#I love it so much here it’s great. so freedom much meritocracy

[cognitiveleague]

Tiny indignity of the day: having to explain to one of the people actively in control of my pay rate how to click a line on a client’s balance history to expand it and see the payments and writeoffs. And also how to tell the insurance payments from the patient payments, even though we’d already repeatedly mentioned what this person’s copay and I’d also mentioned that they paid through the patient portal so you’d think it was pretty obvious whether ‘PTPORT - [$normal copay]’ or ‘PE - [amount that would be weird as hell for a copay]’ was the patient payment I’d mentioned???

(The person in question co-owns the practice I work for, has had access to the admin side of this software since we started using it, and probably genuinely thinks what I’m being paid is something other than depressing never-make-it-out-of-poverty wages because they haven’t had to worry about not making enough money for cost of living since it WAS.)

(I could not begin the explanation, which consisted entirely of ‘the left column has a plus side if there are transactions entered for the line, click the plus sign and you can see the details, explanation finished,’ until she had re-logged in to the software and pulled up a client profile so she could look at it while I explained. )

(She called me with no warning in response to an email reply I had JUST sent. Unrelatedly but still gallingly, her incompetent nepotism hire relative is the cause of half of the non-insurance company-caused headaches I have at work.)

[saintambrose]

haha it’s US politics hours

listen, this tumblr has always been a fandom place since its inception and I’ve not really designated it as a space for political discussion because 1) I have several other avenues for that arena of discussion and 2) escapism was the theme here; but I’ve finally watched The Comey Rule and I have some THOUGHTS 

and I’m not really sure how active anyone is here anymore anyway, because I’ve not really been around as regularly as I was before the nsfw-ban shitstorm, so. Diving right in.

Probably my favorite thing was how it painted the American right wing as this faux-centrist bastion of impartiality at first, the whole circus with HiLLaRy’S EmAiLs being about how they legitimately believed they could play the angle that the emails were a threat to national security all while they knew damn well it was a huge big nothingburger (with a side of hatred of women) while doing that thing that right wingers have done since the Reagan administration where they malign anything left of fascism as communism (including basic human rights) and then, predictably, you have all these very furrowed-browed old white men sitting around a conference table being VERY CONCERNED that precisely the thing they wanted to happen came true and they are completely unprepared to do damage control on the mess they engineered because WHITE MEN ARE INCAPABLE OF UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT OF CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR OWN ACTIONS. 🤣😂🤣😂

In all seriousness. I wasn’t crazy about Hillary either. I don’t like dynasties of any kind, royal or political. I don’t like establishment dems who are really just center-right in the real world while masquerading as left in backwards-ass bizarro-world USA. But I’m an old motherfucker now, I’m well into my 30s, I’m boring and watch CSPAN for leisure and shit. I read the reports coming out of the DOJ. One of my degrees is in political science, though admittedly, that’s the least thing that matters, in the scope of everything else these days. But it’s safe to say Hillary was unfairly maligned while republicans committing atrocities exponentially worse have been treated with kid gloves for decades. A very distinct double standard has been applied here for....longer than I’ve been alive, that even the most educated people on the left have refused to acknowledge for far too long. I watched that entire BeNgHaZi hearing (which is easily accessible on youtube, so there’s literally no excuse not to know the facts on this), and everyone knew -- everyone knew it was a bullshit smear campaign. 

So, this post isn’t so much a review of the miniseries more than it’s an indictment of the corruption of American politics. The most damning aspect being that, on principle, US politics has always had a problem with embracing progressive policy, and basic civil rights in general. That’s not news; people have known this for some time. But the thing that this miniseries really illustrated in a very cartoonish, yet succinct, way is that there are experienced professionals who hold the highest, most powerful seats of authority in this country who won’t bat an eye at dedicating their entire careers to denigrating common decency, basic human rights, and even constitutional law, while being absolutely incapable of conceiving the long-term consequences of these actions, who will then turn around and concern troll over the ashes of the empire they enthusiastically helped to burn down. It’s nauseating. It’s infuriating. It shows a pathological disregard for personal responsibility.

Everyone was so preoccupied with their massive turgid erection for hating the Clintons (and women) that no one saw they were enthusiastically living in a henhouse built by fucking foxes. No one saw the genuine threat. 

And, by extension, no one had the balls to acknowledge that age-old instinct of white men willing to engage in a scorched earth campaign simply to satisfy their worst impulses and entitlement complexes. 

Can you fit “Who cares if we’re screwing over several generations with corrupt court-packing and a flagrant disregard for checks-and-balances predicated entirely on the honor system; we just don’t feel like doing domestic labor or respecting women and minorities so we’ll continue expediting reprehensible policies that exploit the most vulnerable people in this country because we can’t compete in an authentic meritocracy" onto a campaign slogan banner? 

I sounded the alarms on this trend 20 years ago, meanwhile. My parents and I had just gotten US citizenship, luckily months before 9/11 and the patriot act; and as an outsider looking in, as someone who had risked their life escaping a dangerous regime at an incredibly young age, I saw the warning signs in the republican party even back then. Naturally, I was denigrated as an alarmist and a butthurt liberal. 

You know, I’ll acknowledge that as a white person, I’m not the average American’s image of what an “immigrant” looks like. My experiences here over the past couple of decades have thrown into sharp relief how “immigrant” is just a dogwhistle for racist bullshit, because people who concern troll about us don’t seem to have many problems with us white ones. But I came out of a communist country. I’m straight outta the eastern bloc. And I don’t think there are any words in any spoken language that can do justice to how insulting it is when americans try to americasplain communism to me. Bitch. Y’all don’t fucking know. You just don’t.

The point is, even back then, I could see the slippery slope republicans were tumbling down, and I can't say I derive any pleasure from being vindicated in such an extreme fashion. Like. I told y’all motherfuckers. TWO DECADES AGO.

People who aren’t familiar with US politics, and even long-term US citizens who for some reason feel like it’s a waste to pay attention to your own shit, seem to spend a lot of time trying to unpack what precisely went wrong. My observations came up with 1) the manipulative aspect of US history in public schools glossing over, and even omitting, the most gruesome aspects of the revolutionary war, the holocaust, and the cold war (and oftentimes, the cold war is NEVER EVEN COVERED, which is especially insulting to me, for obvious reasons); 2) the manipulative aspect of US history in public schools teaching kids that the Declaration of independence and the Constitution are unassailable doctrines of freedom and liberty, and, as such, after independence was won, no further activism to maintain democracy was needed so we can all just smoke a bowl and be complacent because all those authoritarian third world regimes we constantly ridicule and criticize can NeVeR HaPPeN hErE 😒; and 3) how limpdick both-sidesism replaced civil, comprehensive political discussion because the right spent so long abusing, denigrating, and bullying the left that it was just easier to play it safe and take the milquetoast ~centrist~ stance, which always, always, always capitulates to the lowest common denominator, which is always the oppressor. 

And generally just this age-old trend of holding the victims of systematic oppression to a higher moral and behavioral standard than the perpetrators of systematic oppression. 

Guys, I’m tired. I’m so tired. 

I’ve gotten a few questions over the years about why my writing is so angsty, why it always seems to follow the same themes; war crimes, PTSD, gore, torture. 

I already escaped one authoritarian regime. The USA promised us one thing, and then once we got here, it started emulating the very tyrants we worked so hard to get away from. A lot of people have no idea what that feels like. How much of a betrayal that is. Especially considering all the financial and legal landmines one has to navigate just to do it, and then we’re punished for that, too.

I write about PTSD because I fucking have it. I write about war crimes because I’ve experienced them firsthand - just as a victim and not the perpetrator. I so often write about soldiers committing them because I want to roleplay what it’s like to not be a victim for once. 

tbh writing a fucking Hamilton fanfiction is one of the most cathartic things I’ve ever done, but the extensive research I’ve had to do to be able to write this thing has been low-key traumatic. There’s a lot of historical material I’ve consumed that should have been covered at the most basic level of compulsory education, but conspicuously isn’t. And I know that’s a feature, not a bug. It’s by design. 

Democracy - and independence, freedom, liberty, justice, civil rights in general - isn’t just some final xbox achievement that you unlock and then just shelve the game and forget about it for the rest of your life. You have to keep grinding to maintain it, because there will always be selfish, malicious people out there who will dedicate their entire lives playing a long con to ensure you don’t get the same opportunities as them. For the love of god, stop playing the both-sidesism game. From someone coming out of the eastern bloc, I can tell you with great confidence that that was part of the propaganda campaign you were fed to keep you from engaging so they could install a dictatorship under your nose. Do some self-guided historical research, guys. It can be very illuminating.

Anyway. I’ve gone on long enough here, but damn, don’t screw this up again, guys. Today is the first day of early voting in Texas, and I’m going to do my duty. When I first came to this country, after experiencing the rigorous vetting process and labyrinthine legal requirements of US citizenship, I was led to believe that in exchange for that privilege, I was personally responsible for my own civic self-education. It’s so much more important than you've been led to believe. 

