daydreaming

It doesn’t disappear into a hole. All of it goes back into the economy because low income earners need to spend that money to survive by paying for food and rent. An increase in welfare allows them to use that money in more ways that aren’t the absolute necessities and thus support a wider variety of businesses (which helps support and create jobs), therefore stimulating the economy. Poor people are not leeches, they’re the only people who participate entirely and wholeheartedly with the economy (albeit through coercion by artificially forcing them to live below the poverty line and thus robbing them of any financial freedom) whereas the rich save money, get tax cuts from conservative parties, save more money so they can have more money, and then just… have more money than they personally need and it benefits no one - literally not even themselves. 

Furthermore, governments then continually pour money into ever increasing military spending which DOES disappear into a hole. Money gets given to greedy private contractors who simply find excuses to wrack up bills, we spend billions on machines that don’t see active combat or even outdated by the time they’re delivered, the money spent doesn’t fully return to the economy, doesn’t pay for essential services for the benefit of society, and ultimately spending billions of dollars can lead to hiring only a few hundred people at best - some of those inevitably end up committing war crimes. Even if you want to argue that military spending is a vital part of protecting statehood and human lives, you should still be able to see that governments are often uncritical when it comes to increasing spending while still using the argument “we need to be mindful of wasteful excess” and “living within our means” when it comes to welfare. The focus on what should be splurged on and what shouldn’t is deeply telling of the dehumanising attitudes towards the poor.

Objectively speaking money spent on the military or government revenue lost when giving rich people tax cuts could deliver far better outcomes for the economy and people’s lives if invested elsewhere. And that’s the important thing: we get told that money put into certain industries is an investment, but if it’s given to the poor we’re misled into believing it’s a waste. What is the point of investing in any industry whatsoever if not for the benefit it provides to the lives of people? What is the point of any form of economic activity if it holds no material benefit to a human life? So why is the most straightforward and direct form of benefit to a human being so despised as unfair and unwarranted?

Welfare is not a waste. It’s never a waste to materially improve someone’s life. The idea that the welfare security net is fat to be trimmed off a government budget is dehumanising and cruel. The argument that people don’t deserve welfare is dehumanising and cruel. The idea that welfare should exist, but should be below the poverty line to “incentivise” people finding a job, is dehumanising and cruel and a dismissal of the realities of the job market.

Reminder to not give up, you are bringing about change.

List of positives to come out of the recent protests as of June 4:

- George Floyd’s murderer charged with murder and manslaughter, then had charges increased, then the officers that watched it happen were charged with aiding and abetting

- Louisville police (Breonna Taylor’s murderers) department will now be under review from an outside agency, which will include review on training, bias-free policing and accountability. (Unfortunately her killers have still not faced charges yet as far as I could find.)

- Charges are to be dropped for Kenneth Walker

- Atlanta has announced plans to create a task force + public database to track police brutality in metro Atlanta area

- Minneapolis city council members are considering disbanding police force in favor of a “community-oriented, nonviolent public safety and outreach capacity”

- Colorado lawmakers have introduced an incredible police reform bill that includes body cam laws, repealing the “fleeing felon” statute, banning chokeholds, and more

As protests against injustice in legal system, discrimination, police brutality spread through the US, it is necessary to educate yourself about these issues. 

Here are just a few book recommendations (there are so much more out there), include both non-fiction and fiction about racism and challenges that black people face throughout their lifetimes. 

Thank you so much for more recs. Below are some more amazing book recommendations from the comments:

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro

Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

White Fragility by Robin Diangelo

Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi

Solomon’s Shield is the name of the app

Choose your academia! 

My mother also talked about periods to my brothers.

When I first got mine I had terrible cramps. Crippling cramps. I once was camping with my family and a few of my big brother’s friends when my period came. My cramps were so bad that my mom gave me a full pain killer ( I was 13 and before that she only gave me pills cut in half).

I literally laid down on my parents’ air mattress and cried in pain for an hour before the pill kicked in.

My brothers friend came in to the big tent and I was just curled up and sobbing. Now, I was quite the tomboy and was known to rough house with my brothers and their friends and made sure I wasnt seen as just “a little girl.” So my brother’s friend was confused to see me openly weeping in the fetal position (seriously, these were the worst cramps I have had in my life. My vision went white). He asked what was wrong with me.

My big brother stood up immediately and suggested a nice long hike. During this hike I am sure he had a pretty awkward conversation with his friend explaining menstrual cramps, because when they got back the pain pill had (mostly) kicked in and I was sitting up at a table when my brother’s friend sheepishly asked me if I was feeling better. I said I was better, and he said good.

When we made s'mores that night my brother and his friend kept me well supplied with chocolate.

Making sure sons know as much about periods and menstruation as daughters makes them better brothers, better sons better fathers, and better men. A man that understands a period will not lightly accuse a woman of “being on her period” if the woman is in an argument.

[cont] Sorry-still the fellow grad student! Any suggestion on how to overcome the fear to write? I feel so discouraged! Thank you for your help!

Hi anon – firstly well-done for all your hard work, you’re doing great. All I can really offer is lots of encouragement, and to repeat some good advice I’ve received in the past: 

Try warming up. Write 500 words or so of anything you like–it could be a diary, observations about breakfast, anything–then once you feel like words are flowing easily switch to your essay and don’t give yourself time for doubt, just begin. It’s kind of a way to trick oneself into writing.

