“Don’t be a victim.” “You have a victim mentality.” “I’m not a victim.” “I’m not like a typical victim.” These statements are often normalized and seen as signs of strength and resilience. We don’t want to give our abusers so much credit as to define ourselves by what they did to us. However, these phrases… Continue reading Rethinking Victimhood
Content warning: this piece discusses child abuse and neglect. “Children, you are about to be told one more time that you are America’s most valuable natural resource. Have you seen what they do to valuable natural resources?! Have you seen a strip mine? Have you seen a clear cut in the forest? Have you seen… Continue reading Children Do Not Belong to You
One of my favorite authors passed away two days ago. Her name was Barbara Ehrenreich, and I continue to draw inspiration from her. She wrote with cutting passion about injustice and inequality. She also carried a severe skepticism toward every assumption, resulting in honest revelations about even the most difficult subjects. In over twenty books,… Continue reading Revealing Poverty: The Legacy of Barbara Ehrenreich
Over the past several months, an online community has come together in the name of “Anti-Work.” There are several tenets that can be gathered from the unrest and frustration expressed in the thousands of posts across various social media platforms like Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter. On reddit, the tagline is “Unemployment for all, not just… Continue reading Radical Thoughts About the Anti-Work Movement
It is possible to be shocked but not surprised. As you likely know already, the Supreme Court of the United States declared this morning that abortion is no longer a constitutional right. This decision overturns Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 decision preserving the right to abortion. For nearly fifty years, people in this country had… Continue reading The Right to Not Reproduce
I entered adulthood wholly uneducated and unprepared for life. I was homeschooled until I was 19. When I tried attending a local university while living with my parents, I had no time to study. I also had no respect for academia. In my mind, my own ignorant Christian beliefs were superior to whatever I might… Continue reading Close Clarity
In Christian homeschool speech and debate, we were told that we were learning logic and critical thinking. What we learned was a kind of feigned intellectualism, one that behaves under the pretense that the most reasonable reaction to anything is no reaction at all. Almost without fail, the winning competitors were charismatic and attractive, smooth… Continue reading Heartlessness and Hate, Part 2
Many people have asked me about speech and debate and whether it helped me with my communication and critical thinking skills. Now that a decade has passed, I can say with certainty that it did not. Years of frustration with speech and debate eventually led to some relative competitive success, but I had to sacrifice… Continue reading Heartlessness and Hate, Part 1
How long can you stand up? For most able-bodied people, the question usually comes up when evaluating work. People who can work on their feet are expected to stand for hours at a time. People who work sitting down may have the capacity to also go to the gym regularly. For me, it’s less than… Continue reading Standing Time
My emotions fluctuate between gratitude and rage. I’m grateful to have a home at last. I’m angry that I had to fight so hard for it, and that so many people I know aren’t so lucky. I am so thankful to the people who continuously show support with gifts, because it’s what helps me get… Continue reading Gratitude and Rage
