be big in the long run. For companies like Malcolm Gladwell’s Pushkin Industries, they’ll absolutely gain a wide berth of subscribers naturally, however, I wonder if that will compete with their current ad revenue or if they’ll just continue with both? Probably both I assume.
Ultimately this is good news for creators and the industry overall. The sooner listeners get used to paying for podcasts, the quicker everyone involved can garner their fair share. Netflix has shown that subscriptions are the way to go. You get a much richer relationship versus going the old ad model path. I’m excited to see how this plays out. - Jamie
FLUX FIVE
Jennifer Lara “Im In Love” 1982 Studio One Presents Jennifer Lara
Wonfu ”Circle” 2011 Wonfu
Polica “Tata” 2020 When We Stay Alive
GLXY “Preface - Interlude” 2020 Research An Development
h hunt “Having A Bath” 2016 Playing Piano For Dad
*Interestingly enough, Wonfu does not have any music on YouTube. I actually think that’s dope. You check you can check out all their stuff here. -
Enjoy! - Mick
Things From The Internet We Liked
The Shang-Chi Trailer Looks Set To Bring A Whole New Genre Into The MCU
Broadly speaking, your average movie going pop culture enthusiast may not know much about Shang-Chi. But once upon a time that was also true about Guardians Of The Galaxy and Black Panther, and look at them now. The trailer for the upcoming Marvel film looks like an exciting attempt to diversify the roster of MCU heroes and also take a stab at martial arts oriented style of action film.
The Secret History of He-Man is hilarious
This unearthed excerpt of why exactly the He-Man cartoon included a large green tiger (well, large to He-Man) provides a ridiculous but oddly logical rationale behind the show’s bizarre aesthetics.
the explanation for why he-man has a tiger is one of the funniest things i've ever seen in my life and i have to share the whole clip pic.twitter.com/1pgtQglG0M
— Bobby Schroeder (@ponettplus) May 21, 2019
Disgruntled IKEA employee has to be the best thing on Tik Tok Right Now
We don’t know who @CosyClub is but their rendition of an IKEA employee just perpetually on edge is no doubt a vicarious dream come true if you’ve ever worked retail.
— Cozy Club (@CosyCIub) April 18, 2021