Mostyn Gale
@mostyngale.bsky.social
Trade makes everybody better off.
Pinned
Mostyn Gale
@mostyngale.bsky.social
· Jul 6
Moderate amounts of density can house huge numbers of people.
For example, a 10 km × 10 km city at 40,000 people per km² would have a population of 4 million people.
40,000 ppl/km² is about 6-8 stories.
10×10 km is 100km², but most big cities are 1000+ km²
For example, a 10 km × 10 km city at 40,000 people per km² would have a population of 4 million people.
40,000 ppl/km² is about 6-8 stories.
10×10 km is 100km², but most big cities are 1000+ km²
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
![4-panel vertical comic. (1) 100 Years Ago [two people standing next to bicycle with small car nearby] PERSON 1: It’s too dangerous riding a bike with these cars around. I should get a car, too. (2) 50 Years Ago [two people between smaller car and bigger car] PERSON 2 with short hair: Small cars are less safe in collisions with larger vehicles, so I should get a bigger one. (3) Today [two people between big car and even bigger car] PERSON 1: Everyone has huge SUVs now. If I don’t get the biggest one, I’m putting my family at risk. (4) Soon [two people next to large armored car with spiked clubs attached] PERSON 2: If I don’t install more whirling spike clubs, I’ll be destroyed by all the other drivers who...](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreiby6can6k76yzfmv2czxs4pu2l7zie7bqbrpswi7h3ifmiadkuqvu@jpeg)
Insurance is one of around six financial inventions that make the modern world possible.
It is a solution to unlikely but catastrophic risks that cannot be self insured or mitigated.
It is a solution to unlikely but catastrophic risks that cannot be self insured or mitigated.
My wife and I pay for life insurance even though we have never died. I pay for fire insurance even though my house has never burned down. That's not because we want to throw money at insurance companies. It's because THAT'S HOW INSURANCE WORKS.
November 10, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Insurance is one of around six financial inventions that make the modern world possible.
It is a solution to unlikely but catastrophic risks that cannot be self insured or mitigated.
It is a solution to unlikely but catastrophic risks that cannot be self insured or mitigated.
I just learned that when you put a library book on the reshelving cart, the librarians record that the book has been read.
Putting a book on the reshelving cart is a vote for that book and a vote for your library.
Don't make my mistake. Don't diligently put them back on the shelf.
#booksky
Putting a book on the reshelving cart is a vote for that book and a vote for your library.
Don't make my mistake. Don't diligently put them back on the shelf.
#booksky
November 10, 2025 at 8:31 PM
I just learned that when you put a library book on the reshelving cart, the librarians record that the book has been read.
Putting a book on the reshelving cart is a vote for that book and a vote for your library.
Don't make my mistake. Don't diligently put them back on the shelf.
#booksky
Putting a book on the reshelving cart is a vote for that book and a vote for your library.
Don't make my mistake. Don't diligently put them back on the shelf.
#booksky
I always though the point was that you can't pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
Casual reminder that the myth of “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” is a cruel hoax designed to convince poor people from all walks of life that the injustices they face are a result of their own actions, rather than an oppressive system rigged against them.
November 10, 2025 at 5:03 PM
I always though the point was that you can't pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
This is especially true for medical care. Virtually any - any - type of cancer was a death sentence. The 5y survival rate for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 1960 was roughly 14%. Today it is roughly 95%.
It is genuinely hard for most people to grasp how poor the past was.
November 9, 2025 at 6:39 PM
This is especially true for medical care. Virtually any - any - type of cancer was a death sentence. The 5y survival rate for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 1960 was roughly 14%. Today it is roughly 95%.
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
One thing to do, especially if you’re a science writer or editor, is when you have occasion to mention the names of the discoverers of the structure of DNA, just say “Watson, Crick, and Franklin.” No one can stop us, and it is correct.
November 7, 2025 at 9:52 PM
One thing to do, especially if you’re a science writer or editor, is when you have occasion to mention the names of the discoverers of the structure of DNA, just say “Watson, Crick, and Franklin.” No one can stop us, and it is correct.