Don’t start with a blank page. Write into a skeleton essay or a plan, bullet points or even start by writing “this will be an introductory paragraph, this will be a paragraph which defines my terms, this will be my conclusion”. Or put your questions down and try answering one or two. That way there’s never a horrible blank page to overcome.

Don’t edit when writing. Often when I’m writing I will get stuck on a word or the best way to phrase a particular concept – instead of stopping at these points, just leave them or write [edit here] and carry on. Write everything, then go back and re-write the most difficult and complex sections once the body of work is there.

Have fun. Write your favourite sections when you’re not sure what to work on, then work up to the difficult stuff. Sometimes when writing the ‘fun’ parts, the hard parts work themselves out. 

Take breaks. For the same reason that when you come back to it, difficult sentences will be completed easily, mistakes will seem clearer, etc.

All my posts on essay-writing are here: FAQ

30 days of productivity day 4/30

Listen up mother fuckers. Here’s the truth about college. No sugar coating, none of that cutesy shit. Here’s what I wish I knew before I stepped foot on campus.

When people say communal bathrooms aren’t that bad what they actually mean is people will leave their dirty underwear in the showers, used tampons, clean their dishes in the bathroom sink, and leave their explosive diarrhea everywhere. If you really don’t think you need shower shoes, think again.

If you know you are not strong in a particular subject, PLEAAASE seek help. Find a tutor or really good friends that are willing to help you because when you get a D in math because you didn’t seek help even though you knew you fucking sucked at math you’ll regret it because that stupid ass shit tanked your GPA.

You will have professors and TAs (teaching assistants) that give absolutely no fucks about actually teaching. If this ends up being the case, use your resources, learn to teach yourself, Quizlet is your friend.

People might seem so nice in the first week, but I promise you, when welcome week is over and there’s no more free food, they won’t ever look your way again. The ones who stick with you after that, cherish them.

The grind is real. Don’t expect to do the minimum and pass my friend. Because you will fail. I promise you. Sometimes you gotta stay up until 3AM because you’ve got two papers due, a speech to write, and math homework that you didn’t realize was actually due at 11:59pm the previous night. So if you’re going to college just to say you went to college, leave immediately.

With that said, you might realize that college isn’t even for you. And that’s okay. Just remember the thousands of dollars you’ve spent and make your decisions accordingly. But know that college is not the only way to be successful or make money.  There are lots of sugar daddies out there.

You might change your major 2392897 times. It’s honestly whatever. You’ll figure it out and it will be fine.

I know you’ve already heard this one but I swear it’s fucking true. You will not want to drag your dead body out of bed to go to a fucking 8am class. I don’t care if you’re a morning person. Just don’t do it. Trust me. Trust anybody who says this. 

Free stuff is the best stuff.

Sometimes you just need to sit down and have a glass of wine. Or see a therapist. Whichever works for you.

You don’t have to drink or do drugs, but you might feel pressured to. Do whatever you want but make sure you are always safe, smart, and with people you can trust and know will take care of you after you’ve had that 12th drink and can’t even stand up straight.

No one really cares what you wear, how you look or what you do because we’re all too busy trying to figure out how to do 20 hours of homework, 6 hours of studying AND fit in 8 hours of sleep. 

Sometimes lectures are so pointless that you could teach yourself in 30 mins rather than sit for 2 hrs in a lecture. I’m not saying skip lectures, but I am saying that the more time you have, the more sleep you can get.

You’re funny af if you actually think you’re gonna get a full 8hrs of sleep. Try again.

College is your chance to reinvent yourself. Be very careful who you choose to become. Just don’t be that person who corrects the professor or types really fucking loud on their macbook during every fucking lecture.

Listen, you can really do whatever you want to do. You wanna be hoe? Do it. You wanna party Thursday through Saturday? Do it. Weed Wednesday? Go for it. But you sure as hell better show your ass to class and watch that GPA.

Nobody likes a snitch. Mind ya business.

Don’t let anybody make you feel like you do not deserve to be there. Because they will try you and you can still get a ticket for fighting. Except this time you’ll be charged for assault. 

Don’t wear your favorite shoes to a party. Don’t wear open toes shoes to a party. The floors of a frat house or a house party are filthy. Don’t bring a purse, always use the buddy system, watch out for creeps cause they be out there.

Nobody cares who you were in high school, no one wants to know your ACT score or whether you were valedictorian. Shut up. Y’all got into the same damn college. No one cares.

If you’re going to bullshit something, do it well.

Do the readings because when your ass gets called on during discussion because your TA wants to know what you think about Mondrian’s take on contemporary art and you don’t know, you gonna look stupid as hell.

You might have a really cool roommate, or you might have a roommate that has sex with her boyfriend on your bed. There’s no in-between.

Bring A LOT of storage for your dorm.

If you see students napping in weird places, crying in the bathroom, or smoking weed on their dorm roof-top, it be like that sometimes.

Find a really good place to study. DO NOT study in your room because you associate your room with sleep so that’s what you’ll want to do instead of study If you study in your room.

Freshman 15 ain’t real.

SAFE SEX. THESE HOES DIRTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

College sucks sometimes, but put your mental health first. Sometimes you gotta skip class to take care of yourself and that is perfectly okay. You do not have to justify yourself or your decisions to anyone.