[charismastaticarchive]

edelgard discourse under the cut...

i know this is a controversial take, but i think edelgard’s story would’ve been better recieved if she didn’t start out as the crown princess. the truth is, at her core---edelgard’s country has an imperialist past, but edelgard herself wants to give rights back to the vassal states (thats what her whole support with petra is about, and tbh, i would be surprised if edelgard did not one day give them back their freedom and indepedence entirely). but edelgard’s country is not the only one with an imperialist past. dimitri’s country committed a fuckin genocide? the leicester alliance’s whole arc with claude is about how they’re racist and horrible against the almyrans. and no matter what side you choose---all of fodlan is unified by that one at the very least previously imperialist and racist country.

what makes real life imperialism evil isn’t like. one medieval kingdom taking over another medieval kingdom. it’s the subjugation and oppression of whole groups of people. while dimitri, edelgard, and claude all go to war (though dimitri and claude may not start it) and then end up taking over an entire continent, none of them can really be compared to real life imperialists because the territories they’re taking over all started out as one country to begin with, they’re not taking away land, property, or liberty from peasants or people of color, and, in fact, edelgard’s war is honestly at least partially against her very own country and their outdated ideas and beliefs of racism, classism, sexism, ableism, etc. she’s enacting a revolution for a new government system for everyone including her own people---not just the leicester alliance and faerghus, and one she claims will give power to the peasants, free public education, a meritocracy where EVERYONE can govern regardless of religion, crest status, or country where u were born, AND if her supports with petra are to be believed, she wants to give brigid at the very least back their rights.

so like. in a way she’s kind of toppling the ACTUAL terrible parts of andrestia’s ACTUAL imperialism and tbh whats she’s doing is more in line with a peasant rebellion, and this would be a lot better recieved (and probably more clearly and concisely written) if she was like. an actual peasant tbh. of course this goes so much deeper because she’s really just a pawn in a larger game those who slither are playing, but she’s using them as much as they’re using her. she’s in a very precarious position, but she’s really trying to do as much good as she can within the very few years she has left on this earth.

OF COURSE. because this is a japanese game, we can criticize the fact that this marrative exists at all, that edelgard appears to be a ‘good imperialist’ that is just and righteous by every account of the crimson flower narrative (as is dimitri in his narrative which could be considered even more damning because dimitri has a lot less revolutionary politics) given japanese history, that a character that takes over other countries is actually right to do so. the writing kiiiinda is more imperialist and dangerous than the actual character, and that, genuinely, is more important than a fictional character’s politics. 

but i still think its dangerous to blindly call characters imperialists when these terms have real life meanings, real life impacts that affect real life people every single day. and imperialism isn’t so cut and dry as ‘medieval kingdom invades another medieval kingdom but the medieval ruler is a really nice and sweet anime character!’ it’s basically every terrible and evil act in human history on a global scale? it feels like an insult to everyone whose been affected by any kind of imperialism to be like ‘this anime character who squeals at mice and makes a portrait of ur character and won’t let them see it is an imperalist’ when we should be saying ‘maybe the game is the problem, maybe there are underlying issues in some sects of japanese modern day sentiments (that can be proven by the overall rise of japanese nationalism) that have bled into the game and the perspective of the writers.’ and maybe, just maybe, that’s a more important conversation to have than ‘is this anime character BAD or GOOD’

full disclosure tho: i am white+chinese, my great-uncle was a mechanic for the flying tigers during ww2, i am MORE than aware why edelgard as a character makes people uncomfortable. i understand. and i sympathize with u. i just don’t understand why JUST edelgard makes people uncomfortable and not the game itself as well when it shows through its writing in every single route uncomfortable and often prejudiced writing. shouldn’t u be uncomfortable with the whole game or at the very least the writers and the writers’ prejudices and beliefs and not just a character? it feels like a logical fallacy here of displacing emotions on a single symbol instead of the actual source of ur distress.

especially when roleplay is often about rewriting canon, making it better. ‘transformative works.’

i’m not going to tell u u should like or not like edelgard. i can definitely recognize why she makes people uncomfy, and why other people love her. i’m just saying. u should dislike the writers most of all bc the writers are real people with real harmful ideas. edelgard is just a bunch of pixels, who has some pretty good ideas at the end of the day as a revolutionary as opposed to a direct analogue to a real life imperialist.

this has turned into a whole ass essay lmao.

[benisasoftboi]

Unorganised thoughts on Silver Snow:

When I finished Golden Deer, I said that it had felt like a more traditional Fire Emblem story than Blue Lions. Silver Snow is that but even more so (though GD is still the most trad-FE cast, IMO)

Having already played those two routes, it felt very much like a whirlwind tour of them both, plus another battle thrown in at the end - a battle that probably should have been harder, but I (completely accidentally) built the bulkiest Byleth imaginable, especially resistance wise, plus high magic - and so, by pairing high defensive stats with Nosferatu, I tanked every attack that came my way 

Gaming, for me, is just doing whatever the hell I feel like, stumbling into good results, and then pretending that I did it on purpose

I spent the whole battle with the Dragon Tales theme song stuck in my head. Kind of killed the mood

I really enjoyed that after wrapping up both the Edelgard and TWSITD plots, they basically Persona 4 you by trying to convince you that the whole game’s done now and all that’s left is to chat with everyone - though unlike in P4, there’s very obviously something left to do because they give you a whole month of prep time, rather than just one day

I felt the same way about this on Golden Deer - none of the characters are appropriately shocked by Rhea’s highly questionable actions 

Also - she says she’s going to explain the whole truth! And she doesn’t! Only the Byleth creation stuff! The other revelations from Golden Deer are missing! Rhea! Why! Are! You! Like! This!

This is actually a problem I have with this game as a whole - they want to keep certain lore and secrets exclusive to certain routes, but it results in every story feeling in some way incomplete. Like, Fates gets a lot of crap, but at least you did get a full story from your half (third? never played Revelation) a game for the price of a whole one. Blue Lions gets the worst of it, I think 

Plus, when you know some of said secrets, it makes characters who refuse to share them in other routes seem weirdly (and sometimes, contrivedly) cagey about things they really do not need to be cagey about. See: Claude refusing to tell Dimitri and Byleth in Azure Moon that he wants to End Racism, and instead vagueing about ‘achieving his dream’. This is not Edelgard wanting to conquer Fodlan and dismantle the entire social structure, Claude, your ideals really are not so controversial that you need to be this coy. Dimitri and I are cool, we getcha 

My one sentence review of the whole game is basically: Great characters, great world building, great gameplay - but really, really frustrating plot structure

I’m also really upset that Seteth does not have a dragon form

Speaking of Seteth, I married him this time around. I mostly decided to do it for laughs, but while Byleth/Dedue is still my number one Byleth pairing, I came to really, genuinely like them together. Seteth is one of my favs, now more than ever

It helps that romancing Seteth feels a lot less... creepy than romancing most of the students. I like Linhardt, but romancing him felt very weird to me because I couldn’t get over Byleth having first known him as a 16 year old under their care. Dedue, for the record, doesn’t elicit this response  because he doesn’t really feel as much like a student to me? Role-wise he feels a lot closer to the knights, and it’s just that he's been enrolled as a student for convenience’s sake, which makes him and Byleth feel more equal than they do with most of the other kids. Helps that he’s also on the older end

Anyway, Seteth and Byleth would be the nerdiest couple ever, is the impression I got from their ending. The confession scene made me laugh in how ‘oh we’ve got a lot of work to do - btw wanna get married? - sweet, now let’s get back to work’ it was. Mark Whitten is a gem

It’s also the the first time I felt like the game was actually shipping me with a main lord (Seteth taking that role in the absence of the box lords on this route). Haven’t done Crimson Flower yet, so no opinion on the Edelgard/Byleth relationship yet, but regarding Claude and Dimitri my (pretty damn controversial, possibly a bad idea to put out there) opinions on them with Byleth are that

Claude and Byleth are platonic bros, regardless of Byleth’s gender. I just don’t get any feeling of romance from their relationship at all, and so pairing them off feels weird (to me, personally - I don’t hate the ship or anything, though)

Meanwhile Dimitri 100% had a crush on his teacher at school, but after more than five years of enduring trauma after trauma, and then half a year of beginning to heal (whilst fighting a war culminating in the execution of his step-sister), Dimitri is nowhere near ready for a romantic relationship. And when he is, I wouldn’t want him with any of the main cast, Dimitri x Village Girl OTP. I guess if it has to be anyone, I’d be okay with Mercedes, maybe Marianne - hell, maybe even Claude - but really, I just want him to get a fresh start. I think that’s the healthiest option for him, in the end

I do think it’s a pairing that could work in an AU where Dimitri doesn’t have any of the experiences he has in canon, though 