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
“Cities are good, people want to live in dense walkable neighborhoods, and urban governance should prioritize city residents’ quality of life over suburban drivers’ convenience” remains a genuinely radical political program in America.
It shouldn’t be forgotten that a big piece of Mamdani’s campaign was simply “cities are cool and lots of people enjoy living in them” which in and of itself dismantles alot of rightwing talking points
November 7, 2025 at 10:28 PM
“Cities are good, people want to live in dense walkable neighborhoods, and urban governance should prioritize city residents’ quality of life over suburban drivers’ convenience” remains a genuinely radical political program in America.
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
Remember the time Obama personally caught a fainting woman during his speech — rather than just blankly staring like a sociopath?
Character isn't something you tell people about.
It's something you live.
Character isn't something you tell people about.
It's something you live.
November 7, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Remember the time Obama personally caught a fainting woman during his speech — rather than just blankly staring like a sociopath?
Character isn't something you tell people about.
It's something you live.
Character isn't something you tell people about.
It's something you live.
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
Elevators are a form of public transit. A very successful form.
Stacking homes turns car commutes into elevator commutes.
November 6, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Elevators are a form of public transit. A very successful form.
'Housing in Australia’s cities is now among the least affordable in the world. At the heart of the problem is the fact we just haven’t built enough homes to meet rising demand.'
Catch our latest op-ed in The New Daily:
Catch our latest op-ed in The New Daily:
How planning stops more housing - and how to fix it - Grattan Institute
Planning regulations limit the density of our major cities. But changing planning restrictions could help fix the housing crisis.
grattan.edu.au
November 7, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
'Housing in Australia’s cities is now among the least affordable in the world. At the heart of the problem is the fact we just haven’t built enough homes to meet rising demand.'
Catch our latest op-ed in The New Daily:
Catch our latest op-ed in The New Daily:
How planning stops more housing - and how to fix it - Grattan Institute
Planning regulations limit the density of our major cities. But changing planning restrictions could help fix the housing crisis.
grattan.edu.au
November 7, 2025 at 12:37 AM
'Housing in Australia’s cities is now among the least affordable in the world. At the heart of the problem is the fact we just haven’t built enough homes to meet rising demand.'
Catch our latest op-ed in The New Daily:
Catch our latest op-ed in The New Daily:
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
This is officially one of the strangest pictures in American history, and I do not doubt that it will be considered iconic a hundred years from now.
100% serious here.
100% serious here.
November 6, 2025 at 8:39 PM
This is officially one of the strangest pictures in American history, and I do not doubt that it will be considered iconic a hundred years from now.
100% serious here.
100% serious here.
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
Housing in Australia is both too scarce and too expensive. Yet our major cities are among the least dense of their size in the world. Our latest Grattan report show how we can reform our urban planning rules to allow for more homes and better cities. 🧵
More homes, better cities: Letting more people live where they want
Three-storey townhouses and apartments should be permitted on all residential land in all capital cities as part of a concerted policy assault on Australia’s housing crisis.
grattan.edu.au
November 5, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Housing in Australia is both too scarce and too expensive. Yet our major cities are among the least dense of their size in the world. Our latest Grattan report show how we can reform our urban planning rules to allow for more homes and better cities. 🧵
Great to see the Grattan Institute's report on Austrailan Housing out today.
grattan.edu.au/report/more-...
#yimby #urbanism #urbanism+
grattan.edu.au/report/more-...
#yimby #urbanism #urbanism+
November 5, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Great to see the Grattan Institute's report on Austrailan Housing out today.
grattan.edu.au/report/more-...
#yimby #urbanism #urbanism+
grattan.edu.au/report/more-...
#yimby #urbanism #urbanism+
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
If you ever feel like you're bad at your job, just remember that the password to access the Louvre's video surveillance system was "Louvre"
November 5, 2025 at 1:05 PM
If you ever feel like you're bad at your job, just remember that the password to access the Louvre's video surveillance system was "Louvre"
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
The entire right-wing propaganda machine came after Zohran Mamdani.
