Sociologist Matthew Desmond has an amazing book called Evicted that talks about criminal act evictions and profiles people who have been the target of them. The book follows very low income renters in Milwaukee through years of their struggles to find and keep housing. It also follows individual landlords from the same neighborhoods. It’s technically an academic subject and is impeccably researched (the notes section in the back could be its own book) but it reads like a novel. It won a Pulitzer iirc.

He also just published Poverty, By America last year. I’ve only just started it, but it’s just as readable. He explains overly-complicated regulations and social services red tape in a way that’s concise and easy to understand, and he illustrates their consequences through his interviews with real people. His books should be required reading for every American.

What it’s like being a TA

I’ve never stayed in an Airbnb and I never will, but I’ve seen these management companies AirBnB-ing out hotel rooms in Vegas at places like the Rio. It’s the same price as going through the actual hotel. You still have to pay the resort fees. You still check in at the front desk.

I literally cannot understand wtf that’s about.

I’ve never stayed in an Airbnb and I never will, but I’ve seen these management companies AirBnB-ing out hotel rooms in Vegas at places like the Rio. It’s the same price as going through the actual hotel. You still have to pay the resort fees. You still check in at the front desk.

I literally cannot understand wtf that’s about.

Same. The amount of times I’ve heard “have you tried Proactiv?” as though it wasn’t the first thing I went and bought when I was 15 is just aggravating. The fact that not even doctors seem to know much about the internal causes of acne and how to treat it is really just embarrassing.

I’ve also heard the “change your pillowcase” thing far too often. If your pillowcase is so dirty that it’s the one thing that stands between you having acne and not having acne, then it sounds like you might have bigger issues lol.

What

That’s like when they tell you to “pound the pavement” and ask to speak to the manager when you bring back your hard copy job application in person. It’s hard to even continue a conversation with someone who’s that out of touch.

“Nothing happens in god’s world by mistake.” “God never gives you more than you can handle.” Etc etc.

When 1 in 6 women has been sexually assaulted in their lives (and many men and NB folks), that’s a really fucked up thing to say. You never know what someone’s been through, and I’ve personally been through a lot of awful things. I guess it helps some people to tell themselves this kind of shit, but it is impossible to me to think of any kind of meaning that would make being a victim of violent crime “positive” or “worth it” or “a learning experience” blah blah blah. I think the term for that is “toxic positivity.”

So either “everything happens for a reason” is utter bullshit, or god is a sadistic fucking asshole.

deranged conspiracy theory nonsense

They teach that stuff in business schools because it actually is useful to divide a population like that

Hmm