Eight months ago, I started this with a simple, uncomfortable premise.
America doesn’t have a left problem.
America doesn’t have a right problem.
America has a structural problem.
Twenty-five structural problems, to be precise.
The kind that survive elections.
The kind that survive presidents.
The kind that outlast outrage cycles because they are embedded so deeply into the machinery that most of us stop noticing they’re there.
Over the last eight months, I published all 25 fixes in the Make America Grow Again series. Government transparency. Healthcare. Education. Tax reform. Technology. Addiction. Voting. Corporate capture. The issues that quietly shape everything else.
The series is complete.
But the work isn’t.
The people who signed the original Declaration didn’t agree on everything. They agreed that some problems had become too large to ignore.
As Independence Day approaches, that’s what I keep coming back to.
Not the fireworks. Not the speeches. The argument. The fact that a group of people who disagreed about almost everything managed to agree on one thing: the current arrangement was no longer acceptable, and something had to be written down.
I’ve written down 25 things.
Now I want to know which five you’d add.
For the next month, readers will vote on the reforms they believe deserve a place in an expanded Make America Grow Again platform. On July 4th, I’ll publish the results. Five will be added to the series.
Not because I chose them.
Because you did.
HOW TO VOTE:
Comment below with your top 5, ranked #1 through #5. On July 4th, the results go live and the next five episodes get announced. The Declaration isn’t finished. It’s being written.
THE BALLOT: 14 Candidates. You Choose 5.
Read them all before you rank. Some of these will seem obvious. Some will make you argue with yourself. That’s the point.
A. End Dark Money Politics
Political influence should have a name attached to it. If billionaires, corporations, unions, or advocacy groups want to shape elections, voters deserve to know who is speaking and who is paying. Real-time donor disclosure. Super PAC transparency. Citizens United reform.
Core Principle: Democracy works best when influence is visible.
B. Audit the Pentagon
The Department of Defense manages one of the largest budgets on Earth and has repeatedly failed comprehensive audits. Every public institution handling taxpayer money should be accountable for every dollar. Annual independent audits. Public spending dashboards. Procurement transparency.
Core Principle: National security and financial accountability are not mutually exclusive.
C. Congressional Stock Trading Ban
Members of Congress write laws that affect markets. Many of them also trade the stocks those laws move. Blind trusts only. Individual stock restrictions. Real enforcement penalties — not the kind that get quietly dropped in committee.
Core Principle: Public service should not create private advantages.
D. Ban Gerrymandering
Many districts are designed to protect politicians rather than represent voters. The map is drawn before the election so the election doesn’t matter. Independent redistricting commissions. Transparent mapping. Objective standards.
Core Principle: Voters should choose representatives. Not the other way around.
E. National Transparency Portal
Americans can track a pizza delivery in real time. Tracking how the federal government spends their money is dramatically harder. Searchable federal expenditures. Agency spending dashboards. Contract transparency. Public performance metrics.
Core Principle: Taxpayers shouldn’t need a FOIA request to follow their money.
F. Congressional Term Limits
Elected office was designed to be public service, not a career. Somewhere along the way that distinction got lost. House limits. Senate limits. Post-service lobbying restrictions. Leadership rotation.
Core Principle: Fresh perspectives strengthen institutions. Permanent ones calcify them.
G. Automatic Voter Registration
The government already knows who is eligible. Automatic registration upon eligibility. Secure verification. Portable across states. If the system can find you to send a jury summons, it can find you to register you to vote.
Core Principle: Democracy should maximize participation, not engineer barriers to it.
H. Federal Sunset Reviews
Programs, agencies, and regulations often continue indefinitely whether they work or not. Scheduled performance reviews. Automatic reauthorization requirements. Outcome-based evaluations. Independent oversight.
Core Principle: Every institution should periodically prove its value.
I. Simplify the Tax Code
A tax code that almost no one understands tends to benefit the people who can afford specialists to navigate it. Simpler filing. Reduced complexity. Greater transparency. Elimination of the targeted loopholes that exist because someone paid to put them there.
Core Principle: Citizens should understand the rules they live under.