And again, this is just my personal reading

I’ll also admit that I may be influenced by the fact that his two most popular pairings are with Byleth and Dedue, who I greatly prefer with each other. Mostly because I love Dedue with all my soul and his ending with Byleth is by far his happiest, in my eyes at least. It’s the only one where he puts some distance between himself and Dimitri and evens out the power balance in their relationship, which makes me happy because oh boy, the Dimitri/Dedue relationship is super interesting and compelling, but also (again, by my reading) all kinds of unhealthy as it’s presented for most of the game - power balance issues like I say, the fact that they tend to indulge, even encourage, each other’s worst instincts and behaviours, mutual guilt complexes - like I say, it’s fascinating, but damn screwed up. IMO, they’re one of the best examples I’ve seen of how unhealthy relationships aren’t always the result of one bad person, and how two good people can end up being very bad for each other

Though it is, again, a pairing I can see working (and actually being incredibly cute) in an AU where they’ve lived less horrible lives

And it’s not like I don’t want them to be friends, I just want them to also develop healthier boundaries and equal levels of respect

oh my god none of this has anything to do with silver snow what am I doing

But hey, speaking of Dimitri - I flip flopped on whether I thought his death was handled better or worse here than Golden Deer. It was given, I felt, more appropriate gravitas, but again suffered from ‘Dimitri’s dead! No, Dimitri’s alive! Oh wait, now he’s dead again’ in like, three successive scenes. And then you see his... ghost? I guess?

Dimitri really seems to get the short end of the stick on routes outside his own. Claude’s non-Deer roles were, in both cases I’ve played, much stronger and more fitting, and Edelgard is Edelgard

Maybe he’ll be good in Crimson Flower. Please. I miss Dimitri mattering. He’s probably my favourite of the three

There’s a point - obviously I don’t fully know Edelgard yet, but from what I got from the White Clouds section, above anything else she strikes me as an incredibly realistic depiction of a slightly edgy, extremely idealistic, but also highly naive and short-sighted teenager

Her whole goal, it seems, is meritocracy. She hates the crest system and the nobility, and she wants to create a system of equal opportunity. I can get behind that, but I really hope she’s prepared to accept the fact that true equal opportunity is basically impossible without recreating The Giver, as inequality is always more complex than one single factor being to blame for everything. Has Edelgard considered other limitations that make true meritocracy difficult to achieve? Has she been working on, say, a comprehensive benefits system? Or is she more of a libertarian type, and so primarily all about negative freedom and removing direct oppression? I hope Crimson Flower goes into detail on this, I’d be genuinely interested to know

I also find it interesting that she gets very angry about the fact that people hurt her and her family as a means to their own ends, so she decides that her own ends are to eliminate the system that lead to that happening - and she doesn’t care who she has to hurt in the process

This isn’t a CinemaSins *ding* plot hole observation, I genuinely think it’s interesting, and not actually that unrealistic

I also suppose her goal is no less naive than End All Racism By Being Nice To People, but Claude isn’t killing and persecuting people in attempt to achieve that, so it invites less scrutiny

I do wonder if I would have felt more strongly positively about her if she’d been my first playthrough. I do believe she’s a person that sincerely means well, and she’s certainly sympathetic, but - hmm. I’ll make my mind up when I finish CF

Anyway, paired endings. A few that I got include Raphael and Bernadetta (by far my favourite Bernie ending so far, seriously, what is that Caspar ending), Shamir and Leonie, which was cute and goofy (as Leonie’s endings tend to be, I notice, I do like that girl), Felix and Dorothea (not my favourite for either, but cute), Sylvain and Mercedes (the same but even cuter), Cyril and Petra (which felt wrong, partly because I love Cysithea a hell of a lot, and also because despite knowing there’s only about a year between them, Petra looks so much older pre-time skip), Ferdie and Marianne (super wholesome and sweet), and Linhardt and Caspar (my boyyyyssss that I refuse to ever separate again)

Not sure what I’m going to aim for on CF aside from keeping those boys together and also Ferdie/Hubert, as I’ve Heard Things

Flayn and Manuela have an A support so I figured they had a paired ending and it turns out they do not, which means Manuela was alone forever and Flayn ran away because apparently she hated having Byleth for a step mother I guess, rude

My Byleth (Myleth?) was prepared to be the best step mother in the history of the world, so offended

I realised ‘Javelins of Light’ is one of my absolute favourite tracks in the whole game. Mostly because it sounds like something out of Danganronpa, which made me nostalgic

I also like ‘Guardian of Starlight’ for somehow managing to sound like a Danganronpa/PMD: Explorers crossover track

I love how out of nowhere the Immaculate One fight is. It really does just feel like they needed something to distinguish the route from Verdant Wind outside of Claude not being around, so they just had a map that was less cool in every way except for the dragon

Is there an explanation for why Nemesis doesn’t show up on this route?

Also - I didn’t mention this in Golden Deer thoughts but I also found that final battle way, way easier than it was probably meant to be because I’d made everyone into a flier and so the floor damage hazard was meaningless

Which I totally did on purpose and not so I could make a stupid joke post about my all-wyvern team 

Anyway, in conclusion, Silver Snow was a good route, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would (I’d kind of thought it was just going to be GD without Claude, which isn’t... totally wrong, but it’s got some other stuff going on too), I liked Seteth getting to have a bigger role, I thought it had the best final boss (if not the best final boss map), and I liked that I got some more Dragon Lore (never a bad thing)

please don’t yell at me for my controversial shipping opinions 

[i-am-very-very-tired]

Nicki Minaj posted a comment on Instagram about the number of white rappers sitting comfortably atop the iTunes rap chart that became so “controversial,” she deleted it. Good thing the Internet lasts forever. Nicki’s post is below.

A post shared by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom) on Dec 16, 2017 at 6:07pm PST

“It’s a great time to be a white rapper in America huh?”

In the screenshot, Eminem, Lil Pump, Post Malone, NF and G-Eazy round out the top five spots. Nicki’s 11 words may be controversial to some but to me, they are just the truth. These men have hit songs, yes? They are white or white passing (Lil Pump is actually of Mexican descent), yes? Then where did Onika Tanya Maraj lie to you? Why are you so outraged?

Even after she amended her post, many commentators hit back at Nicki Minaj calling her jealous (please), petty and even racist for pointing out a FACT. That’s a lot of white rappers. Again, WHY YOU MAD? Nicki’s critics have used the defense that the success of these rappers have nothing to do with race; that these songs are hits because that’s what fans want to hear. A friend e-mailed me yesterday with the same argument against Nicki’s post: “charts don’t rank people based on race. If you put out a catchy song, you’ll hit the top ten. Simple as that.”

I love this friend but I wholeheartedly disagree with them. It’s not simple. The artists who hit the Top 10 have largely been given the access and opportunity to be there. Whose songs get the most radio play before they land on those charts? Which powerful white label executive decided to sign and promote the sh-t out of certain artists? Who lands a record deal? Just because a song is played on the radio doesn’t mean it deserves to be there or that it’s there simply because audiences demanded it. If you think the pop charts truly reflect the best songs ever created then please explain the rise of Butterfly by Crazy Town.

And then there’s the whole issue of which artists, after the record deals and after the hit songs, get the most money and accolades. Eminem is the highest-selling rapper of all time. Em is quick to point out his privilege but that doesn’t mean he gets a pass from benefitting from it. When he first came along, the response to his music was like he invented rap and he went on to do better financially than any black rapper before him. Let’s not forget that time Macklemore won a Grammy over the greatest rapper of our generation, Kendrick Lamar. There can only be true meritocracy in a fair and equal system. The music industry is not rooted in equality for a lot of reasons but mainly because the system’s backdrop is America, one of the most racist and historically disenfranchised places in the free world.

Consider it like this: Nicki Minaj is a black female rapper in an industry that has consistently degraded and overlooked black women. She’s also a black woman herself living in a country that is designed to oppress black women. She’s had to work twice as hard to get everything these white dudes seemingly strolled in to get and she’s still only one of two black female rappers currently thriving on mainstream charts (shout out Cardi B). Then, imagine Nicki Minaj looking at those charts and they’re full of white men. She’s watching white men monopolize a genre that was created by black people as an expression of the frustration of being black while also being a celebration of blackness. Hip-hop was the safe space black Americans created when they had so few spaces of their own. At the very least, I don’t think it’s hard to understand why this screenshot and these specific rappers might make Nicki stop and say, “Huh.”

If the Twitter mentions of black writers are any indication, many people want to dismiss every observation that has the word “white” in it as racist. Nicki Minaj was making a commentary on the state of an industry and a culture she belongs to. She has every right to do that and she literally just stated FACTS. Black people are constantly called out for outrage culture but it’s the Beckys (men included) all up in Nicki’s comments who are the definitions of precious, little snowflakes.

