Sean Tevis -- who made a splash two years ago when he ran for the Kansas House on a war chest raised $8.34 at a time -- is back. This time, the office is higher (the 2nd District race for U.S. rep.), and the plan is bigger. Way bigger.
This morning, Tevis formally declares his candidacy on his website. But throwing his hat in the ring against the other two contenders running in the Democratic primary is a footnote compared with the announcement he's been teasing the media about in recent days.
Tevis, whose day job is building websites and who has a finely tuned ironic wit (see those comics), answered an e-mail yesterday about his plans this way: "I'm starting a national movement. I'm going to end the culture war, fix Congress, and save America."
The movement hinges on Congress' ability to make separate law for separate nations within the United States -- American Indian nations. On the same principle, Tevis means to construct a virtual health-care nation to allow those wanting a public option access to it without mandating insurance for those who'd rather stick with the status quo.
It's heavily researched, complicated, a challenge to explain, a sure magnet for skeptics -- and so crazy it just might work.
In a follow-up interview, he explains the genesis of what's going live on his site today. "In September or October, I was at a health-care rally in Merriam," he says. "I went and set up two tables, one on each side of the debate. I asked people to write down why they thought the way they did. A friend asked me what I'd learned, and I said, 'Of course we're deeply divided, but I think there's a solution to every problem.' My friend bet me $100 I was wrong. I went into systemic mode ... and I started looking at government as a computer problem. Check the source code and find the problem. The Constitution is our source code. We're finding a way around the damage. I came up with this idea around Christmas last year and I couldn't let it go."
Tevis compares himself to "that scientist who's been working out in the middle of nowhere and then shows up and is like, tah-dah."
"I wouldn't be running without this idea," he says. "I believe in the idea, and I can't believe in it unless I champion it. So I'm running for Congress."
The state's Democratic Party advised Tevis to avoid the crowded 3rd District race, so he's moving from Olathe to Lawrence. "They're proud of me because I'm high-profile, and yet they don't understand me," he says of the party.
For now, Tevis is keeping his day job. "I told them [his bosses] that I'd come up with an idea to fix Congress, and they just kind of smiled and said, 'Oh?' If the campaign flops. I keep my job and campaign on the weekends. And if it goes crazy, I'll take a leave of absence."
Meanwhile, he has his old new idea -- micro-fundraising -- to kick back into gear. "I haven't done any traditional fundraising," he says. "I filed last Thursday, so I haven't asked anyone [for money], but someone gave me $20."
His wife, Michelle, doesn't like politics. "She tolerates it," Tevis says. She's his first audience, though, for ideas. "I'll show her something about, say, fixing special interests, and she'll tell me, 'It's too much.' "
Is he prepared to be misunderstood as a crank? "I expect that," he says. "I just don't know what it'll be like."
Here's the first page of the new comic explaining his movement.
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Worthwhile poor.....this must be the temporarily unemployed or the working poor. Those who don't work are pieces of shit.
Gosh, Anonymous, I figured you for the kind of go-getter who could do his or her own legwork and reach his or her own totally fair conclusions about the problems facing his or her country today, rather than relying on the biased media to fill in the blanks. But lean in close and I'll tell you: It's only the *worthwhile* poor who are our shared responsibility. The worthless? Fuck 'em. You called that one, buddy.
Scot Wilson,
You still never explained to me why it should be my responsibility to support the worthless poor in our country.
I think that Mr. Tevis will only succeed in creating dozens of new nations each centered around a strong political ideology. Everyone with a cause will form one. This won't solve the culture war.
Yeah, to an extent I'm getting over the fear of Dems. However, you'll never convince me that it should be my responsiblity to earn for others when they should be earning for themselves. Why would I continue to strive toward success? Heck, if the government is going to send me enough of your paycheck that I don't have to work, I'd rather be fishing or spending time w/ my kids anyway. Loathing of the poor.....what is your take on the poor? Victims of circumstance? Sure, some of them are. I'd help them w/o the government making me (like my disabled parents). My able-bodied sister faking disability, getting a check from the government....I'd let her sorry ass starve!
Follow the link in the piece, Skeptical. It takes you to seantevis.com. Best of luck to you on that whole fear-of-Dems, loathing-of-the-poor thing.
Yes, Adrian, I'd like to see them better too. I'm always scared when I hear Democrat. I always think someone is about to take more of my working wages and give it to the worthless people that choose not to carry their own weight in society. Health care? I don't want to pay for your health care, your brother's or sister's health care. I'll contribute to your retired grandmother's health care, but your brother and sister need to get a job just like you have. I worked to get where I'm at today and I'm tired of sharing what I earn to the extent that I could stop working and live almost as well.
I need to know more. Does this guy have a website I can visit?
This is reminiscent of the old Ottoman millet system and the modern Belgian community governments, both of which separate the functions of territorial jurisdiction from what we would consider social policy or personal law.
But unlike those examples, which were organized along fixed religious and linguistic communities respectively, Tevis's plan looks like it would provide for people to charter their own communities on a voluntary basis and change their affiliations freely.
I think it's a fantastic idea that should be developed into a solid, practical plan - but perhaps best targeted first at the state level.
Go, Sean, go! If anyone really *can* save this country (the world, AND the universe, in that order), it's him!
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