Common sense and intuition are underrated.
It’s poetic (if slightly sad) to watch bitcoin crash and smolder while writing this piece. Back in early February, I wrote several posts warning people not to invest in it and to be careful about the hype.
Some people listened. Others assumed I had no right to express skepticism, and a few others even ridiculed me.
They said, “Enjoy staying poor.”
My favorite comment:
You must be red assed over missing the run up from $6K to $38K in the last year, or don’t have the money to invest.I hate to say I told you so, but more importantly…
…
Here’s the stats to prove it.
He just wouldn’t shut up.
The other day, I was out walking with my 3-year-old when an older white gentlemen saw me and felt compelled to give me parenting advice. Without a mask, he crossed the threshold of his manicured lawn and started asking me all kinds of questions. (It was actually the second or third time in a month.) Is she playing sports yet? Can she swim? Am I reading to her? What am I feeding her? Am I saving up for college yet? What’s she doing home in the middle of the day? What am I doing home…
The view from the top is judgmental.
Ever wonder why you work all the time, but never seem to have enough money to actually do anything but… work?
Apparently, you complain too much.
That’s the opinion of many wealthy Americans, those in the top ten percent who’ve managed to “work their way” into financial security. They believe the American dream is alive and well. They believe if you’re not a millionaire, or well on your way to becoming one, then it’s your fault. They think you made poor decisions, or that you’re lazy and entitled.
They think you deserve poverty.
It’s no surprise that empathy is on…
We just need people to listen
So what’s the solution?
That’s the smug response leveled at people like me, who spend a fair deal of time now outlining the scope of America’s problems. Most of them probably don’t read my articles, or they don’t make it to the end — where I normally outline some solutions. The overarching answer is, of course, to educate ourselves and participate in our democracy.
It’s also to be less selfish.
There are other, more specific solutions. The thing about those, they require a collective effort. A few people working on them isn’t enough. …
It’s time for us to wake up.
My sister-in-law is going back to school. This time, she’s getting a license in spiritual healing. I don’t even know what that means, just that it involves horseshoes and incense. This is her last chance, she says.
This time she’s going to live her dreams.
She’s going all in. She’s moving her family across the country. She’s taking out more loans. She has no plan, other than to sink herself further into debt (and to spiritually heal people). The irony is that she might actually make a lot of money. …
The climate crisis is already killing us.
Close your eyes.
Imagine it’s the middle of summer. Normally, you’d be relaxing by the pool or going for a stroll on the beach. Not anymore.
Instead, your insides are cooking.
This is not a metaphor.
It’s real.
Your city has spent the last week in a heat wave that reaches a daily wet bulb temperature of 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius). That’s the point at which the human body can no longer cool itself. It doesn’t matter if you have a fan, or if you sit in the shade. It doesn’t matter if you’re thirsty, because water doesn’t…
They don’t hear themselves anymore.
It’s straight out of a Tom Clancy novel.
A new story from Politico alleges that a candidate for Florida’s 13th congressional district was toying with the idea of sending a Russian-Ukrainian hit squad after his political rival, Anna Paulina Luna. He denies it, although I wonder lately how much longer politicians will even have to pretend they’re not villains in political thrillers.
The exact words:
I really don’t want to have to end anybody’s life for the good of the people of the United States of America… That will break my heart. But if it needs to be done, it…
Not everyone has boots.
My husband comes from a family of teachers. His mom teaches. So does his aunt. So did their mom, and so on. I guess that explains part of the reason we got married so soon. In a way, he already knew me by job title. Of course, that doesn’t mean I have a lot in common with his family. (You’d think so.) His grandma got her first job in five minutes. She didn’t even have to walk inside the school. Her dad was the town sheriff, and he introduced her to the principal. The job offer was practically gift-wrapped.
My…
Can we please stop?
Here’s the thing about an apology…
It’s not for you.
The point of an apology isn’t to restore your image, or make up for lost income from canceled contracts with big box retailers.
It’s not to convince everyone that you’re a better person, or that you deserve a second or third chance. Apologies are meant for the person you hurt, and the point is to give them closure, or to repair a relationship. Increasingly, that’s not how celebrity apologies are coming across.
They don’t seem genuine, partly because they keep having to do it, which cheapens the act for everyone.
…
A reflection on late capitalism
She asked for a raise. They almost fired her.
It wasn’t what she expected. One of our administrative assistants simply explained what it was like to work full-time, making barely ten bucks an hour. She walked right into the provost’s office, catching him off guard. He listened patiently for a few minutes and then launched into this whole bit about how he “knew what it was like” to “feel like you don’t have enough money,” but “there’s nothing I can do.”
That’s when she interrupted him. She said he couldn’t possibly understand what it was like, because he’d been working…