Let’s also address the double standard of the reaction to Nicki’s comments. She linked to a J.Cole interview where he pointed out how white people have taken over jazz, a genre also invented by black people. Here are J.Cole’s comments:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BcyaxjslUJM/

“The entire page of iTunes Jazz is 99.7% white people... Mind you, anybody can do whatever music they want but you have to understand that Jazz is a black form of music in its origins. And not only is it a black form of music, it was the hip-hop of its day. It was that much of a rebellious music."

Last year, there was entire Oscar-winning movie about a white dude mansplaining jazz. What I think J.Cole is trying to say here is that he doesn’t want the 2054 equivalent of Ryan Gosling to star in a movie where he saves hip-hop.

In response to the backlash to Nicki’s comments, Wale (a rapper who would probably be WAY more successful if he was white in my opinion) came to her defense and pointed out how black artists are often relegated to “urban” or R&B sections while white artists get to be pop and thus, have more mass appeal. We’ve seen this happen to Beyoncé at the Grammys, for example. So, J.Cole and Wale essentially said the exact same things as Nicki and no one is forcing them to delete posts or calling them racists. To borrow a phrase my friend Allya says often, “ain’t that being a black woman?” In Nicki’s words:

“Whenever a black woman speaks on ANYTHING she’s labeled as “mad” “angry” “bitter.”

The rise of the white rapper was always inevitable. When hip-hop became the genre dominating mainstream music charts and rappers became the official arbiters of cool, it was only a matter of time before the white kids who grew up listening to them would want to rap too. None of the above points are saying that white guys shouldn’t rap. I’m not saying that. I want to make that very clear. The conversation here is about bringing attention to the privilege that comes with being a white rapper, especially one that’s mediocre. Eminem is not a mediocre rapper. You could argue that he’s the only name on this Top 10 who deserves to be there based on talent alone. I just tried to get through a Lil Pump song and I couldn’t make it. I hadn’t heard of NF until today. He’s not terrible but he sounds so much like a PG Slim Shady knockoff it’s eerie. G-Eazy is the WORST. Post Malone has put out a couple of catchy songs but he’s the dude who repeatedly disrespects the very industry he exploits to his advantage. I can’t imagine a black female rapper getting away with some of the ignorant sh-t Post Malone has said about hip-hop. And yet, these dudes get to enjoy a level of success that talented, legendary black female MCs like Rah Digga and Trina never did or that current overlooked voices like Young M.A and Noname have yet to achieve.

It used to be that if you were a white rapper, before you were accepted by hip-hop fans, you had to be anointed by a member of the black rap community. Think Dr. Dre for Eminem or Run DMC for The Beastie Boys. In one post, Nicki said she wanted to sign a white rapper. I don’t see anything wrong with that if it’s an MC Nicki Minaj believed in and she got a cut of that cheque when they hit the iTunes Top 10. A New York Times piece about G-Eazy last year called this moment in hip-hop the “post-accountability era of white rap, when white artists are flourishing almost wholly outside the established hip-hop industry,” and that, “the freedom afforded them by their success verges on entitlement.” Entitled white guys are dominating hip-hop and Nicki Minaj isn’t allowed to point this out?

[caffernnn]

Free! just feels like a slice-of-life where they just so happen to cultivate their bonds through a sport. Like the whole push in s1 to confront Rin is more broadly confronting taking on a goal/sport in an isolating tunnel vision towards merit or “success.” Getting overly invested in the pushed meritocracy in sports/talents/etc hurts the characters at every turn — feelings of self-worth tied to output, having identity conflated with “success” or a lack thereof by others, ignoring personal needs in the pursuit of such success, and so forth. It sets up a unique view by having a main character who is already opposed to being forced into a race to the top; s1 is the journey of Haru and his friends discovering/rediscovering the bigger reasons about why they bother swimming in the first place. It’s a great ode to the bonds and dreams kids create in extracurriculars, when they have the freedom to engage with an interest/talent in a way that isn’t only about winning/losing or serving others.

With all of that being said, part of that view (for me at least) came through over time after spending a good amount of time investing in the series and getting to talk about it with others (like the meta posts and headcanons we do over here). Finding fans that seem to love and understand characters and their stories brings so much life to a series. Most of my feelings about hq come from fans talking about the show and manga rather than from watching the show myself at this point, and maybe that’s just because I love seeing who those characters could be off the court as well. Fanon can be a mess but that’s discourse for later jcnfjdj

free! really spoiled me on sports anime lmao.

started watching bakuten!! last night, and while i’m enjoying it so far, it just doesn’t hit as nicely as free! does.

and i think it’s bc, in general, the focus of sports anime is the sport (which, duh, i guess), and a lot of the the big motivation of the main character(s) is to “be the best” or “to win” and stuff like that. and while free! does contain those aspects, it focuses more heavily on the dynamics and relationships between characters, and personal growth that isn’t necessarily solely due to the sport itself.

sure, the Big Thing in free! is relays and getting good times, but that isn’t the Core of their motivations. when it comes to getting good times, at least specifically with haru, it has to do with being able to keep swimming, and you can’t keep swimming competitively unless you get good times. when it comes to relays, it’s not about being the best team, it’s not always about winning, their main point is to have fun with their friends and bond with one another, and to see those sights they’ve never seen before.

it’s also a reason why i didn’t/couldn’t stick with haikyuu!! past like 1-2 seasons, bc while i really loved the characters, it focused too heavily on “i want to be the best” “we have to win” for my taste. who knows, maybe it changed after i stopped watching! but it really just did not hit as well as free! for me.

every other sports anime i’ve watched/tried watching just was not as enjoyable as free! for me lol. i love how it leans really heavily into more “slice of life” stuff, for lack of a better word, and is more about their bonds and relationships rather than Just the sport itself. the sport is the center pillar of the series, and it’s what brings all of the characters together, but those aren’t the only situations we see them interact in, and we watch them grow for other reasons as well.

free! really spoiled me on sports anime lmao.

[ericleo108]

Video Journal 12/29/19 - Living In Poverty

Hey, welcome to the Journal for Sunday, December 29th, 2019 “Living In Poverty.” Happy New Year!

My name is Eric Leo, I’m a sociologist, social psychologist, and philosopher and this is my journal where I talk about myself and my philosophy! 

Moving

I’m about to move into my own apartment in Coldwater Michigan. I got recommendations for housing from the staff at the AFC home. I won’t miss living here but I’ll miss the staff who are great. When I move I will be able to afford to be on the Atkins diet. This makes me happy considering I’m very unhappy I’m so obese due to the diet I have to eat at the AFC home.

I got “Curiosity Stream” because it was 40% off for the holiday and $12 for the year, which is one month’s charge for the bundle of Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN, which I can’t afford. I’ll get Hulu when I move. I bought some GFuel and I love it.

I never wanna be without my medication again. I don’t like the way I perceive women and I don’t want to become like Onision due to mental illness. I will do everything in my power from now on to stay on my medication. I think my medication is paramount to my future success and keeping lucid and cogent. I’m grateful for my mother, she makes sure I have everything I need.

The Oligarchy

In this journal I will talk about how I live in poverty, how it makes me feel, and how its representative of the rest of the economy that is unfair to the working class. The US is being run by a government that no longer represents the people. As Princeton and Northwestern University found in their 2014 study, America is an oligarchy (BBC) (Washington Times). I have been writing about the effects and what that means in my new posts “The Result of Corporate Rule in America” and “My Political Philosophy 2019.”

The last six presidents have made or kept policies that favor the oligarchy and super-wealthy. When people say it isn’t Trump because he’s an outsider, I say he’s more of the same. Reagan changed the graduated tax bracket for the wealthiest from 70% to 30%. Then Bush passed more laws for the extremely wealthy to benefit, you can read about it in David Cay Johnson’s books “Perfectly Legal” and “Free Lunch.” Trump just got into office and passed a tax bill that gave corporations a 1.5 trillion tax cut. Trump is more of the same corporate socialism and policies that economically benefit the wealthy at the expense of the poor or middle class. 

To be honest, I wouldn’t mind a ruling class. I suggest how to make one through meritocracy in my political philosophy. The problem is that the oligarchy is greedy and doesn’t take care of the rest of society. As Lord Acton said “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The oligarchy’s influence is nowhere more evident in the tax code. As the graph below shows the wealthiest in the country pay a lower tax rate percentage than the average American. As with many measures, especially with the tax code, it’s clear the burden of paying for the economy is on the disappearing middle class. 

Although there are many measures to show a rigged economy for the oligarchy, I bring up labor because most people sell their labor. Labor is what makes the economy function.  Real wages haven’t kept up with production. The minimum wage would be around $22 if it kept up with increases in productivity.

Living On Disability

I personally survive on disability (due to having schizoaffective disorder) and live well below the poverty line. My medication is paid for and I get a little money to live, and I’m grateful, but I can’t tell you how it’s not good enough. One in four go disabled and living on disability is a poverty trap. 

