Rob Jelf
@newamericanstewardship.org
Upcoming thought leader on a New American Stewardship to save our country from itself.
Based out of Northern VA, about 20 miles from DC.
Based out of Northern VA, about 20 miles from DC.
Avoidance does not release pressure.
It stores it.
A new piece on how “nothing is broken” became a governing strategy. And the bad faith that flawed logic permits.
thestewardscompass.substack.com/p/nothing-is...
It stores it.
A new piece on how “nothing is broken” became a governing strategy. And the bad faith that flawed logic permits.
thestewardscompass.substack.com/p/nothing-is...
Nothing Is Broken That Wasn’t Chosen
How avoidance and inertia became governing strategies
thestewardscompass.substack.com
February 9, 2026 at 10:13 PM
Avoidance does not release pressure.
It stores it.
A new piece on how “nothing is broken” became a governing strategy. And the bad faith that flawed logic permits.
thestewardscompass.substack.com/p/nothing-is...
It stores it.
A new piece on how “nothing is broken” became a governing strategy. And the bad faith that flawed logic permits.
thestewardscompass.substack.com/p/nothing-is...
“What used to be pooled has been individualized.”
This piece is about why so many people feel one step from collapse even when they’re “doing fine.”
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
This piece is about why so many people feel one step from collapse even when they’re “doing fine.”
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
Stability Is Now a Private Good
How risk has been offloaded onto individuals and families.
open.substack.com
February 7, 2026 at 6:56 PM
“What used to be pooled has been individualized.”
This piece is about why so many people feel one step from collapse even when they’re “doing fine.”
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
This piece is about why so many people feel one step from collapse even when they’re “doing fine.”
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
Stability used to be a public good.
Now it’s something individuals are expected to secure privately—if they can.
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
Now it’s something individuals are expected to secure privately—if they can.
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
Stability Is Now a Private Good
How risk has been offloaded onto individuals and families.
open.substack.com
February 2, 2026 at 4:28 PM
Stability used to be a public good.
Now it’s something individuals are expected to secure privately—if they can.
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
Now it’s something individuals are expected to secure privately—if they can.
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
Understanding exhaustion as a political condition changes what we ask next.
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
The Exhaustion Is Political
Why burnout is not a personal failure, but a governing condition
open.substack.com
February 1, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Understanding exhaustion as a political condition changes what we ask next.
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
A tired population is not a rebellious one. It is a manageable one.
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
The Exhaustion Is Political
Why burnout is not a personal failure, but a governing condition
open.substack.com
January 27, 2026 at 4:21 PM
A tired population is not a rebellious one. It is a manageable one.
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
Reposted by Rob Jelf
From failing to deliver natural disaster relief and corruption scandals to lawless immigration enforcement and the killing of Alex Pretti, Kristi Noem has violated her oath of office.
She needs to be removed.
She needs to be removed.
January 27, 2026 at 4:10 PM
From failing to deliver natural disaster relief and corruption scandals to lawless immigration enforcement and the killing of Alex Pretti, Kristi Noem has violated her oath of office.
She needs to be removed.
She needs to be removed.
"Violence is not merely an outcome. It is a signal. It communicates priorities, values, and thresholds. When a government chooses force early, often, or visibly, it sends a message not just to its adversaries, but to its own people and to the world."
Read More...
Read More...
Violence as Policy
How the United States Is Drawing Blood and Raising the Stakes at Home and Abroad
open.substack.com
January 24, 2026 at 7:01 PM
"Violence is not merely an outcome. It is a signal. It communicates priorities, values, and thresholds. When a government chooses force early, often, or visibly, it sends a message not just to its adversaries, but to its own people and to the world."
Read More...
Read More...
I'm trying to concentrate on writing about the fall of our civil and civic order, but keep being distracted by the speed and ferocity of the fall of our civil and civic order!
