The 58 Capital Plan

Our democracy feels as though it's on the line these days, but we've never really had a democracy, have we? Since our nation's beginning we have inched closer and closer, and it is time to take the next step that truly represents the progression we've made in technology and the speed of communication it has provided.

App for Democracy: Democracy -- direct citizen voting -- is more possible now than ever with the speed we exchange information. The California Democracy App will be a centralized place to take surveys to impact change from your local fire board to your governor's office. Investigated as an easier way to collect ballot measure signatures. Once security is established, direct democracy will be possible!

Reforming Ballots: President and VP are two separate elections and should be listed as such on the ballot. A single vote ballot traps us in the two party system. With options like Ranked Choice Voting and STAR Voting, Californians can better express their interest position on the ballot. Rather than pushing election reform through legislature or ballot measure, the people need to be aware of our options before choosing.

Commercial Ban for political ads: Political advertisements have reached a point of harassment. All propaganda will be banned. What will be allowed is invitations to nearby or online events and groups. Instead ALL candidates need to be provided equal airtime in recorded sessions so the public can see every option they have, not just those who "poll well -- polls don't even include all registered candidates".

Holiday for Elections: All people, regardless of their work schedule, have the right to be an informed voter. This means things like restaurants, grocery stores, and banks need to be closed on election day. All hourly workers will have to be paid for five hours of work, grants available for small business. Emergency employers will have 1-2 alternate days during the early voting period.

Everyone should be able to walk down the grocery aisle without wondering which items do and do not have poison. No one should be hungry in a nation with such a food surplus. The lack of control the public has over our food supply is a remnant of feudalism and it is time to be truly free.

Freshening Food Standards: Helping farmers to transition away from plastic and toxic chemical pesticides to improve their health and protect our food products. Removing plastic from food processing and providing a certification of safety.

Accessible Protein: Investing in hunting industries to enable safe storage and sale of hunted meats. Revitalization of wildlife populations to enable more natural food supply. Encouraging chicken-communities where neighborhoods have chickens for eggs and meat.

Regional Agriculture: Investing in local farms and agricultural initiatives to reduce reliance on imported goods and transportation costs, including plastic-free hydroponic towers (publicly owned indoor agriculture inside of cities), rooftop gardens, and investment in existing networks that support small farms. Leveling subsidies between meat and protein crops. Planting fruit trees in public spaces like parks, streets, and along transit stations.

Modern Crop Development: Supporting desert or low water versions of crops (ie cactus fruit wine), investing in oceanic farming to utilize our coastline safely and effectively. Investing in breeding with local plants (like how the Romans made broccoli and brussel sprouts). We need to desalinate water and steam it over the hills to refill the Central Valley, we can use solar mirrors to make the steam.

Housing is healthcare, not an investment scheme. It is time we enable working class people to build wealth again through home ownership. We can build beautiful communities where all people can live together regardless of wealth.

Focus on Affordable Condos: Affordable apartments can perpetuate poverty. We need to refocus investment in $0 down, affordable condos–targeting a starting price of $100k. 

Increased Housing Supply: Incentivizing the construction of fireproof housing for new neighborhoods in fire risk zones (underground, concrete, domes, &c.), vaulted parking structure like towers for stacked tiny homes, building condos as bridges over freeways/aqueducts to reclaim space–called Hillments and have parks on top. Provide free housing on community edges for fire prevention teams, like park rangers.

Rent Control Measures: Extend rent controls to leased homes. Ban on non-Californian companies from owning houses in the state. Rent freeze for 4 years or until wages increase significantly. We need to make landlords our wage advocates.

Mixed Income Developments: All new builds will be required to have diversified income options, economic integration is the pathway to equitable schools and public services. By having units on one property from $100,000 to $2M+ you can more easily balance the project budget.

Healthy people are productive people, so if we want to have a productive society, we need to ensure the good health of all of the residents in our state. It seems we learned nothing from our last pandemic: full hospitals, global supplies cut off, and people facing long term respiratory issues from breathing so much plastic, it is time we address these issues.

Prescription Drug Cost Reduction: Investing in drug production and agriculture, to have internal controls over pricing and security during global disarray. Investment in ionized plant fibers (feature required for face masks).

Universal Healthcare Coverage: Building free public hospitals in all regions with hospital bed shortages, integrated directly with free or low cost medical schools. Expanding public health as needed from there. Free healthcare will not be income based. We will deregulate corporate medical mandates, not outlaw.

Latest Branch of Government ‘Perpetuity’: Investigating the formation of a fourth branch to contain existing agencies like CalEPA, Department of Food and Agriculture, Department of Healthcare Services) with an elected leader (just like we elect a treasurer and leader of insurance, here in California) to steer these agencies. This enables the people to better steer government policy and ideally makes scientific discussion more common and understandable. We’ve glorified the courts with a branch, and look where it’s gotten us. Let’s give out some more glory!