I am limited on the amount of money I can make without losing my health care. I think it’s bullshit and a sign of a rigged economy that those who need help and paid into the social security system are limited by how much money they can make due to the propensity to have healthcare taken away. I think it really highlights not only a rigged economy but how morally bankrupt such a system has become. 

We have absorbent wealth and the most billionaires in the world, but life isn’t so great for the poor. In America, the poorest and most vulnerable are limited in the amount of money they can make while the richest in the country aren’t and don’t have to pay their fair share in taxes. I rightfully see my poor quality of life as contributing to more money for the already super-wealthy. Many people can’t afford to pay their copays and deductible even if they have insurance and prescription drug prices in America are the highest in the world. I feel fortunate that I don’t have to work to survive, but I can’t tell you how it’s soooo not good enough. I am not happy. 

It’s hard for me to afford basic necessities and I can forget about luxury goods. It’s hard for me to afford an energy supplement per day to improve my mood. I can barely afford an audible and Hulu subscription. I can’t go anywhere often because it costs gas. I can't afford to get a gym membership. I can’t afford a massage, or to buy an entertainment system. I can’t afford to subscribe to Masterclass. I have to put g fuel, and a (cheap) Scarlett Focusrite solo music equipment interface on a credit card and pay it over months. I can’t afford any luxury items or much health food. I want a house but I can’t afford it and I want a cat but I can’t have one. 

I have to be so financial disciplined. Every financial decision I make I have to pick between things I need and really want. I have become hyperopic or far-sighted in my spending where I forgo present happiness for future reward. And again, it wouldn’t be so bad if I could work for these things but I can’t without getting my healthcare taken away. Again, the American economy is rigged to benefit the oligarchy and disability is a poverty trap. 

Make America Great Again 

I don’t know why people call America the greatest country in the world because it definitely is not for me, people like me, people on disability, the retired, the poor, working-class, and working poor. The oligarchy doesn’t have to worry about their labor being devalued or not being able to afford healthcare or medication. 

I live in the wealthiest nation in the world but that wealth isn’t for me, it’s implicit in the America system I don’t deserve money for disposable income. The system is basically telling me I don’t deserve more money in a system that limits your freedom to work by pulling your health care. It’s a huge piss off and how unfair it is makes me want the oligarchy to pay. I’ve always thought America needed a massive redistribution of wealth (through the tax code) and I will forever do everything in my power to take money from those that have too much (like billionaires) and give to those who need it because it’s obvious that the oligarchy can’t rule responsibly.  

The people in power, the oligarchy, has seriously pissed me off and I’m going to do everything in my power to be their worst nightmare and take back the power for “we the people.” America desperately needs political representation for the people. I am very hopeful Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren will get into office and change the way the economic and political system function. 

I won’t always be poor but I’ll never forget the way America made me feel like I was worth less than the average citizen and don’t deserve to have a decent lifestyle because of my disability.  I have to find a way to build real wealth with an income that can afford my healthcare and medication otherwise it's an even worse poverty trap without disability. I want to be a professor for many reasons.  I think it would make me happy,  I would enjoy doing it,  I could keep it up long term, I want it as a career, it would have good healthcare, and I could make enough to invest in my future and save for retirement at a rate comparable to make up for the time I lost to save while on disability. My books and albums will only compliment my work, make me more marketable, and produce more income. I’m hopeful for the future.

In Conclusion

Check out the Treatise and Journal Description List Thank you for being here Thank you for watching, Thank you for being a part of my family You're awesome! I love you very much

[hrsuccess]

Management Lessons from India’s Most Loved Sport ,Cricket

I requested Mr. Ramkumar to present his views on Cricket and Management on The Other View.

He wrote back asking me to write the article myself instead of him. I, at this point in time, felt like Sachin Tendulkar when he was handed over the ball by his captain, Mohammad Azharuddin, in a packed Eden Gardens to bowl the last over of the Hero Cup finals against South Africa way back in 1993. 

Of course I had no idea about what I would write but having been given the opportunity and honour to write, I have made an attempt based on my limited experience both as a fan of the “gentlemen’s game” and of having served three of India’s leading companies: HCL Infosystems, Genpact and ICICI Bank.

Over the past few days I have been thinking about the incredible similarities between management themes, strategies and philosophies in the sports field and in our workplaces. 

Since we are part of a nation where cricket is the only sport, I will focus the discussion on the striking similarities between cricket and the workplace and the key takeaways and management lessons from cricket. For the sake of simplicity, I will leave the readers to draw the parallel to their workplaces in comments section.

Game is all About Winning not Popularity:

The game is replete with instances of successful captains building their teams on the back on unpopular choices and dropping legendary players from the playing eleven. 

This has come at the expense of media bashing and pushback. But more often than not it has led to a meritocracy and a positive competitive environment, which fosters talent and healthy competition. 

Adequate bench strength is critical for continuity and of course to counter exigencies like injury during key series. The game has taught us that it is not possible if we do not weed out people who are not contributing and at the same time take risks with young budding talent.

Good Success Plans always works

The Australian Team is famous for grooming their captains several years in advance and has produced some of the best teams of all times. 

Whether it is the present One Day captain George Bailey (whom I, for one, had not even the faintest idea about even an year back) or Michael Clarke who was groomed for years to take on the mantle. Another credible example in this context is that of South African captain Graeme Smith, and closer home MS Dhoni, who was groomed for a year by Anil Kumble and Tendulkar.

Growth and talent need not be restricted to big cities:

Today’s Indian team has only 20-30% of its members coming from the Top 10 cities of the country which boast of the best cricketing infrastructure. The rest come from the hinterland.  There are many world class stadiums now in these cities whether it is Ranchi or Rajkot or even Dharamshala. This clearly shows that where there is a will, there is a way. 

The Afghanistan Team making it to the World Cup is another case in point. On the same note, it is fabled that Imran Khan used to go to the villages in the North West provinces of Pakistan and scout for boys whom he would turn into ace fast bowlers. Our own Sourav Ganguly was the first captain to break the monopoly of Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. Places like Baroda, Najafgarh, Jalandhar, Chandigarh and Ranchi took their place.

Continuous improvement and creation of infrastructure:

Credit goes to the BCCI for having an able system of selection, plenty of domestic tournaments and a variety of formats which bring this talent to the core, and of course new infrastructure which is being created in Tier II and Tier III Cities.

Technology is key to success:

Talent and passion are all fine but we would be living in a fool’s paradise if we did not use advances in technology to our advantage. 

Commentators and conventionalists often mock at the many laptops that now line the dressing rooms and the pavilions, but it is important to use data and analyse it to your advantage and be ahead of competition.

Freedom to take your decisions:

While of course there is always a strategy but at times, it is the bowler who knows best where to bowl and the captain should back him and help with the field placements accordingly. 

Ability to think on the feet by using years of experience becomes critical to success. Remember how the lesser known Joginder Sharma bowled the last over in the 2007 T20 World Cup and how Sreesanth was placed perfectly to take the catch of Misbah-ul-Haq.

Support teams are critical:

Very often we have seen a player getting injured and after the physio’s intervention (the magic spray of course and a couple of stretching exercises) he springs back to life almost immediately. 

They all add up to the final performance as a team. A catch gets a wicket for the bowler and it is the partner running for the batsman’s stroke which gets him the run. One should not underestimate the importance of the bowling coach, the fielding coach and of course in today’s teams the sports psychologist.

Need  both all-rounders and specialists:

A well built and competent team needs both specialists and all-rounders to provide balance to the team. A team full of all-rounders without the right specialists will count for very little. 

So while no one can diminish the fact that Yuvraj’s all round ability contributed significantly to the 2011 World Cup win with 4 Man of the Match awards, the batters at the top of the order and the specialist bowlers (spinners and medium pacers — can’t say fast bowlers because India never produced one) played their well defined roles to ensure the Cup came home after 28 years.

It’s no longer enough to be good in one format – T20, One Days, Test Matches or at home only:

It used to hurt Indian cricket supporters when in the 90’s our team was referred to as “Tigers at home, lambs abroad”. Thankfully, that is a tag we have shed by developing the ability to perform well across formats and across continents. This is what differentiates the great teams from the merely good teams.

The Board decides but the captain has a say:

The boards no longer take the decision solely; they consult with the captain and the coach who pick the best playing eleven because when on the field, it is captain who has to marshal the resources and make key decisions. Hence, rightly the captain has a say in deciding the team composition.

A few bad men don’t take away from the Gentlemen’s Game:

There are always some bad elements who compromise on their integrity for the lure of some quick bucks. But the law catches up with them sooner or later. And they are left with a fall from fame and a lifetime of bad repute. As they say the game moves on without these bad apples.

Fitness is Key: Need I say more here!

Think ahead of time and ahead of competition:

Kris Srikkanth made the most of the first 10 overs through some power hitting much before Kaluwitharana and Jayasuriya made it a strategy.  For that matter, the New Zealand team used the unconventional ploy of starting the innings with a spinner way back in 1991 World Cup.