January 24, 2026 at 6:14 PM
I'm trying to concentrate on writing about the fall of our civil and civic order, but keep being distracted by the speed and ferocity of the fall of our civil and civic order!
I just heard someone replay that moment when DJT said that the only thing that could stop him is his own morality. It made me think: why do we rely on the morality of politicians who do not make the shape and core of their morality widely known?
January 20, 2026 at 4:14 PM
I just heard someone replay that moment when DJT said that the only thing that could stop him is his own morality. It made me think: why do we rely on the morality of politicians who do not make the shape and core of their morality widely known?
The system still works — just not for you.
What feels like personal failure is often the residue of a bargain that no longer applies.
This is a diagnosis.
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
What feels like personal failure is often the residue of a bargain that no longer applies.
This is a diagnosis.
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
The System Still Works – Just Not for You
How a functioning system taught you to blame yourself
open.substack.com
January 19, 2026 at 9:17 PM
The system still works — just not for you.
What feels like personal failure is often the residue of a bargain that no longer applies.
This is a diagnosis.
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
What feels like personal failure is often the residue of a bargain that no longer applies.
This is a diagnosis.
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
Violence isn’t a breakdown of policy.
It is the policy.
When the U.S. treats force as the default tool, we shouldn’t be surprised when escalation becomes the norm.
I wrote about what this costs us, and what it would mean to choose differently.
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
It is the policy.
When the U.S. treats force as the default tool, we shouldn’t be surprised when escalation becomes the norm.
I wrote about what this costs us, and what it would mean to choose differently.
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
Violence as Policy
How the United States Is Drawing Blood and Raising the Stakes at Home and Abroad
open.substack.com
January 12, 2026 at 10:30 PM
Violence isn’t a breakdown of policy.
It is the policy.
When the U.S. treats force as the default tool, we shouldn’t be surprised when escalation becomes the norm.
I wrote about what this costs us, and what it would mean to choose differently.
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
It is the policy.
When the U.S. treats force as the default tool, we shouldn’t be surprised when escalation becomes the norm.
I wrote about what this costs us, and what it would mean to choose differently.
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
Something will shape the future, and the question is whether it will be shaped by neglect, extraction, or deliberate care.
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
Stewardship Is What Comes Next
Orientation in a post-normal civic landscape
open.substack.com
January 5, 2026 at 7:31 PM
Something will shape the future, and the question is whether it will be shaped by neglect, extraction, or deliberate care.
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
Well, looking at the news this morning, I see we are off to a roaring start for 2026. It is more clear than ever that Normal Is Over. open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
Normal Is Over.
2025 and the collapse of the stories that kept us compliant.
open.substack.com
January 3, 2026 at 1:36 PM
Well, looking at the news this morning, I see we are off to a roaring start for 2026. It is more clear than ever that Normal Is Over. open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
If 2025 has taught us anything, it is that normal is over and millions of Americans are enduring moral injury at the hands of our politics.
Normal Is Over.
2025 and the collapse of the stories that kept us compliant.
open.substack.com
December 29, 2025 at 11:47 PM
If 2025 has taught us anything, it is that normal is over and millions of Americans are enduring moral injury at the hands of our politics.
Legitimacy can’t be restored after the fact. If laws aren’t constitutionally sound before they take effect, the public always pays the price. Here’s why our current model keeps failing.
Legislative Legitimacy vs Judicial Veto
Why waiting for courts to fix bad laws is quietly breaking American democracy.
open.substack.com
December 22, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Legitimacy can’t be restored after the fact. If laws aren’t constitutionally sound before they take effect, the public always pays the price. Here’s why our current model keeps failing.
Student debt exists because we have shifted the cost of workforce preparation onto individuals while the benefits flow outward to employers, industries, and the broader economy. It functions as a private tax imposed on people for producing public value.
