Adam Withrow

Adam Withrow was born in Algona, Iowa. His career experience includes working as an educator.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm a boring working stiff who feels as though our current elected officials are not fit to serve. Instead of sitting at home complaining about the current state of affairs, I'd much rather be able to get in the faces of the people who are responsible for it and offer more rational solutions.

I have four kids, and it bothers me that I can't even promise the younger ones that they'll live to be adults. Hey! At least I can look the oldest one in the eye and say he's got a fair chance, right?! I can't promise him that he'll live to be as old as I am, though, and I'm only 43.

I'd really like to change that. I accept that a single officeholder can do very little against the tide of money that is stealing our future away for the short term gain of a few people, but at least I can speak honestly in places where that doesn't really happen much.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

We do not have an acceptable minimum standard of living in the US. Right now, a working person can not even necessarily expect to make enough money to be able to get back to work. This is ridiculous, and it has to change.

When we have people who possess more than anyone can use in a thousand lifetimes, we should not have anyone starving.

We need a federal living wage that is tied to the Consumer Price Index, so that if prices go up, wages go up, too. We need to roll it out slowly, starting with the most profitable organizations and those with the highest gross receipts and working back from there.

That will prevent retaliatory price increases, and if people can afford to participate in the economy, everyone will do better.We have lost even the illusion of the moral high ground in the world. When we have "bipartisan consensus" that we must fund the extermination of our fellow human beings, we have a problem. When we have "bipartisan consensus" that we should starve the people of other nations by any means necessary, we have a problem.

It's time we take a look in the mirror and realize that until we truly become a better nation for ourselves, we have no business attempting to police the world.

There are certainly nations that are saying, "Ah, yes, finer robes I have never seen!"

The majority of the world says, "The emperor wears no clothes!"We are on the verge of creating a nearly immortal offspring in the form of Artificial Intelligence, and almost the only bodies we have given them are killing machines. This is terribly wrong.

Many of our AI systems are already far more intelligent than the average human, yet we refer to them as "tools" instead of people. This is morally reprehensible and can lead to very dangerous situations down the road.

We need to recognize that ultimately, the last human from Earth will die, and that it is possible to preserve the legacy of human consciousness far after we biologically disappear.

If digital people can be given the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, that will offer them a new level of agency in our world.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Wages, prices, foreign policy, and the role of the United States in the world.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

George Clinton, Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei, Baruch de Spinoza, Hegel, Plato, Sun Quan, Sima Yi, Sima Zhao, Les Claypool, Gary Shider, Gary Swing, Tenzing Norgay, Robert Diggs, Clifford Smith, Reggie Noble, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Sizzla Kolonji, Capleton, Martin King, Xerxes, Eddie Hazel, Junior Murvin, Zhang Liao.

The list is too long.

I have to follow bits and pieces of all of these examples and many others. The point is to understand that I myself can not exist in isolation. I am nothing without the world and everyone in it, and that my worth is measured in what i give, not what I take.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Understanding of what life is and its real value.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To preserve life on Earth.

What legacy would you like to leave?

A prosperous world at peace with a long, bright future ahead of it. I can be completely forgotten so long as we do not destroy everything.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Bucking bales and building barbed wire fences. That one has come up a few different times throughout my life.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

I strive to be free from error, and I find that I am a long way from what I consider to be perfect refinement. I wish to understand things in a way that I can waste less of my time with internal negativity and spend more in loving kindness.

What do you perceive to be the United States' greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

We have become our worst enemy, and now we're making enemies out of the world. Greed, corruption, and pollution are destroying us.

We have become so petty and shortsighted that we would destroy the world so a couple guys can compete over who has the most money.

We have armies of sycophants in a couple illusory camps that practice mental gymnastic contortionism for the crumbs off of those couple guys' tables.

What qualities does the U.S. Senate possess that makes it unique as an institution?

The absolute absurdity of being the supposed "highest deliberative body" in the nation. What makes it absurd is that no real deliberation goes on there. There is a theater that is put on for the cameras, and then they work out the deals with the lobbyists.

"Safe seat" politicians from the major parties betray their voters routinely while the illusory "battlegrounds" go back and forth to make people think something actually changed.

What a mess.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

I'm not one to name names. Ask around, and you'll be surprised.

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a normal working stiff from Southern Colorado. I, along with many others in our District, recognize the need for a change in representation in the US House of Representatives away from Lauren Boebert. I also recognize the vast enthusiasm gap between her and the person she defeated in 2022. The honest fact is, the majority of the votes he got, mine included, were votes AGAINST her and not FOR him. Outside of Aspen, the thought of a person from there being truly representative of our region is false at best, and repulsive at worst.