You may not always have the best team:

India’s World Cup T20 Win in 2007 is a classic case of making do with the resources at hand. Dhoni could have fretted and complained about being given a raw deal with a totally inexperienced team but he used their individual strengths and stitched them into a winning combination. Sometimes, it is good to let go off the baggage and back yourself.

Don’t be complacent, never lose temper:

“A swing and a miss” is an oft used term by most commentators to refer to a senseless stroke by a batsmen made in a fit of desperation or anger that yields nothing but air. It is critical to hold on to your nerves and not let the competition run you down. How often have we seen batsmen giving away wickets after an altercation with the bowlers or fielders? How can anyone forget the memories of Javed Miandad hopping and then Kiran More imitating him when Miandad lost his wicket or Aamir Sohail being bowled over just the next bowl after smashing Venkatesh Prasad to the boundary and showing him his bat in the World Cup match in 1995 in Bangalore?

It’s OK to have a bad day at the “office”, but learn from them:

Of course there aren’t many takers for Ishant Sharma after he made sure the Aussies cruised to victory the other day but in a long career everyone will have a bad day once in a while. 

It’s during this time that the captain needs to back his team and not reprimand severely and finish someone’s career. Of course the errant player also needs to quickly learn from their mistake and be worthy of their captain’s backing. 

I have to conclude with the cliched but nevertheless critical wisdom: “A Leader has to lead by example” as exemplified by our captain — with a captain named Dhoni, there can never be any “unhoni”.

by  Sachin Bhagat

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[stilljumpingback]

BLACK SAILS SEASON 2 EPISODE 1 - IX - EPISODE REVIEW

BEST FLINT MOMENT

Annoyed that Silver of all people volunteered to take the ship with him, Flint insults his only partner, takes off his shoes, and starts swimming to take the Man O’ War all by his goddamn self.  His insane determination is so charismatic, and no one can resist its pull.  Least of all Silver, who sighs and takes off his jacket to follow.

TODAY’S RUNNER UP

Silver!  The partnership between Flint and Silver that began in 108 is flourishing here.  They are SUCH a great team.  Despite being so different (or because of it), they work together incredibly well, filling in each other’s weak spots and pushing each other to do more and be better.  For MUCH more flailing about their scenes together, head down to the Fragmented Thoughts section.

LOL MOMENT

This is such a funny episode!  The dynamic of Desperate Silver trying to win over No Fucks Left to Give Flint is constantly hilarious, culminating in the truly masterful scene in which both of them are caught by the Spanish crew.  Just minutes after assuring Flint that he has no reason to distrust him, Silver sells him out in exchange for gold and freedom.  Flint’s face goes gloriously twitchy as he chair-hops over to murder Silver with…his face?

Silver bails, and then RETURNS TO THE RESCUE!  Flint gives Silver a quick strategy lesson, at which point:

Silver:  So I actually have to fight him? Flint:  Well, what the fuck did you think was gonna happen?

Silver’s face, and Flint’s voice crack of exasperation KILL ME.  Like, mad cackling into my hands at these fools.  I love them so much.

WELL-FORMED THOUGHTS

We get our first flashbacks to Flint’s past, and I am here for it.  Finally, after a season of watching a man pursue a vision so fiercely that it compels him to murder his closest friend, we are starting to find out what led him here.

It is in these flashbacks that we see a very different Flint – in fact, in 1705 that’s not his name at all, but James McGraw.  He’s very cleaned up and VERY attractive, and in his conversations with Thomas Hamilton, we see his role reversed.  Thomas is the idealistic one with plans for redeeming Nassau, and James is the one declaring how impossible that plan is.

We also get our first glimpse at Civilization proper, a London of beautiful buildings, clean clothes, and nice manners.  As per the show’s theme, the ugly underbelly of this facade is quickly revealed when James takes Thomas to view a pirate hanging.  He knows that piracy flourishes because it benefits the British empire to create a monstrous enemy to fight against (“Civilization must have its monsters.”)  In order to eradicate piracy, the empire must change, and James doesn’t believe this is possible.

Their conversations reveal another theme: complementary partners.  Thomas is idealistic but with no experience (he’s never even been to a pirate hanging before, despite his deep interest in the pirates of Nassau).  James has a lot of experience, but no ideals.  Time will tell how this partnership will work out, as it will also address the success of the present-day complementary partnership between Flint and Silver.

FRAGMENTED THOUGHTS

Another season opener, another pirate boarding from the perspective of the boarded merchant vessel.  Contrasted with season 1, however, this one is very ominous and silent, since the merchant captain is prepared to surrender peacefully.  I love his assertion that pirates are “men, not monsters,” and in most cases he would be right.  But unfortunately this episode introduces us to Ned Lowe, a madman who terrifies me and slaughters everyone for the prize of a mysterious woman connected to “Lord Ashe.”

I love the look of annoyance on Flint’s face as he stares at the Man O’ War.  You can literally see him thinking, “Well, shit, I’ve just had a brilliant idea.  I guess I can’t let them kill me just yet.”

“Even if it weren’t for the soldiers, even if it weren’t for the guns, there’s a fucking warship watching over every inch of the bay.  A fucking warship that has already killed half your number, a fucking warship that would prevent any approach to that beach via the sea.  There’s simply no way of stealing that gold.  But there might be something else you can steal.  The fucking warship.”

Everyone HATES Flint, and it is amazing to watch them fight against how annoying it is that he is still so brilliant.

In our first flashback we get so much information about James McGraw/Flint!  He’s “a son of a carpenter.  No record of any formal schooling and yet, more literate than any three boys I knew at Eton.  You are a rising star with a bright future in the Admiralty.”  Our man James is meritocracy personified, fighting his way up the ranks through sheer brilliance.

Eleanor and Vane are still trying to prove who’s on top.  Vane’s line about “If your friends aren’t capable of protecting themselves, I’d argue that they aren’t worth protecting” is VERY essential to his character.  He’s attracted to strength, and has no time for weakness.

I’m less enamored with his constant attempts to make Eleanor see how similar they are.  While they definitely share strength and an attraction to it, he’s wrong about her priorities.  He wants her to be as in-the-moment and selfish as he is, but her desire for profit includes a desire for peace.  I love her outburst, “Stop telling me what you think I think!”  Yeah, girl.  Be your own self.

The scene between Flint and Silver alone on the beach is one of my all time favorites!  “You shit.”  “Um.  Beg pardon?”  LAUGHING FOREVER.  Silver’s genuine surprise that Flint intends to singlehandedly take a Spanish Man O’ War, and Flint’s genuine surprise that Silver is surprised.  I love them!

During the flashback to the pirate hanging, Flint gives his oft-quoted speech that ends with “in most cases a man trying to change the world fails for one simple and unavoidable reason: everyone else.”  Which makes me wonder:  SHOULD a person change the world if no one else wants it?  Who gets to determine which causes are worth changing the world for?

Poor Jack.  “I used my wits to build the name.  Jesus Christ, what’s become of my name?”  He’s being beaten, pissed on, and called “Jack Rackham, Crew Killer.”  Poor Jack.

Flint:  You almost got us killed! Silver:  Almost.  Almost! … Silver:  You are truly amazing, you know that?  We’re both better off now than we were two minutes ago, yet you’re angry about it because it didn’t happen your way.  Might you consider for a fucking moment that your distrust of me is completely unwarranted?  I warned you about Billy.  Was I right?  I found you over Mr. Gates’s body, and did I do anything but defend you?  When you were sinking to the bottom of the sea, who do you imagine it was who dragged you onto that beach?  Brace yourself, but I’m the only person within a hundred miles of here who doesn’t want to see you dead.

Eleanor is such a good businesswoman, dealing with bloody cargo and unhappy quartermasters, confronting the brothel crew about leaked information.  Max super doesn’t care, and I think enjoys showing Eleanor how much power she now has.

Max is hella brave. She’s obviously genuinely afraid of Anne, but she trusts her instincts enough to know that Anne’s anger is rooted in something deeper than resentment.  The confidence it must take to kiss someone who has you at knifepoint on the assumption that they are secretly attracted to women is amazing.  At this point, I’m a little sad for Jack.  This is not his episode.

The FANTASTIC scene where Silver rescues Flint through being a coward!  And after they save each other back and forth, they barricade themselves with three pistols, Flint’s sword, and Silver’s…tiny knife.  Hahaha, this episode is seriously so funny!

And then the Walrus crew comes to their rescue!  Yay!  And they sail away in their fancy new Man O’ War.

Ugh, I hate that Ned Lowe is actually pretty charismatic.  AND TERRIFYING, YIKES, that speech about how he feels no remorse about the horrific things he does?  Yikes yikes yikes, I don’t like him.

Another flashback, and we see James meet Miranda for the first time!  They form the Thomas Appreciation Club while watching him give money to a poor mother and son.  Flint is still unsure whether Thomas’s amazingness is for real, but Miranda assures him it is.

