About This Site

What this is

This site is a presentation of an idea - the Societal Standard of Living (SSOL) - that I have been developing since at least 2016, when a version of it appeared as an op-ed in the Rio Grande Valley newspaper The Monitor. The core concept has been consistent throughout: wages should be set by what it actually costs to live where you work, not by what a political process could agree on years ago.

The site has gone through multiple versions as the ideas became more developed. This version represents the most complete presentation of the framework to date - including the mechanics of how the calculation works, the supply-side pressure mechanism that makes it different from other wage proposals, the connections to healthcare, housing, and trade policy, and the UBI and benefits infrastructure that supports those who cannot reach the 2,000-hour standard.

What this is not

This is not a political campaign, a nonprofit, a business venture, or an attempt to monetize an audience. There are no ads. No links trying to sell anything. No email lists, no newsletter, no subscription. There are no links to google analytics or facebook to track you. No comment section or discussion board - not because discussion is unwelcome, but because moderating one properly takes time I do not have, and there are plenty of other places on the internet for that.

The contact form exists if you want to reach me directly.

A note on scope

SSOL is, as I have come to describe it, a mile wide and a mile deep. Every section of this site could be a book. Every component of the calculation has implementation details that would require their own regulatory apparatus, their own legal definitions, their own enforcement mechanisms. The education tree alone is a major policy proposal in its own right. The unified benefits framework would require significant legislative work to design properly.

The site does not attempt to resolve all of that. What it attempts to do is present the framework clearly enough that the depth becomes workable. The shape of the problem is defined here. The specific legislative and regulatory solutions that fill that shape are implementation questions - real and important ones, but ones that belong in a legislative process with full stakeholder input, not on a personal website.

Where the framework acknowledges its own hard questions - the downward wage adjustment problem, the healthcare cost challenge, the small business transition period - that acknowledgment is intentional. An honest framework that identifies its own difficulties is more credible than one that pretends they do not exist.

Origin and development

The original version of this idea appeared in The Monitor, the newspaper of the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas, in May 2016. That op-ed is preserved on the Op-Ed page - both because it is the documented origin of the concept and because reading the 2016 version alongside this one shows how the idea has evolved and deepened over nearly a decade.

A living document

This site reflects where the thinking is now, not where it started and not where it will end. The framework gets updated as ideas become clearer, as gaps are identified, and as the arguments get stronger. If something here looks different from a version you read before, that is intentional - the idea is under active development.

This site is not trying to be invulnerable to every possible objection. No framework at this stage of development is. The goal is to be honest about what is settled, honest about what is implementation detail, and honest about what is still being worked through. A framework that acknowledges its own open questions is more credible than one that pretends they do not exist - and more useful to anyone who wants to engage with it seriously.

A note on composition

This site was composed with the assistance of Claude.ai. All ideas, arguments, and opinions are mine - developed over more than a decade before this site existed. Claude helped me structure those thoughts and present them in a way that is easier to read and follow. The thinking is mine. The help was in the telling.

Contact

If you want to reach me - to discuss the ideas, point out something I have wrong, or ask about anything on the site - use the contact link in the navigation. I try to read everything and respond when I can.