About this site
Rich Bailey is the author of this site.
Rich grew up in an aerospace family with roots in Nebraska and California’s Central Valley. His father worked on spacecraft for Lockheed Missiles and Space Company in the Bay Area.
Rich’s educational background fits his family history. Rich attended UC Berkeley as an undergraduate. He started with political science. That didn’t last long. A semester with ideological professors led him to switch to engineering. He reports that was a much better fit. Computer simulation is an area Rich says he enjoyed. That has turned out to be a lucky accident. Simulation is a handy tool in many areas today.
After taking time off to work and earn money, he graduated from University of San Francisco Law School.
Rich grew up spending a lot of time in the Sierras. As a result, Rich took an early interest in forests. Forest management is the area where politics matters. Along with the needs of abused and neglected children, this is an area Rich cares deeply about.
Rich has written on forest restoration, which promises to end California increasingly destructive wildfires. Thinning and clearing out brush eliminates wildfires. It’s also good science. California is one of the few areas of the world that refuses to manage forests. California’s legacy environmentalists have created a mess.
Old school thinking has destroyed California’s natural heritage. Failure in this area mirror failures in education, jobs, roads, the homeless and almost every other area.
Rich sees it this website as tool to get things done.
Books in the hopper include After Ideology which describes network ideas applied to politics. “Kitchen table issues” replace ideology.
The Computational Age is another title in the works. It describes the impact of digital tools, such as computer simulation, on our culture. We all take these tools for granted. Some of them have been weaponized in ways many find objectionable. This book looks at the promises and pitfalls. Even if the short term looks rocky. The long term will be good for people of faith, families, and the natural world. “Restoration” is the watchword. Local communities can expect to see decision making return. The result will be stronger local control.
In line his writing projects, Rich joined the American Historical Association and the Society for Environmental Restoration. Both provide a chance to see from the inside a shift change. Unworkable hubs are collapsing. More nimble ones are coming up.
History is moving in a healthier direction, even if it may not feel like it at times. People with skin in the game are stepping up to the plate. At the same time , many people see legacy elites as dangerous parasites. The early twenty-first century is a fin de siecle, the end of an age. Newton’s disciples are no longer at tiller. Stephen Hawking’s and Michael Crichton’s nimble complexity guys are on the bridge. It’s a shift change from sclerotic ideologues to more nimble servant leaders.
Rich thinks the current question in California and elsewhere is “Had enough?” Kitchen table issues are what people care about: our kids future, faith, family, jobs and good government.
It’s time to be clear on where things are heading. Jobs, careers and the welfare of people and the planet are at stake. Legacy thinking left messes. Old school ideologies are increasingly hard to market, even though the believers still try. Why not say so?
Servant leadership is the method for advancing a healthier brand of civic culture. “Populist” is the inadequate term applied to the newcomers. It just means those who side working people and actual needs of the natural world.
Living in the early twenty-first century offers a once-in-a generation opportunity to watch and do amazing things.