“Great men aren’t made by politics, Lieutenant McGraw.  They aren’t made great by prudence or propriety.  They are, every last one of them, made great by one thing and one thing only: the relentless pursuit of a better world.  The great men don’t give up that pursuit.  They don’t know how.  And that is what makes them invincible.”

Flint is seeming pretty invincible in this episode, surviving a crew’s rage and taking over an enemy ship.  Does this mean he’s a great man?

The last scene between Flint and Silver is one of my favorite things that they do:  honestly tell each other their motivations and concerns about the other.  Silver tells Flint that he would have betrayed him had their interests not aligned.  He is clearly in awe of Flint, but he doesn’t pretend that this makes him a blind follower.  And I think Flint appreciates this, both the being known (hell yeah, he’s going to take back his captaincy) and the being honest.

(via Episode 201 - IX)

[frustratedcastingdirector]

Mark Ruffalo Stands Up for Acting

Mark Ruffalo. (Photo by Richard Phibbs)

American Theatre Magazine - February 8, 2017

Mark Ruffalo Stands Up for Acting

Schooled by Stella Adler in his profession’s highest ideals, he’ll get another chance to live up to them in Arthur Miller’s ‘The Price.’

BY

ROB WEINERT-KENDT

Actor Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right, Spotlight, The Avengers) hasn’t been onstage since 2006’sAwake and Sing on Broadway, but he got his start in small L.A. theatres and had his breakthrough in 1996 with Kenneth Lonergan’s Off-Broadway classic This Is Our Youth. He’ll return to Broadway in March for a revival of Arthur Miller’s The Price at Roundabout Theatre Company.

I spoke to him by phone on the morning of President Trump’s inauguration. The night before he had appeared in another of his prominent roles, as an activist, at a protest rally in front of Trump Tower.

I somehow missed Awake and Sing, which means the last time I saw you onstage was in Justin Tanner’s Still Life With Vacuum Salesman back in 1994, at the Cast Theatre in Hollywood. Did I miss any other stage work since Awake and Sing? No, I haven’t really done any. I’ve done some readings and things like that, but not really back onstage. It’s been a long time.

And there wasn’t a lot before Awake and Sing, was there? I sort of had the surprise of having a film career, which I wasn’t really expecting, you know? But before Awake and Sing, The Moment When was the last thing I’d done—a James Lapine play at Playwrights Horizons.

I think I once heard you tell this story, and I’ve retold it many times, so I want to reconfirm it. When you were in This Is Our Youth in New York, you had L.A. casting directors coming to see you and saying, “You’re amazing, where have you been?” And you’re like, “I’ve been acting down the street from you. I’ve been trying to get you to see my shows!” That’s exactly what happened. They were like, “Where did you come from?” I was like, “What are you talking about? I’ve been right under your nose for the past 10 years doing exactly the same thing here in L.A.” But no one goes to the theatre in L.A. I realized that if you had a long list of L.A. theatre credits on your résumé, they immediately thought you were a loser. I started taking theatre credits off of my résumé. But I have to say, I’ve seen a lot of New York theatre and I’ve seen a lot of L.A. theatre. And L.A. theatre is just as vibrant and, in a lot of ways, more beautiful because it isn’t so corporatized. It’s more independent and there’s a lot more freedom.

I don’t know if you’ve followed the whole L.A. 99-Seat controversy that’s been going on in the past few years, about whether Equity actors should be allowed to work without a contract under a certain level. I don’t want to get too deep into that controversy with you, but I did see your early work on the old 99-seat plan. I mean, actors should be paid, but, you know… I mean, I’m doing this play here; I’m taking a major pay cut to do this, you know. So it’s all relative. And there’s probably an argument to be made that, you know, yes, we could do better, but I also want to do this. And maybe theatre is like a civil act—a generous social act.

(The cast of “Avenue A” 1992 - Photo by Ed Krieger)

There was an early version of This Is Our Youth at the Met in Los Angeles, if I remember correctly. Is that how you got involved with that play? Yeah, there was the one-act version at the Met called Betrayed by Everyone. I wasn’t even cast. I was only doing a reading for it. They were looking for a star, and I was asked to do a reading of it with a casting associate—we were just reading it for him to hear it out loud. They made it very clear that there was no way we would possibly get a part in it, that it was just a reading. But we did it so well that he cast us.

I think Oliver Platt used to be a reader in auditions, and that was how he got his break too. Oh really? That’s cool. That’s one of the backdoor ways to get a part.

So tell me about the part you’re playing in The Price, Victor. Victor Franz is a cop who’s turning 50, and he’s made all these decisions about his life and beyond and now, you know, he’s taking a look at whether he’s made the best decisions. And he’s having a reunion with his brother; they’re about to tear their old family home down, and they’ve got all the family furniture in there that they’ve got to get rid of. And they haven’t spoken in 16 years.

The only time I’ve seen the play was at A Noise Within in L.A., a really good production, about a dozen years ago. At the time I think I called it “Chekhovian.” It’s got some of the usual Arthur Miller themes, fathers and sons and all, but it’s a very slow burn. Yeah. It’s very mature. It’s much more nuanced than some of his other plays. It’s really political, but the politics are buried so deeply in the people. Sometimes, you know, Arthur’s ideas are so big politically that they–you know, wow. This doesn’t do that.

Characters like this bring a lot of backstory into the room. As an actor what do you do to prepare for that? It’s a lot of imagination work, a lot of daydreaming, really. Stella Adler had a beautiful saying. She said, “Once something passes through your imagination, it’s real.” That can be a really intense, hard thing. There’s some writing that goes on, and I do some other kinds of quirky things. But a lot of it, honestly, is daydreaming about the life of the character based on the play.

It’s not about excavating your own relationship with your father or family, or anything like that? Well, that’s not the end-all. You know, we understand the nature of certain things because of our experience, and I think you’d be foolish to somehow divorce yourself from yourself. But then also you have to be careful not to pull the play down into your life, but lift yourself up into the greatness of the play. That was another thing Stella taught us. Yeah, you’re reflecting on your own experience; that really informs it. But at the end of the day, that’s small, and won’t sustain you throughout the run. So there’s a fine line to walk there.

I want to just ask you about politics and activism. Is that kind of like doing theatre—do you have to set aside time for that from your film career— You mean my day job?

Or does it kind of grow out of it naturally? That’s another thing we were taught—to be really socially active and involved, and politically astute. Stella came out of the Yiddish theatre, and that was the Jewish intellectual movement that led to the Group Theatre, and the whole workers movement was kicked off by Waiting for Lefty. That was part of my teaching, so it’s sort of seamless, even if a lot of them did it their work. The activism has been more direct for me, and the work has, sadly, taken a bit of a backseat. But this is a shift for me to get back to it—to get back to my theatre roots, and theatre that has a political aspect to it. This hits all those boxes for me. The political, the social, and the artistic working together is really powerful, but I think is hard to do these days.

So I think people would want me to ask Mark Ruffalo, celebrity protester at Trump Tower, about politics more specifically. Like: What are we going to do? My wife said I should ask you, “Where’s the bunker?” The bunker’s in the streets. When you’re afraid, hit the streets. It’s not an accident that enshrined in our First Amendment is the right to assembly and to address grievances and freedom of speech—they’re all there. That’s the First Amendment. That might be all that’s left to us at this point, but there’s so much power there.

At the rally last night, there were 25,000 people. That’s how we know we’re not alone. I think the more cynical forces in the world want us to believe we’re alone, want us to believe somehow that our votes didn’t matter, that the progress that we made in this country in the last 50, 60 years, was all for naught—that our decency as Americans and the values that we hold dear to us from the beginning of our Constitution are somehow no longer valid. So the way we fight against that is to come together and remind each other that, yes, we do have values. America isn’t just about money, it isn’t just about businesses—it’s about people. And we’re not a fearful country, we’re actually a courageous country. We don’t give up our principles based on fear or making each other the bogeyman, and we never have. When we have in the past, we’ve always righted it.

You’ve got three kids, right? Are they into the arts or performing? Is that something you encourage or are you like, “No, stay away?” I’m more neutral. I’m waiting for them to find their own way. They’ve been around it and they’ve been exposed to it; they dabble in it. But I’m also not pushing introducing them to it. But certainly, if they wanted to do it, they have a nice headstart for it.

I know the cliché that even actors who are successful are worried about their kids going into the business. It’s not an easy life, there are no guarantees. No, but when I look at it, and I look at my friends, it’s been a good life. I’ve learned to really work hard. I’ve learned really beautiful lessons. I’ve been invited in places that no one would ever be invited to with so much openness and love.

I tell you, I have parents come to me, “My son or daughter wants to be an actress. What am I going to do?” You know, they can end up a lot worse. There’s a lot worse places these days they could end up that do harm in ways that you would never imagine. Ours is a much maligned industry, but when you look at it, it’s probably one of the most decent, upright industries in the world. We’re not screwing anybody, harming people, and nepotism doesn’t really play. It is really a meritocracy in the way it works. No one’s doing anyone any favors.