Spas for Public Health: These will serve as mental health batteries. Lots of plants that have therapeutic qualities, so the air is the medicine--these are found in "peace gardens" near hospitals and have proven health benefits. People will have places to sleep, to receive counseling, and other mental health services. We will make mental health facilities similar to public pools, we have to make healing more appealing than addiction. Recharge with the people.

Blue collar workers build economies when paid fairly. We need to ensure that all people have the freedom to shop locally, not be forced into corporate stores through wage theft of any kind. The freedom to have money left to grow their savings. As our economy advances we cannot leave our rural communities in the dust; instead, we should build a Californian economy where every part of the state empower the others.

Advanced Manufacturing: Working with California universities and global tech companies to bring tools like metal 3D printing, biological/enzymatic tech recycling to regions across the state to revitalize local communities. These will power manufacturing in fields like modern transportation production: trains for high speed rail, waterproof/ floating cars, tireless cars, and two-stage orbital transit.

Real Worker Protections: Strengthening labor laws, raising the minimum wage. Requiring all companies with 50+ employees to have an internal union (it’s free) this internal union can decide whether to join a larger organization–boards and CEOs should always be in communication with their workers and fully hear their needs and ideas.

Mediated Fuel Regulation: California has a proprietary blend of gasoline: California Reformulated Gasoline, to lower air pollution. We will work to enable legislation that allows towns and counties that fall below a car population density level, to have regular gasoline, but it will have to be enacted at the local level. Further, the balance of EV’s can also enable this policy. I will work with large external cities to sell them our reformulated gas to incentivize more refineries to produce it and lower its cost for city dwellers.

Space Investment: Space ships are easier to launch form the moon or in space. By investing in public transit systems to orbit, more people will be able to afford to build ships and capitalize on the riches of space mining and exploration, rather than continuing our current oligarchy indefinitely. We are at a fork that can kick start a global gold rush that flows through California, or watch as the billionaires colonize space for themselves, synching control of the raw materials of production once again.

We need to ensure our communities are electrically independent with local production and California-built batteries. As we make our green transition, we need to be working with our energy leaders, not penalizing them for fueling the economy that helped to build the state we love.

Local Energy Security: Helping communities install hyper local electrical storage to prevent power outages, batteries built in California. Local Energy Leader program that can train community members for immediate emergency response. Investing in home wind power like we did for solar.

Energy Investment: Significant investment in solar, tidal, geothermal, and other renewable energy sources. 100% electrical independence, transition to exclusive exporting. Old mines investigated for long term nuclear waste storage.

Advanced Research: Funding research into advanced energy storage solutions and sustainable energy technologies, specifically into converting salt from desalination into batteries for grid and personal use. Planning for fusion nuclear power (this is hydrogen to helium so it's less radioactive and can be designed to neutralize nuclear waste). 

Fossil Fuel Transition: Phasing out reliance on fossil fuels by investing in biofuels (desert + oceanic) and investing in tailpipe capture research that can recycle emissions into fertilizer or fuel. Transition oil companies to water ocean water distillation–separating into its unique parts for sale.

As we develop our transportation methods, we cannot forget the old ways. How would you feel if the rich people got flying cars and then our roads were left to collapse? By preserving routes for all forms of transit, we can draw in tourism and build micro economies that bring joy to all types of people.

Full Modal Equity: Connecting cities and towns with secured trails that low speed vehicles can utilize. We can bargain leases for mid trail hotels and campgrounds, ensuring hydration in fire prone regions. These will enable horse, ATV, and foot travel between regions. An EV charging station at every freeway exit, no excuses, they’ll be state owned if that is what is required.

Air Quality Emergency: We have some of the worst air quality in the nation. This will enable us to push through local public transit systems, and other air quality measures as needed.

Speedy Rail Planning: The longest stage of our High Speed Rail project has been planning and environmental approvals. We need to plan our Rail for along the 1/101 and 395. We also need to coordinate with our other neighbor states to plan the 10, 40, and 80 HSR.

Transportation App: This will centralize all public transit ticketing and road information across the state. You will be able to buy one ticket no matter the number of transit facilities you use in the trip. Official road closures and other traffic information will be centralized there automatically.

In these times, California needs to lead the way in showing how good public education can be.

Funding for Public Schools: Allocating more resources to public schools, particularly in underserved communities. Integrating new universities into high schools. Starting grade 10, students will have the opportunity to board at other public schools across the state.

