emo-nomics
I can’t tell if I’m anxious because I’m in my late-20s or because of late-capitalism.
It’s been a long time. Shouldn’t have left you. Without a dope beat to step to.
I recently quit my restaurant job. The job that paid my rent, made me shower, and taught me how to open a bottle of wine in front of a dude who brought his own wine glasses. The job gave me good friends. (CLASS OF 2018 FOREVER. NEVER FORGET THAT TIME AT BRUNCH WITH THE MILK!!!! LOL. DON’T BE A STRANGER. H.A.G.S. L.Y.L.A.S.) The job that gave me a pretty cush position in this rat-race of an economy that is not only crumbling around us but also demanding we feed it everything we’ve got and get nothing in return.
So now, I’m untethered.* It feels like leaving a religion or a marriage, this half-hearted break with the traditional work-force. But the more I read the more I realize that it’s not me that’s doing the leaving.
This idea of work we cling to is a sinking ship. But if you jump off the ship, you’re just out in the open ocean. And yeah, you can survive by swimming but you can never. stop. swimming. Is it better than waiting for the ship to sink? I’m not sure yet. Ask me when I rise from the ashes like a phoenix/Rose-from-Titanic with a paycheck or the goddamn heart of the ocean. For now, you get my emo-nomics which, like all of my knowledge, is purely feelings-based.
*I am still working. I’m building freelance clients (if you need writing/editing services, hmu). I’m making candles a few hours a week. I’m going on interviews, etc. But if you like what I do here, you can send me with some weed money on paypal.
Good Reads
1 . Morbid Capitalism - Thuy Linh Tu, Nikhil Pal Singh
If I had a dime for every time someone told me that they’re “socially liberal, but fiscally conservative” I wouldn’t have to work another day in my life and I could just send articles like this to each one of those precious souls who feel that social issues are separate from $$$$$$$.
This article is long and dense with research, but it is worth reading to the end for statistics that will make you want to start a commune like the Rajneeshees:
“We can see the conditions that have not just shaped white life—and death—but made working life more precarious for the great majority in the United States, a country where 81 percent of households suffer flat and falling incomes, 75 percent report living from paycheck to paycheck, and more than 70 percent die in debt.”
cool.
The article is empathetic to the uptick in mortality rates in working white people while being appropriately critical of the ways the system responsible for this is still disproportionately oppressive to people of color. Because it’s true that “in the US, there has never been an ‘economics’ that is not narrated through racism.”
(I’m not going to lie, I would like one of the tacky tee shirts they talk about giving to Chinese delegates. I’m a sucker for anything with y’all on it!!! Blame it all on my roots.)
Read this: if you know that all this China shit is racist but don’t know how to explain it to your dad.
2 . How to Design Your Ideal Workday Based on Your Sleeping Habits - Rich Bells
According to this, I am among 50%+ of the population that sleeps like a “bear.” My bf can corroborate that I am easily startled from sleep and surly when risen, but the “bear” isn’t about swiping at the closest living thing to diffuse the irritation at being jolted out of hibernation (sorry to all the boys I’ve loved before). The “bear” is someone who is most productive during normal 9-5er work hours, should eat at noon, and fits pretty seamlessly in the structure already set for most respected jobs.
Sorry for all of you who identify as dolphins or wolves or lions. But also, don’t talk to this bear until she’s had her COFFEE.
But am I a bear because I’m naturally a bear? Or have I just successfully programmed my brain to do what it’s told? Also, is sleep ever just sleep? Why are we so determined weave every part of our selves into optimization for work?
Read this: if you are as susceptible as I am to click bait.
3 . The Difference Between Being Broke and Being Poor - Erynn Brook (words) and Emily Flake (illustrations)
All of my emo-nomics-ing is done from a place of extreme privilege.
I am broke. I’ve been broke before. But I have never been poor.
All of my frustration with (my rudimentary understanding of) capitalism, with work culture, with the statistics are securely middle-class frustrations. So while the man still gets me down, I know that his boot isn’t on my neck.
This illustrated article puts clearly what is often lost in conversations about financial struggle. There is a difference between being broke and being poor.
Read this: if you’ve always had a safety net.
Hate Read
Maybe we’re distracted because we are thinking about our sleep schedules? Maybe we’re distracted because the Eagles are playing like shit? Maybe we’re distracted because our lives are more than productivity?
Oh. I forgot. You guys, the solution is so simple! I should just find work that is challenging and appropriate to my skills!
IF I COULD GET A JOB DOING WHAT I FOUND CHALLENGING AND INTERESTING, I WOULDN’T BE READING YOUR STUPID ARTICLE.
Tell me how to optimize my productivity when you resuscitate the industry that I spent all my time and money gaining skills for.
Rec of the Week
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
This is a perfect movie. Literally the best movie of all time. This is objective fact. Every time I watch this movie feels like eating a warm brownie.
This movie cured my depression, cleared my skin, and fixed my bank account….
…because I forgot about that shit for a second
Thanks for reading! I’ll be back next week with more opinions on things I only know about through memes.
This is the best thing on the internet.