Housekeeping
All clean! π§Ό
Shorter newsletter this month!
β οΈ Disclaimer: Chill. π
The Seeds
π Reading
Niskanen Center - The Procedure Fetish
The only point I take issue with here is the idea that Republicans want to "invigorate the free market". Um, tariffs are fundamentally antithetical to free trade. I understand this was written in 2021, however, many of Trump's tariffs from his first term remained in-place and some were even exaggerated (by Biden). And we've known for a long time that Trump has a tariff fetish, so⦠What gives?
Otherwise, I found this piece to be captivating and largely agreeable. I βappreciated both the historical context the author provides when discussing America's fundamental distrust in government, and the compelling connection between lawyers and the institutional over-proceduralization that America is enduring. I would throw consultants into that conversation as well, as both lawyers and consultants profit greatly from complexity. Not our finest attribute if you ask me.
Three excerpts for you:
"It is reasonable to believe that procedural regularity is an important facet of government legitimacy. But legitimacy is not solely β not even primarily β a product of the procedures that agencies follow. Legitimacy arises more generally from the perception that government is capable, informed, prompt, responsive, and fair."
"In general, the best way to build an agencyβs legitimacy will be to address those concerns [e.g., resource constraints, poor leadership, organization dysfunction, etc.], either by turning to Congress for resources and reform or by enlisting someone who knows something about management. Yet lawyers, not managers, have assumed primary responsibility for shaping administrative law in the United States. And if all youβve got is a lawyer, everything looks like a procedural problem."
"Instead of defending procedures at a high level of abstraction (legitimacy! accountability!), we need to take a more granular look at the effects that legally imposed procedures have on the task of governance. Minimalism should be the watchword. New procedures should be greeted with suspicion and old procedures should be revisited, with an eye to cutting them back or eliminating them."
There's plenty more in this article and I'd strongly encourage a thorough reading.
Off-topic, but I heard someone say consultants are just "brains for hire"? And you know what? I'm 1,000% okay with that. π
π· Watching
Myck Bambalan - Japan Slice of Life | Cinematic Travel Film | Sony A7C II
I want to make something like this while in Japan.
What I'd love to do within the next decade is actually build a travel photography business. I haven't put a ton of thought behind it yet, but it's on my "Maybe" list.
Matt D'Avella - Why I left America for good
An informative video... π€
Australia and New Zealand are both on my short list of places where I'd like to live if I ever chose to leave the U.S.
As an aside, I'm growing more and more serious about that prospect as time goes on.
π΅ Listening
Five months in, this is my favorite song and M/V of 2025.
This song is so chaotically dumb. I don't like itβ¦
I LOVE IT! π€£
It's so weird. It's so satirical. It's so ostentatious and I'm here for every single bit of it.
pH-1 - Nerdy Love (Feat. Yerin Baek)
This song is fun, I hadn't listened to Yerin Baek or pH-1 in a minute, so it was nice diving back into familiar voices again.
The colors in this music video are AMAZING!
This song is great, one of my favorites, thereβs not much else to Saay (π€£).
π Eyeing
Western Rise recently moved manufacturing to Vietnam. In doing so, they've been having a warehouse sale for what feels like months. This has meant up to 65% off on some of their best selling pieces.
I picked up two of their Spectrum Joggers for 60% off (usually $118 per pant), they are THE BEST sweatpants. Period. End of story.
They're SO comfortable! The perfect travel pant.
As an aside, they are ramping back up soon and I could not be more excited for the new collections, materials, and re-stocks.
π€·π»ββοΈ What's the deal withβ¦
Amazon
I cancelled my Amazon Prime Membership. Why? Oh, I don't know. For starters, they sent me the wrong backpack. Their delivery drivers consistently miss the stated delivery windows by upwards of 10 hours (Walmart doesn't have this issue, go figure). I've received multiple used products when they were shown on Amazon as new (never had this issue anywhere else). And that's just in the last week.
So yeah, I'm done with Amazon.