J. Revolving Door Restrictions
Government officials move between regulatory agencies and the industries they once regulated with remarkable regularity. Multi-year lobbying bans. Contractor restrictions. Conflict-of-interest safeguards.
Core Principle: Public office should serve the public first.
K. Regulatory Capture Reform
When regulators become too close to the industries they oversee, the public loses a watchdog and gains another industry lobbyist with a government badge. Independent review boards. External audits. Enhanced conflict rules.
Core Principle: The watchdog shouldn’t be sleeping in the wolf’s den.
L. Government Performance Reviews
Intentions matter. Results matter more. Public scorecards. Measurable outcomes. Performance audits. Agency benchmarking against stated goals. Government should be judged the same way it judges everything else.
Core Principle: Good intentions are not a KPI.
M. Congressional Pay Reform
Many Americans believe elected officials should experience the same economic realities as the people they represent. Pay tied to median wage growth. Performance benchmarks. Independent compensation reviews.
Core Principle: If Americans fall behind, Congress should feel it too.
N. Constitutional Data Privacy Rights
In the digital age, personal information has become one of the most valuable commodities on Earth — and most Americans have no legal ownership of their own. Personal data ownership rights. Consumer consent standards. Data portability. Strong privacy protections.
Core Principle: You are not the product. You are the citizen.
None of these require a revolution. They require an honest count of who’s actually in charge — and the willingness to change it
HOW THIS WORKS
Comment below. Rank your top five from #1 through #5.
Don’t just pick your favorites. Force yourself to rank them. That’s where it gets interesting… because ranking means tradeoffs, and tradeoffs mean you’re actually thinking about governance instead of just reacting to it.
On July 4th, I’ll publish the results and announce the five that earned their place in the series. Those five become the next five episodes.
Twenty-five fixes built the foundation.
You’re writing the next chapter.
Drop your five below. Ranked #1 through #5. The poll closes July 4th.
Don't forget.. The 25 Fix Make America Grow Again Series, that most of you missed is linked below
Before You Vote...
Every proposal on this ballot builds on a fix that’s already been written.
Over the last eight months, I published 25 Make America Grow Again episodes examining the structural problems that survive presidents, parties, and election cycles.
If you’re new here, this is the foundation:
🌳 THE ROOTS
🌲 THE TRUNK
🌿 THE BRANCHES
Twenty-five problems. Twenty-five fixes. One uncomfortable argument:
America doesn’t have a left problem. America doesn’t have a right problem.
America has a structural problem.
Read any. Read all. Then come back and tell me which five fixes should be added next.
When I launched this series, I had under 100 subscribers and a simple, uncomfortable theory: America doesn’t have a left problem or a right problem. It has a structural problem. Twenty-five problems, to be precise. The kind that don’t get fixed because fixing them would cost the people in power something they’re not willing to lose.
Eight months later, every episode is published. Every link below is live. This is the table of contents, the map, and the indictment — all in one place.
Start anywhere. Share what hits. The whole point is that none of this should be comfortable.
There is no left version of this. There is no right version. There are structures that work for most people, and structures that work for a few — and right now we have the wrong ones, locked in by the people who benefit from them.
If you are reading this in the app, you can link to each of the below series after reading the short preview below…. Otherwise you can use the hyperlinks above and link to them with no preview.
// THE ROOTS
The Foundation Problems
If these don’t get fixed, nothing else matters. Start here.
1. Government Transparency
Sunlight is the only disinfectant that actually works. Hidden systems stay broken by design.
Why Government Transparency Is a Myth: The Hidden Secrets They Don't Want You to Know
The system isn’t broken because it’s secretive. It’s secretive because it’s working exactly as designed — for everyone but you. - Rxan Smith
2. Healthcare Reform
The system isn’t broken. It’s profitable. That’s the problem — and the reason nobody with power wants to fix it.
American Healthcare: The Billing System with a Waiting Room
MAKE AMERICA GROW AGAIN · Episode 2 of 25 · Root Fix · Full Series Index
3. Tax Reform: Value Added Tax (VAT) Implementation
A phased VAT, real progressive rates, and no more loopholes with lobbying budgets behind them. Smarter money. Fairer society.