The president and his allies came after him.
Democratic leaders, by and large, did not have his back until the last minute.
He still won, turning out historic numbers and inspiring young voters.
His politics can win anywhere.
The president and his allies came after him.
Democratic leaders, by and large, did not have his back until the last minute.
He still won, turning out historic numbers and inspiring young voters.
His politics can win anywhere.
November 5, 2025 at 2:36 AM
The entire right-wing propaganda machine came after Zohran Mamdani.
The president and his allies came after him.
Democratic leaders, by and large, did not have his back until the last minute.
He still won, turning out historic numbers and inspiring young voters.
His politics can win anywhere.
The president and his allies came after him.
Democratic leaders, by and large, did not have his back until the last minute.
He still won, turning out historic numbers and inspiring young voters.
His politics can win anywhere.
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
It’s truly tragic how many of these US war criminals like Cheney never face justice and die in their peacefully in their homes in their 80s and 90s. I want to be happy he is dead but I am not. The million people he killed didnt get the luxury to die how he did.
November 4, 2025 at 12:37 PM
It’s truly tragic how many of these US war criminals like Cheney never face justice and die in their peacefully in their homes in their 80s and 90s. I want to be happy he is dead but I am not. The million people he killed didnt get the luxury to die how he did.
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
on the topic of dick cheney, one thing i’ve always said is that you shouldn’t kill a million people
November 4, 2025 at 12:07 PM
on the topic of dick cheney, one thing i’ve always said is that you shouldn’t kill a million people
November 3, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
Trump having decadent Gatsby themed parties with showgirls while building a golden ballroom as he cuts off food aid to poor families sounds like fiction, and yet not a single word of what I just wrote is false.
He and the GOP should be hammered on it for the next 50+ years.
He and the GOP should be hammered on it for the next 50+ years.
November 1, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Trump having decadent Gatsby themed parties with showgirls while building a golden ballroom as he cuts off food aid to poor families sounds like fiction, and yet not a single word of what I just wrote is false.
He and the GOP should be hammered on it for the next 50+ years.
He and the GOP should be hammered on it for the next 50+ years.
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
what I love about e-bikes and the world of small electric mobility is that it is a full scale transportation revolution no one saw coming but that nonetheless has the power to address air pollution death & illness, climate change, traffic violence, affordability, and also social isolation & anxiety
November 2, 2025 at 4:30 PM
what I love about e-bikes and the world of small electric mobility is that it is a full scale transportation revolution no one saw coming but that nonetheless has the power to address air pollution death & illness, climate change, traffic violence, affordability, and also social isolation & anxiety
This video is wrong. It's premise is that it is wrong for a city government to use eminent domain to purchase a farm that has been in a family for 175 years. It finishes with the question: "If a government can just take what it wants, when it wants, what do you really own?" #yimby #urbanism 1/6
They're SEIZING a 175-year-old family farm?!
YouTube video by ReasonTV
youtu.be
October 31, 2025 at 11:06 AM
I've had a Creality Ender 3 for the better part of the last five years. It's been a reliable workhorse. But now I've upgraded to an a Creality K2 Max and holy cow, it's light years ahead. So much easier to use, much better quality, so much easier to print anythingb ut PLA, so automatic. #3dprinting
October 31, 2025 at 10:30 AM
I've had a Creality Ender 3 for the better part of the last five years. It's been a reliable workhorse. But now I've upgraded to an a Creality K2 Max and holy cow, it's light years ahead. So much easier to use, much better quality, so much easier to print anythingb ut PLA, so automatic. #3dprinting
Reposted by Mostyn Gale
Classic framing of an authoritarian leader:
the leader becomes the source of all achievement, the regime becomes the owner of every success.
the leader becomes the source of all achievement, the regime becomes the owner of every success.
October 30, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Classic framing of an authoritarian leader:
the leader becomes the source of all achievement, the regime becomes the owner of every success.
the leader becomes the source of all achievement, the regime becomes the owner of every success.