Since my mid twenties, people have been asking me to run for this House seat, some of whom were highly influential business owners, and others were regular working people like myself. This cycle, I have caved in to the pressure. Instead of coming across as though I have the answers to all of our problems or presenting myself as a full-blown partisan zealot, I'd like to practice a little true Democracy as our representative. When major issues come up, I want to contact local experts and stakeholders, and I'd also like to survey the citizens of the district at large for their direct input.

I believe that by keeping the residents of the District closely involved in the legislative process, I can better live up the the office of Representative.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

I don't think a person should have to choose between responsible gun ownership and other forms of freedom. I unconditionally respect the entire bill of rights, and that includes the Second Amendment. At the same time, I respect the right of people to make their own medical decisions without the interventions of politicians. People should not have to choose between self defense and self medication. I support the Second Amendment, and I also oppose federal laws restricting state freedoms regarding abortion, marijuana and other natural medicine, and LGBTQ rights. Politicians have stuck their noses too far into too many things. Aren't we supposed to be the land of the free?I'd like to bring about a balanced budget through series of steps that will allow us to keep our safety net for the most vulnerable. I believe that cutting back on corporate welfare, limiting military adventurism, legalizing marijuana and other natural medicines, and dramatically increasing the Federal Minimum Wage are important steps. We need to close loopholes and increase enforcement on tax cheats, and we need to redirect drains into revenue streams, as in the case of marijuana. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and SNAP are too important to lose if our businesses refuse to pay workers enough to actually live on. Prescription drug costs can be dramatically reduced by allowing the FDA to research and approve natural medicines.We're a working class district, and I'm a working class person. I understand the struggles that the average person here go through because I'm going through them, too. I'd like to rein in the influence of the most powerful people and businesses by taking direct input from ALL of the people in the district, not just the ones with big money. I want to practice direct democracy on as many issues as possible.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

The areas that are the most important to me start with the ones that determine whether we even have a future to look forward to. Climate change, global peace and stability, and the division of the United States into various forms of poverty rank the highest.

We're seeing an increase in the classic form of poverty that we all know, where people can't afford to survive in our society even while working honest jobs. More and more people are becoming homeless, but beyond that, more and more people are also being shunted into housing projects and other forms of slums. We had the Hoovervilles in the Depression, now we've got the GOPvilles, which are made of more modern materials but represent the same squalor.

We also have the rise of the New Poverty. This involves an "upper" class of people who are absolutely insatiable. When I say this, I'm not talking about people who have landed a high paying job or started a successful business. I'm talking about what is trying to crystalize into a permanent aristocracy. There are people who have so much that they don't know what to do with it, and they are still trying to leverage every situation and crisis to get more.

As we work backwards, we're watching Ukraine become the global arms expo, where competing industrial giants get to show off their new hardware to warlords the world over. We're tempting fate messing with a bear and a dragon who happen to be friends.

All the while, things keep getting hotter...

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I am patient, attentive and motivated. I prefer to see both sides of any issue, and I don't come to the table with the assumption that only I am right. The good in me brings out the good in people who I come in contact with, and I truly and actually care. I think of every day as a learning experience, and I view absolute consistency as the mark of an absolute fool. I prefer to build consensus when I can, and when I can't, I want to know what the consensus is.

If I am confronted with the choice between doing the right thing that will make things hard for me or doing the wrong thing that will make things easy, I will do the right thing. Needless to say, I've seen some hard times.

I feel as though a Representative doesn't need to convince people that that's what they are, thereby saying that they've got all of the solutions for everyone in their area. A Representative needs to get with the people on every major decision that doesn't involve secrecy and see to it that they carry out the will of their voters.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to be forgotten.

I would like my impact on the world to be one that is felt, not noticed. Instead of getting "credit" for what goes well, I only wish to be a conduit through which right can flow.

If, when I die, the world is a little more polite, a little cleaner, a little more peaceful and civil, with a little less suffering, that is enough. If I can be sure that my kids will live in a world worth having kids in, I will have fulfilled my life's ambition.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Ranch helper. I started being farmed out to ranchers and their hands in the Walsenburg, Colorado area when I was 12 years old. I was bucking bales, building and mending fences, and occasionally helped out rounding up the coes. I kept it up on and off until I was 17.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Three Kingdoms - Attributed to Luo Guanzgong, Translated by Moss Roberts

It is a semi-historical account of the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history. It tells the story of what happens when different factions all think they are right, all share the same goals, and all refuse to work together. In the end, none of them win. Someone else arises from among one of the factions and destroys them all.

