*~*Imagine*~*

Scams are serious, people lose a lot of money and older people are targeted the worst because they're easy targets.

First of all, the IRS will *never* call you and ask for money, and they definitely won't call the cops on you. They'll get your money if they really want it through taxes.

But now they're trying to target our generation using crypto, which is super hard to trace if the money gets lost. So they're getting smarter, and they'll use whatever they can to get you to give them money.

What you really need to know or take away from this is: NEVER, and I mean EVER, buy a gift card and give the barcode number on the back to someone over the phone. It is ALWAYS, 100%, a scam!

Generally,"if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" are wise guiding words for any opportunity you stumble across. Some things to look out for are:

Ambiguous requirements/description – This doubles as a scam and toxic workplace red flag. Job listings should include an overview of responsibilities, and ideal candidate descriptions. Legitimate employers who can't communicate that won't get better if you're hired.

Fees and "investments" – Job applications do not cost money, and employees are never personally responsible for the purchase of stock, investment, etc. These can both be one-off scams, or a hook into a multi-level marketing scheme.

Carrot on a stick – Compensation does not include the potential of earning later. Be especially wary of introductory pay lasting months or time frame specific raise "opportunities". There's a good chance they have a high turnover, and are running out the clock on cheap labor.

Travel without compensation – This is another dual scam/toxic workplace red flag. If travel is a requirement, you should be compensated for the time and cost. If the position is not transport, investigative, or administrative-related, travel requirements are also generally worth interrogation.

Limited staff – With some exceptions, oh my god, be suspicious of any job offer where you'll be the only employee. Even with small businesses, they should be upfront about the pressure, have a contingency plan for when you're unable to come in, and can demonstrate the ability to be professional and managerial.

fake rentals can also be a duplicated rental listing where they list a house that's not actually for rent on craigslist and then you, who are moving in from out of town, send them your deposit and your first month's rent only to discover that somebody else lives in "your" house the instant you show up and your fake landlord has disappeared.

You are loved.

that should disgust and enrage you.

if any other demographic of students had a 95% failure rate, we would be demanding reform and studies to understand why that’s happening

when i was at my first university, trying to get accommodations for my ADHD, they just kept asking me what accommodations i wanted, and refused to answer when i would ask what was available to me. how the Hell am i supposed to know what i can have? what’s available???? also, i don’t know!!!! i’m an adhd sufferer, not a fucking disability expert for the fucking college, unlike you, DISABILITY EXPERT WHO WORKS FOR THE COLLEGE.

but because the us is OBSESSED with making sure no one gets anything “”for free””, she literally would not tell me what my options were until i broke down in tears and asked her why she was refusing to help me. and then she did a big sigh, like i was fucking up her entire career by *checks notes* asking the disability center in my university to help me, a disabled student

at the second uni i went to, i tried to explain to a dean that i was literally two gen eds that had nothing to do with my degree away from graduating and that i was burnt out and broke and exhausted and suicidal and i just needed to be able to finish my degree without the gen eds. and this. fucking. guy. looked me right in my face and said in the most patronizing tone he could muster “if you can’t handle it, then maybe college just isn’t for you.” keep in mind that up until that semester, i had been an honor student who made Dean’s List every semester and didn’t get below Bs. if it hadn’t been for my mental breakdown, i would have graduated cum laude, maybe even summa cum laude.

i think what you’re actually pinging, here, is the system that often encourages people like district attorneys to use their power in unethical ways that often end up further victimizing & marginalizing vulnerable people. we should talk about that! we should be working to disentangle the laws & processes that often make police departments & district attorneys close collaborators in cycles of violence and disenfranchisement.

but, like. none of that was made by kamala harris? it was like that before she got there & was like that after she left, and there are two important other things that need to be said.

a) from everything i’ve read, kamala harris’ record as district attorney & then attorney general was actually pretty good. she oversaw some important, positive changes. is it a mixed legacy? of course. any person in any position of power, especially in a system as fucked up as ours, is going to have a mixed legacy. which brings me to my second important thing.

b) you will never, not even once in your life, be voting for someone, at any level of government, who is perfectly morally pure & beyond reproach. this is both because people are people, and because—as the good place illustrates in an accessible way i highly recommend—there is a base level of fuckery involved in most people’s lives. she could’ve decided to not become a prosecutor of course, i suppose. but then all the valuable & positive contributions she has made could very well have not been made, and things would be even worse, because somebody would have been making the decisions anyway. & even after all that!! she still wouldn’t be morally pure! because that!! is how living in a complex society works!!!

like this is such a deeply complicated series of ethical questions with no clear answers, which is often why ethicists are so infuriating to be around.

but ultimately, guys, we could all do worse than a proven public servant who cares deeply even when her decisions aren’t perfect. and that’s how being human and living in a society works.