Whole Foods is garbage too. Consistently full of 100% organic, non-GMO, BPA-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, gluten-free, everything free, fake meat loving, paper straw chewing, plastic utensil using, Toyota Prius driving, recycled, composted, vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, nectararian (not real), jalapeΓ±arian (also fake), outwardly pretentious SNOBS. Yes, it's a sweeping generalization (and a bit unhinged), but I'M UPSET!
Side note on all the "100% Organic" advertising, what single-ingredient food would qualify as only partially organic (greater than 0% but less than 100%)? I've never seen a 63% organic apple, have you? It's like saying the water in my bottle is 82% wet. It makes no sense. Today's marketing is an insult to and a dilution of language.
At this point, buying direct from retailer is only costing me a couple days. And with a few notable exceptions, things like customer service, packaging, and the overall experience are all elevated when buying from smaller independent companies (like Western Rise or Pioneer Carry).
Case in point, I ordered a pouch from Pioneer a while back, and received a hand-written thank you note and an extra card holder from some dude named Henry... Like what? π
Henry Lefens, he founded Pioneer. I googled it.
Amazon is no longer worth its half-assed excuse for a product and service offering.
The Pulp
I've been stewing on a couple things this month.
The first is whether I should pursue a graduate degree in international relations. I spent the last 18 months or so saving up to buy a car that I plainly don't need. It'd be convenient, but probably not worth it when I can rent from Hertz for around $40/day. Alternatively, I could throw that money toward a graduate degree in a field that I am reasonably confident I want to step into (and not have to take out student loans).
There are a couple of online programs that I'm looking at, one is the University of Oklahoma's online M.A. in Global Affairs. My family has a lengthy history with OU, so it caught my eye initially. The other is the Harvard Extension School's M.A. in International Relations (mostly online). The former of the two offers a study abroad experience and is significantly more affordable, while the latter offers the type of coursework that aligns better with my interests. I also think there are an abundance of tie-ins with my analytics degree. I think data-driven politics should be the future, not party-driven politics.
The Harvard Extension School path doesnβt have a typical application process, there are three pre-requisite courses (two of which Iβd get to select) that Iβd need to take and score a βBβ or higher in to be fully accepted into the program. More of a prove-it-through-action approach than the traditional graduate application circus. Iβve looked through the course catalog for what kind of classes Iβd be interested in and OH MY!
Grand Strategy in International Relations and US Foreign Policy
Strategy, Conflict, and Cooperation
The Rise and Fall and Rise of Authoritarianism in the US and the World
The Geopolitics of Technology
Government and Politics of China
Policy Communication: Writing, Engaging, and Shaping Decisions
Just to name a few.
And if Iβm being completely honest, I've been dying to go back to school β ever since graduating in 2022. Itβs kind of perfect. Consulting and graduate school at the same time would be tough, but I've been interested in geopolitics for long enough that it's grown past being "just a phase", and I know plenty of people that did or are doing the whole work and school thing simultaneously.
Would I be signing up for maybe the most difficult 2-3 years of my life (up to this point)? Probably. But itβs not like I have anything else significant planned (other than travel).
Iβm realizing it sounds like I already know what I wantβ¦
One step at a time.
The other thing I've been working out is Japan accommodations. I finally know where I'll be sleeping for most of the trip, I still have three spare days to figure out but we're getting there.
The trip will consist of four days in Tokyo, four days in Kyoto, two days in Hiroshima (with one day on Miyajima in between), two more days in Tokyo, three days in Seoul, and an additional three days in Tokyo before flying back to the States. It's a lot, I know.
I booked an overnight stay in one of those Nine Hours (9h) capsule hotels inside Narita Airport (before flying to Seoul) and I'm unreasonably excited for it... I'm also really looking forward to my brief stint in Miyajima. I booked an overnight loft at a place called Miyajima Villa, and it looks nothing short of stunning!
There's a lot to look forward to and more to come on all of itβ¦ In June. π
Bye! Cya later!
Sang Hyun