Advancing Primary Education: Adding two years to primary education (k-14). In 1965, when k-12 was standardized, the life expectancy was 66, today it's nearly 80. Not only are we living longer but there is so much important information we've discovered since then. This time may be used for traditional college general ed, integration of languages and computer science in earlier grades, or work skills. Most importantly, we need to teach real civics in schools again.

Curriculum Modernization: Updating educational curricula to include critical thinking, digital literacy, computer programing + construction, and vocational skills. California should write its own books instead of relying on private corporations.

Truly Affordable Higher Education: Opening new, free public universities “Free Cal”, funded with creative taxes like on airplane tickets, taxes on weapons sales to the federal government (currently set to 0%, this is called a sin tax), and other things that require college educated people to make. One university minimum per county. Other public schools will get funding for “Course a Season” providing one free college course to locals per term. Starting the first fully Spanish university. Opening targeted universities like for fire prevention and glacial preservation. 

So much growth has happened in California that we need to be more creative in our water supply management so we aren't limited to rain to determine our future expansion. By ensuring healthy natural waters we can supply food, by creating water independent cities we can supply population growth.

Sustainable Water Management: Developing long-term strategies for sustainable water resource management, including water recycling upstream rather than downstream, including native beavers in our storage strategies, preserving fish breeding spaces to revitalize our fishing industry.

Aquaculture: Ensuring fish have access to waterways, investing in breeding grounds, integrating passages with existing water structures for easy fishing access.

Fund Local Desalination: Coastal desalination at a scale that can supply coastal communities AND farmers in the Central Valley. Building the baseline so we can expand to exporting Eastward as needed in the future. Materials and pollutants should be extracted and distilled for usage.

Environmental Technology Upgrades: Repairing and upgrading aging water infrastructure to prevent leaks and contamination. Strengthening regulations and increasing monitoring to ensure the safety and purity of drinking water. Investigating partnerships with wildlife that can integrate into our modern technologies.

Law enforcement is a local matter, what we can provide at the state level is investment in new technologies and regulations that keep all members of our communities safe. Keeping prisons supplied with laborers only benefits the prison owners, what our state needs is more tax paying citizens.

Traffic Officers: Police have been given too many jobs, they are seemingly untrained in traffic management, we need programs for unarmed traffic officers. Unless there is a hostage situation, police chases should never happen; we have enough cameras, every person on the street is endangered by police chases. Speeding cameras can take pictures with the speed, that should be sent in the mail, not start a chaotic chase.

End Prison Labor: Private state prisons are closing, so forced prison labor is completely decided by the state. We need to invest in robotics and modern fire fighting technologies, rather than relying on prison labor. We need to expand our mental health services and job training in prisons to ensure people do not return to prison.

Cashless Bail: We need to implement this statewide. Bail does not even work: bails are set to unreachable amounts, bond agencies pay them and charge a monthly rate, so in reality it’s cheaper to run away, and you would face the same consequences that you would if there was no bail at all. Bail is a scam and it penalizes people accused of crimes that aren’t even guilty, then that money isn’t used to pay for the trial in any way, it just goes to a corporation; this provides monetary incentives for police to round people up without committing crimes, subjecting our officers to bribery and corruption. By investing in public defenders, they can get ridiculous cases thrown out before they clog up our courts, and they can check in with defendants as needed.

Honoring Liberty: We need to ensure that public defenders are fully funded throughout the state. Defendants have the right to be heard by public broadcast, and cases should be mediated by defenders before the courtroom begins.

We spend billions of dollars a year on forest management and wildfire prevention, when all we have to do is give them back to the original inhabitants who already did that.

Native Solidarity: Many tribes in California still have no land to call their own, some of which had their land taken directly by the state of California. We need to work with our native brothers and sisters to ensure they have access to live inside of traditional lands, especially those existing as state or federal property today. 

Enabling Migration Routes: Local wildlife need to be able to migrate safely to ensure they have access to food and that neither they or we are harmed in their crossing of busy roads. Through projects like Hillments--discussed in the housing section--we can build land bridges over roadways that enable them to cross through key spaces and repopulate to a secure level. These animals eat flammable brush, fertilize landscapes--increasing growth and carbon capture--and eventually can be a source of food for local hunters.

Empowering Native Plants: Plants that are from California, survive in California without extra water or fertilizer. We need to end all programs that pay people to bring in non-native desert plants. Most of the places we say "were a desert" were never sandy dunes but seasonal brush. On state land, we should be prioritizing the planting of native plants where bugs like the monarch and native birds can feed. Many are also food for us too!

Docile Food Forests: Before we started clearing forests and replanting them, they were filled with edible plants that healthily sustained themselves. Many of those edible plants are still there. We need to work with native tribe to replant key areas, as well as integrate thier knowledge into our school system be it primary school fieldtrips or college courses.