Tax Reform: Why Billionaires Pay Nothing and You Pay Everything And the Boring Fix That Changes Both
MAKE AMERICA GROW AGAIN · Episode 3 of 25 · Full Series Index →
4. Income Inequality
When the gap gets wide enough, it stops being an economy and starts being a caste system.
Income Inequality: Raising the Floor - Forget a Glass Ceiling
L Listen, the game is rigged. There's a big club in this country, and you ain't in it. They own the politicians on both sides, the media, the courts, the whole rigged circus. Red team, blue team—they scream about "freedom" or "fairness," but neither gives a damn about the average person getting squeezed while the top dogs hoard everything. The elites suck up the gains, ship jobs overseas, gut schools and wages, then act shocked when the system produces desperation. Income inequality isn't some accident; it's the design. The government isn't failing us—it's succeeding for the members only.
5. Education Access
Fund schools. Erase predatory debt. Pay great teachers like they matter. Poverty is a curriculum too — and someone decided to keep it in the syllabus.
Why America’s Education System Is Engineered to Preserve Inequality, Not Fix It
Listen up, folks. This one’s gonna hit you right in the gut like a cheap shot from a politician promising “change.
6. Climate Change Action
Emissions caps and green energy incentives aren’t idealism. They’re the only version of this story where the tree survives.
Climate Change | Cheap Oil Sabotaging America's Green Future, Costing Trillions
This isn’t about saving Earth.
// THE TRUNK
Core Reforms
The structural muscle. Weaken any of these and the whole thing wobbles.
7. Criminal Justice Reform
Private prisons are a business model. Mass incarceration is the product. Reform isn’t soft — it’s accurate.
Criminal Justice Reform
8. Voting Access
Universal mail-in, early voting, no manufactured barriers. Democracy shouldn’t require a logistics degree.
Voting Access
9. Technology Regulation
Monopoly is illegal. Surveillance capitalism isn’t a loophole. Antitrust enforcement isn’t radical — it’s the law.
Technology Regulation
Artificial Intelligence (AI): The Unregulated Monopoly, Power, and Surveillance-Capitalism
How five unelected billionaires own your data, your thoughts, your elections, and now the future of intelligence itself, while we scroll like lobotomized lab rats calling it “progress.” Picture this… Support independent reporting that the algorithm. Subscribe for free or paid. One time tips below. EVERY dollar keeps my work visible.
10. Mental Health Access
The mental health crisis isn’t a personal failure. It’s a policy failure with named beneficiaries. Subsidized therapy nationwide.
Mental Health Access
Mental Health Access in America
You ever notice how we treat our minds like that junk drawer in the kitchen, full of tangled wires, old batteries, and receipts from 1999 that we swear we’ll sort out someday? Instead of cleaning it, we slam it shut and hope nothing spills out. That’s America’s mental health system: a carnival maze where you have to win the lottery just to talk to someone who won’t ghost you or deny your claim. It’s absurd that feeling human has become a luxury item locked behind red tape and fine print.
11. Childcare Support
You cannot build a functioning economy on the assumption that someone at home is handling it for free.
Childcare Support
Childcare Crisis in America
You ever notice how America struts around like it’s the heavyweight champ of the world, pounding its chest about freedom, innovation, and being number one in everything from burgers to bombs? But the second you bring up something as basic as “Hey, who’s watching the rugrats while Mom and Dad are out slaving away to pay the bills?”—poof! That greatness vanishes faster than a politician’s integrity during election season.
12. Immigration Reform
Humane borders. Clear paths. Real enforcement. The chaos isn’t accidental — chaos is a political product too.
Immigration Reform
Immigration Reform: How America Built an Immigration System That Works for Nobody and Profits Everybody
If this work adds value to your life, please consider a subscription or a one-time PayPal Contribution or Buy-Me-A-Coffee tip. Your support keeps this independent project alive and ensures I can continue until we begin the revolutions I call for in each segment.
13. Local Media & Independent Journalism
When local news dies, corruption moves in quietly. Fund the watchdogs or feed the wolves.