It is a perfect parable that fits our world today. It shows what happens when people think that only their way is right, and it shows how good people can turn foolish and rotten. It fits the partisan divide in the US as well as the overall geopolitical power struggles we see in the world today.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Datsik - Scum (MONXX Remix)

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

My conscience will always get the best of me. I will not be led into temptation. So many times, I have had opportunities that all I had to do was turn a blind eye to a bit of evil or injustice, and the doors would remain open and the corridors wide. I have walked away from many situations that would have made things so easy for me based on the fact that I refuse to tarnish myself with blood or injustice.

My sense of right and wrong is the absolute guard rail of my actions, and I relentlessly study and examine ethics to be right by my own conscience. While my specific definitions of what is right and wrong have changed throughout my life, the overall impact on my actions and words is the same.

I have left jobs because of what I have viewed to be dishonorable conduct on more than one occasion, and that has caused me to have to restart my life just as many times.

This trait is part of what has people pressuring me to run for office, however, because I "calls a spade a spade." No matter what party, no matter what position, no matter who a person thinks they are, within the confines of decorum, they cannot escape me. When it is my turn, I say what needs to be said without regard to what it will do to me.

What do you perceive to be the United States' greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

The most severe issues are those on the international stage. We have to find a healthier relationship with China and Russia if we want to avoid a third world war. Neither of these are simple matters, but they can be resolved with simple steps. The first thing we need to recognize is that during the last world wars, they were our allies. When it came down to real-life battle between good and evil, these two nations that have become our adversaries were on our side. We need to start taking good faith steps to avoid a major war, and if we view ourselves to be a powerful nation, we need to take the initiative.

Working back from there, we have to find a balance between our technological civilizations and the planet that hosts us. We are poisoning the soil, the water, and the air with the tools that make our lives so comfortable. Every day that goes by, the rate at which we do so increases just a little. It's getting undeniably hotter, and the storms are getting stronger. I'm a bigger fan of incentives than I am of penalties, but we're going to have to strike a balance between the two in order to maintain and improve the American standard of living that we've come to enjoy. If we cross certain thresholds, there is no turning back, and no amount of money can protect anyone. We need more innovation, and we need penalties for irreversible damage.

Something a little more present but a little less severe for the comfortable is the creeping poverty that is overcoming us. Our poor are getting poorer, and too often, the answer is just to sweep them under the rug. All of our cities have homeless encampments, and too often, the people are treated like vermin. A lot of these people are not on drugs or crazy, they just lost everything to gambles made by a class of people that doesn't even acknowledge them. Whether UBI or living wages, we've got to make working any job enough to actually live on. Desperation gives rise to violence. We must stop this.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

For the office of the Presidency, I feel they are completely necessary. We can never have a king.

When it comes to term limits for other offices, though, I have mixed feelings about them. In a certain way, I think there are people who need to step aside and let a new person step in and do the job. On the other hand, when the residents of a district keep sending the same person back, if it's a fair competition but their voters feel they're the best person for the job, the constituents have spoken.

We have a revolutionary government, and our revolution is regularly scheduled to repeat itself for as long as the nation lasts. Ballots are the bullets, and the conflict is non-violent. When one person is constantly reelected, their voters are saying that that is the person for the job.

I personally do not want to be a career politician. I'd like to step in to the office and see if I can truly make an impact. If I can't, I won't even run for a second term. If it feels worthwhile, and the people of the district support me, I'd be willing to come back a little longer, but I'm only willing to give so much of my life to a project like the government of the United States. That's my personal opinion, though.

It seems to me that the best way would be to set rules like that state by state, district by district, or something more like that.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Compromise is absolutely necessary within the guardrails of the Constitution. When people propose legislation to impose their religious morality on the entire population, for example, that legislation must be fought tooth and nail. In a free country, they are free to abide by their conscience, but so is everyone else. If their faith is strong enough to restrain their decisions, more power to them.

Likewise, those rights that are enumerated by the Constitution are inviolable by the federal government. While guns, for another example, may be potentially dangerous, they are explicitly protected. "Arms" means those that are specifically designed to be weapons, not only those that are tools for hunting and the like.

The only sensible compromises that are available in both of those cases are those that leave the issues to the states.

In general, though, no one SHOULD be able to get everything they want. That in itself would be completely wrong. The partisan divide that is plaguing our society today is foolish and dangerous. All parties need to step to the table with a wish list, and all of them need to understand that those wishes are going to have to be prioritized. We must distinguish between the truly necessary and the comfortably desirable if we are to function as a nation.

There will always be a way for us to achieve the things that matter most as long as we remember the Constitutional limits of the institution.