Education Is Not a Luxury Good
Student debt exists because we have shifted the cost of workforce preparation onto individuals while the benefits flow outward to employers, industries, and the broader economy. It functions as a priv...
open.substack.com
December 15, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Student debt exists because we have shifted the cost of workforce preparation onto individuals while the benefits flow outward to employers, industries, and the broader economy. It functions as a private tax imposed on people for producing public value.
In today's article: Single-Payer makes more sense for everyone. Here's why.
The Steward’s Case for Single-Payer
A country cannot call itself advanced if its people have to navigate a maze simply to stay alive.
thestewardscompass.substack.com
December 8, 2025 at 3:33 PM
In today's article: Single-Payer makes more sense for everyone. Here's why.
Fixing governance is not a partisan project. Everyone suffers from friction. Everyone benefits from functionality. In an age of polarization, improving the machinery of public service might be one of the rare places where consensus is possible.
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
The Cost of Governance
Friction versus function – and why Americans deserve a government that works like it means it.
open.substack.com
December 2, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Fixing governance is not a partisan project. Everyone suffers from friction. Everyone benefits from functionality. In an age of polarization, improving the machinery of public service might be one of the rare places where consensus is possible.
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
open.substack.com/pub/thestewa...
The American Dream was never about survival. It was about a chance to build a good life. That's why we need a new moral and political benchmark: The American Living Standard. A baseline of stability, access, and freedom that every citizen of this country can count on.
The American Living Standard
Why an excellent nation must raise the floor, not break the ceiling.
thestewardscompass.substack.com
November 30, 2025 at 6:31 PM
The American Dream was never about survival. It was about a chance to build a good life. That's why we need a new moral and political benchmark: The American Living Standard. A baseline of stability, access, and freedom that every citizen of this country can count on.
The Question Nobody in Power Wants to Touch
What is the minimum standard of life every American deserves—and why don’t we have it already?
New article looking at this.
thestewardscompass.substack.com/p/the-americ...
What is the minimum standard of life every American deserves—and why don’t we have it already?
New article looking at this.
thestewardscompass.substack.com/p/the-americ...
The American Living Standard
Why an excellent nation must raise the floor, not break the ceiling.
thestewardscompass.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:11 PM
The Question Nobody in Power Wants to Touch
What is the minimum standard of life every American deserves—and why don’t we have it already?
New article looking at this.
thestewardscompass.substack.com/p/the-americ...
What is the minimum standard of life every American deserves—and why don’t we have it already?
New article looking at this.
thestewardscompass.substack.com/p/the-americ...
November 13, 2025 at 12:08 AM
It is worth considering the strategic pressures, not just of Americans suffering, but the threat to political landscape of DJT pushing hard to end the filibuster. Moving this along relieves some that pressure and preserves one of few Dem obstruction tools. It's tactical. Nothing to do with content.
November 10, 2025 at 2:26 PM
It is worth considering the strategic pressures, not just of Americans suffering, but the threat to political landscape of DJT pushing hard to end the filibuster. Moving this along relieves some that pressure and preserves one of few Dem obstruction tools. It's tactical. Nothing to do with content.
This one is a little personal, but the call of Stewardship and Public Service should be. What is calling our politicians today?
The Drumbeat of Service
This time is different. The world has changed again, and my place in it seems complicated but fortuitous. The call is stronger than ever, and the demand for something more than what is on offer is und...
open.substack.com
October 28, 2025 at 9:24 PM
This one is a little personal, but the call of Stewardship and Public Service should be. What is calling our politicians today?
Communal Power: From Crowd to Community
The same desire that can drive us to fill the streets, must now drive us to fill the rooms: meeting halls, libraries, and community spaces where the long-term work begins.
#nokings #whatnext
The same desire that can drive us to fill the streets, must now drive us to fill the rooms: meeting halls, libraries, and community spaces where the long-term work begins.
#nokings #whatnext
Communal Power: From Crowd to Community
We filled the streets. Now we fill the rooms.
open.substack.com
October 21, 2025 at 10:51 PM