Local Media & Independent Journalism
Local Media on Life Support & My Independent Journalism Rebellion
“The press was to serve the governed, not the governors.” — Justice Hugo Black
14. Addiction Reform
It’s a public health crisis with named beneficiaries who profit from keeping it untreated. That’s not rhetoric — that’s an industry.
Addiction Reform
15. Rural Development & Infrastructure
Broadband, roads, jobs, and opportunity. Not charity. Correction for decades of deliberate neglect.
Rural Development & Infrastructure
16. Police Reform
Training, oversight, and community trust. Accountability isn’t anti-cop. Impunity is anti-public.
Police Reform
Police Reform: An Uncomfortable American Tradition
America Doesn’t Reform Its Police. It Feeds Them.
17. Corporate Capture
The revolving door between government and lobbying isn’t networking. It’s purchase. Ban it.
Corporate Capture
Corporate Capture | Puppet Show of Democracy
Stop Scrolling: Our Democracy Was Sold While You Were Googling “How to Afford Insulin”
18. Social Security & Medicare Protection
Future-proof the safety net now or watch a generation fall through it later. There is no third option.
Social Security & Medicare Protection
SOCIAL SECURITY & MEDICARE PROTECTION
STOP SCROLLING: The Retirement Crisis Isn’t Real. The Heist Is.
19. Generational Wealth Inequality
Dynasties of privilege aren’t earned across generations. They’re engineered. Fair inheritance rules reset the game.
Generational Wealth Inequality
Superficial fixes fail because they treat symptoms. This series goes after the system that keeps producing them.
// THE BRANCHES
Innovation & Growth
Lower urgency — not lower importance. These are where a healthier society invests.
20. National Service
Optional, skills-based, and unifying. Build something together for once.
National Service
21. Criminal Rehabilitation
Recidivism isn’t inevitable. It’s what happens when reentry gets zero investment and maximum judgment.
Criminal Rehabilitation
22. Tech Education & Workforce Prep
The economy is changing. The curriculum isn’t. That gap is a choice — and someone is benefiting from it.
Tech Education & Workforce Prep
Tech Education & Workforce Prep 2026: How We Built the World’s Most Expensive Education System and Forgot to Make It Useful
🛑 STOP SCROLLING. Your Kids’ Futures (and America’s) Depend On This.
23. Family Formation Support
Strong families don’t happen in a vacuum. Policy either supports them or quietly works against them.
Family Formation Support
24. Debt Relief Programs
Education debt and medical debt aren’t moral failures. They’re the predictable result of predatory systems that were legal because the right people wrote the laws.
Debt Relief Programs
25. Systemic Poverty Areas ★ Series Finale
Community-driven education, property access, jobs, and relocation support. Not charity. Infrastructure. The same kind we give to every other broken system except this one.
Systemic Povertyji
Systemic Poverty: Why Your Zip Code Born Into Is Still America’s Most Powerful Sentence
★ Final Episode — 25 of 25
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Why This Exists
Governments, corporations, and comfortable assumptions are all indicted here. That’s intentional. There is no left version of this and there is no right version. There are structures that work for most people and structures that work for a few… and right now we have the wrong ones locked in by the people who benefit from them.
That’s the whole series. Twenty-five problems. Twenty-five episodes. One argument.
Which one hits hardest for you? Drop it in the comments.
Support the Work
Sponsor-free. No advertisers. No corporate underwriting. If Uncomfortable made you think instead of just nod along:
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🐦 X — @rxannsmith
Credits: The People Who Called It Early….
Not the loyalists. Not the partisans. Not the professional outrage merchants.
The dissenters.
The people who care more about being right than belonging.
The people who follow the issue instead of the crowd.
The people willing to disappoint their tribe in pursuit of the truth.
History rarely belongs to the loudest voices.
It usually belongs to the people who noticed first.
These writers were dismissed, ratio’d, and called every name in the book for telling the truth before it was obvious. They were right. Go give them the flowers… and the subscriptions… they earned.
Ruy Teixeira Richard Hanania mattyglesias Nate Silver Zach Goldberg Fifth Column Robert Reich Rick Wilson Parody Bill Maher
[DIVIDER]
- R❌ AN SMITH
Uncomfortable
