I’m always amazed by how much of the neoliberal economy is held up by ads. Producers want people to buy their products so bad that they literally throw away hundreds, thousands, millions of dollars so that 1.0% of us rubes might click a link or go to a drive-thru.

My brother works in marketing. He’s explained the ROI for ads. I just don’t believe it. It’s a fucking shell game.

Not immediately throwing my clothes in a wash and showering when I got home like usual. That small mistake resulted in a months long battle with bedbugs. Never again.

“We did it, Patrick! We saved the city!”

Here I am, a foolish westerner, who had no idea Lake Laogai got its name from real world reeducation camps.

I know Bryke are big libs with their creation. Still love their flawed franchise. Even Korra. Actually especially Korra. But I kinda want to go through the shows and books (not the comic books because they’re hopeless) with a fine toothed comb to see what other red scare references there are.

I’d personally put socialism on the balcony and communism on some kind of orbital space laser. But then again I haven’t read enough theory to back this up.

Legally? Depends on your locality and jurisdiction. There’s lots of laws that specifically address recording people without their consent.

I’m familiar with this. It’s Greek diaspora architecture. You can tell from the everything about it.

This is just my particular situation. I am fortunate enough to have some property on which to grow food. I try to keep abreast with current predictions for my locale. I know that my area will continue to get hotter and more humid, and flooding will increase. So I’m learning permaculture practices for climates that are already like that in anticipation of the changes. I also make as many connections with local produce growers as I can.

This is a very privileged answer to your question. But maybe looking at predictions for your area and meeting producers near you could ease some stress.

There was a small farm near where I live that was bought when I was a teenager. The buildings and pond near the highway were bulldozed, filled in, flattened, and replaced with a lifeless swath of dirt and invasive grasses. The grass was mowed often enough to stifle any chances the errant tree or shrub might grow. But eventually it wasn’t mowed anymore. Over the years rain washed away the exposed soil. The sun desiccated the clay dirt. The winds blew it away leaving only rocks. Now there’s an O’Riley’s Autoparts store about where the farmhouse used to be, with enough parking to safely land a single engine aircraft.

I can only tell you what worked for my partner. They were very politically apathetic for most of our relationship. They care deeply about the health of me and their family. They work in public health too. COVID has been a radicalizing force for them. I had already developed a pretty robust sense of class consciousness by 2020, so all I did was just engage them in conversation about public health. They know more about it than I ever will.

I work in education. We talked about the intersection of public health and education a lot that summer. During the protests and uprisings that summer, she remarked on how she appreciated the protestors wearing masks even though the science was undecided about their necessity outdoors. I told her about how it’s also a safety concern for the protestors to protect their identities. When schools in our area resumed with practically no safeguards, they took an interest in the understanding the reactionary forces that would place children in harms way. Independently they read about the successes combatting the virus in places like Vietnam and the devastation withholding vaccines did/continues to do to the global south.

As the pandemic continues they continues to use public health as their loadstone. They understand the connection between capitalism and ignoring public health. They are not a self-described socialist. Political theory does not interest them. But they’re a comrade.

Welcome to the field!

If you’re unfamiliar with pedagogies, it might be a little difficult to really dive into different frameworks without some familiarity with core concepts. It’s probably best to take a ed psyche course, but you can learn plenty from talking with other teachers/professors. And of course BOOKS! Here’s two of my favorites that are fairly accessible and offer a great intro to lots of educational concepts.

The Shame of the Nation by Jonathon Kozol

Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paublo Freire

I regret nothing

Second smallest domino - 2008 Subprime Mortgage Collapse

Some middle domino - “But it’s Nic Cage November. We have to watch a Nic Cage movie. We can watch City of Angels. It has that song you like.”

Second biggest domino - COVID-19 Pandemic

Little domino - “Yeah I can totally play Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls.”

Big domino - “Our second child is finally asleep, but I think they pooped.”

Yeah, it’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s much better academically speaking to get used to the idea that the majority of your work will subpar (by your own standards). You’re in undergrad, right? Undergraduate work has always bent towards efficiency more than proficiency. I’m not saying you should just fart out trash for every paper and bomb tests. Rather, allot enough time to finish assignments and prepare for tests. That’s all. And that’s hard enough.

If you’re really hung up about it, just email your professor after you turn it in. You can tell them you had trouble getting your thoughts on the subject worked or that you don’t think it’s your best work. Ask them if they think you’ve said anything interesting. Professors eat that shit up. Plus it shows you actually care about their course. Most liberal arts and humanities professors factor participation into how they grade. Emails count.

A half-assed, incomplete paper is worth more than no paper. Just turn something in. Believe me, your prof has read much worse.

I love my all Freedom. Started collecting them from a young age. Always been a fan. Wish I knew better as a kid and didn’t open some original foil booster packs. The pre-9/11 ones go for a lot nowadays. But I still have over 300 in almost mint condition, including a holographic misprint Freedom, the one with three WTC buildings on it if you can believe it.

You’re correct. Hitting kids doesn’t work.

Reliving nightmares of teaching mandated reporter classes. Here’s the definition for child abuse in the stupid state I live in.

“Abuse is defined as any physical injury, sexual abuse or emotional abuse inflicted on a child other than by accidental means by those responsible for the child’s care, custody and control, except that discipline including spanking, administered in a reasonable manner, shall not be construed to be abuse.”

It is far and away the ugliest and bizarre things I’ve ever been required to teach. I’d spend hours in front of stimulant addled teachers in the most rural places on this dying earth trying to hem that definition in, without breaking the law, just to feel like I wasn’t enabling an abuser. A LOT of educators thought the law’s exception was NOT expansive enough. Laying them end-to-end would reach the nearest ocean.

I mean… didn’t you just answered your own question? Are you trying to understand how phrases like that are coined in the first place?