Wait, are you talking about film or theatre here? I’m talking about both. I mean, even in film there’s only so long you can get away with not being good. You have to bring something to the table. And, you know, we’re not killing people. I’m always amazed by how maligned we are. But if you want to add up our scumbags against the scumbags in other industries, I have a feeling we have a much lower percentage.

Do you worry that you get typecast in angry roles? I’m not just talking about the Hulk. Anger has been a signature of some of your best roles, and Victor in The Price has a big tell-off speech. Is that a slot you fit naturally into? It’s seasonal. You do something well, and then there’s a slew of those kinds of parts. You’re always sort of trying to stay ahead of the curve a little bit, you know, while at the same time exploring other things. Righteousness and justice—those are things that I’m interested in these days, and so I’m riding that wave a little bit. It will jump to something else when I feel like it.

But, you know, for a long time I did romantic comedy. I did the ne’er-do-well slacker. And then I’d get like 10 offers for, “He’s a brother, he’s kind of like a lumberjack, a slacker.” And now it’s like: “He’s living a double life, and part of him has all this rage and the other part is good.”

Actually, in the first thing I saw you in, Still Life With Vacuum Salesman, you were doing sort of a riff on Stanley Kowalski. I remember there being a lot of “young Brando” talk when you started. Do you still hear that? Not really, no; somewhere I went off the tracks. The jig is up. They saw through my ruse.

So maybe the anger thing is typecasting. But what do you do to blow off steam in real life? What’s your guilty pleasure? I started taking the kids to a ceramics class on the weekend. They eventually just stopped going and I’m the only one going now. I sort of beg them to come with me so I don’t feel like I’m in a ceramics class. I tell people, “Oh, you know, I had to take the kids to the ceramic class.” But it’s just me. So I guess I like doing ceramics.

So we’re talking a potter’s wheel and everything? There’s a potter’s wheel, and then there’s like hand-building stuff and sculpture. It’s just a way to check out in an active way. You have to be really present, especially on the wheel. Just trying to center the goddamn thing is an act of Zen fortitude.

You like to make stuff with your hands, Mark? Is that what you like to do? I like to make stuff with my hands, bruh. I’ve always been handy, and I have a nice little wood shop; I have a welder. I like to make furniture or fix things. We were on a farm for many years, and there’s a lot of stuff that needs to be repaired on a farm. So I like to garden, and I guess I’m into ceramics a little bit now. And, if I can, I like to surf. I’ve always been a surfer.

Can you think of what your first theatrical memory—the first time you were like, “This is it for me”? I always wanted to act, from every early on. And it was something that me and my brother and sisters and my cousins would do, put on little shows and do these broad characters. So I secretly wanted to be this actor, but then I was like, that’s foolish, I’m a jock, I’m a surfer—they don’t do that kind of thing. I’m not a musical theatre-type person, but I remember I used to see them; I’d see the school play and I was really envious. Like, “God, I wish I could do that.” I was a wrestler. But in my junior year, I did a drama class. I was saying it was just for an easy A, but I was really just thrilled to be in there. And I loved it so much that I didn’t go out for wrestling, and all the people that I knew, all my team members and my coaches, were like, “What are you doing?”

I did one play, the school play. What happened was the kid broke his arm and they needed somebody, so they put me in the part. And I loved it so much, after the first night, I was like, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

Do you remember the play and the part? I think it was called The Runaways. It was this straight play of all these foster kids living in this home, and I was a cop, a detective. It was my first cop role of what would end up being many cop roles in a career.

[sockparade]

aggravated robbery

Does every generation complain about maturing to adulthood or is that a millennial specialty? 

Does saying “adulting is hard” make things feel lighter or heavier than it really is? Sometimes I get the feeling like I’m laughing at a meme for a very different reason than the 3,492 other people who double tapped before me. (Yeah okay fine, I think the special snowflake feeling is probably a millennial specialty.) 

No, but really, hear me out. I think some people say “adulting is hard” when they mean, “I really don’t wanna get out of my warm bed in the morning because I went to bed too late last night and don’t even have a memorable reason for it.” Okay, improv class, this is where I say, yes AND...

I like a warm cozy bed and sleeping in just as much, maybe more, than the next guy! Yes AND...

It sucks to pay money to go to the dentist where they inflict pain and shame on you and you politely thank them in return. Yes AND...

It’s hard to be a mom when you are coming down with a cold because not only do you want to crawl under your covers to enjoy your fever dream in peace but caring for little kids is an inescapable reminder that you’re not a kid yourself anymore. No one is feeling your forehead every 30 minutes to check whether your fever has broken. And apparently, being sick gets you out of a lot of obligations in life but it does not exempt you from wiping kid noses and butts. Yes AND...

The real reason I laugh cry when I see memes about growing older is because adulthood sometimes feels like the painful destruction of all the things you’ve spent the previous twenty years believing in. I know. I went kind of dark there. But it’s true!

Here are a few robberies that adulthood has committed in my life thus far:

Time. I blush thinking about the abundance of time I have had in my life. My childhood was the opposite of over-scheduled and my college years were unambitious and uninvolved with a long distance boyfriend for most of it. All my life I have luxuriated in excess free time. Adulthood created an uncomfortable, anxious feeling of scarcity in me when it comes to time and how I spent it. 

Freedom. This one was disguised as personal growth and improvement but I can see it now for what it was. Trying to become a “good person” made me second guess my intentions, feelings, and desires. Objectively I have a better (read: finer) filter but it hasn’t come without a cost.

Friendship. Growing up means realizing that there are external forces that act on your friendships. This sounds so basic. I really did not ever consider that I would not be living in the same city as my besties -- at least not permanently. The ease in which I used to hold deep bonds with people now seems mythical in an adult context. Making friends is easy enough but damn, I really don’t remember friendship building and maintenance taking such determination and focus.   

Dreams. Haha shit this post is getting pretty depressing. I think maybe this one is more about possibility? I remember feeling like the whole world was available for me. I still have a lot of dreams of what my future might hold but I feel like the width of possibility has narrowed considerably. Because at this point, in my late thirties, I’ve already made some key choices. I’m not talking about regret. I don’t really subscribe to that way of thinking. But it’s kind of like realizing that you can do anything you want, sure, as long as it fits into the world you’ve already created for yourself thus far. 

Peace. Not sure if I can blame adulthood for this one but I don’t think I was even aware of the concept of anxiety until my thirties and it has steadily increased with each passing year. I can’t decide if this is more about age, privilege, or society but I find myself chasing peace. Worrying about if I’m wasting my life or making the wrong choices. Or sometimes just an existential dread. Whether it’s prayer, mediation, reading, or intimacy... I’m just trying to find the peace I used to take for granted.

Safety/Invincibility. This one feels like the most... developmentally appropriate. Haha. Both of our cats died last year. We adopted them as kittens my sophomore year in college and they were my first pets (not counting all the fish -- shoutout to Bubbles!). Adulthood means seeing those you love battle with disease, pain, and death. I guess this one has always been around but seeing your own parents age and feeling your own body age is an unsettling exercise in staring into the dark void of your own inevitable, impending death.  

Agency. Related to safety and invincibility, I feel like my sense of agency has taken quite a few shots in the last decade. I’ve never been one to need ultimate control over my life. I’ve just always wanted to feel like I could keep trying. Could keep iterating. Being able to choose my next steps just doesn’t have the same bounce it used to. It doesn’t bring me the same comfort.  

Religion. I’ve been writing at least six standalone blog posts in my head on this topic but I’ll just briefly say here that the baggage that comes with deconstructing Christianity and trying to reconnect with God is unlike any other category listed here. Partly because it is foundational and touches each category in deep, sometimes unarticulated ways. I’m so glad God has remained true despite many concerted efforts to use religion to trap the divine.

Fairness. Maybe this one is unique to me. I was raised to be more patriotic than the average American citizen. I grew up with a shallow understanding of immigration and bought into American Dream rhetoric without much critical thinking or analysis. I thought the United States was the best country in the world, and beyond that, I thought it was the most radical experiment in government. I was a business school undergrad who naively thought capitalism and meritocracy were great ideas. I know a lot of grown ass adults still claim both but working a full time job and trying to buy a house in the Bay Area sobers you up pretty quick. Spending the last ten years of my career focused on education and workforce development for low-income communities has obliterated any belief in the existence of fairness and equity of our economic, criminal justice, and education systems that I may have previously held.

Growth/Productivity. With all these pillars crumbling, the last five years have been a complex lesson in how micro-productivity isn’t where I should or want to build a new pillar. I am disheartened by how often my personal efforts to grow are exposed as capitalist schemes. I am frustrated with how unsatisfying the endeavor of productivity has been. I am convicted by how ableist my basic ideas of productivity, work ethic, and individual value are. Earlier this year I read Jenny Odell’s “How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy” and it crystalized a lot of thoughts I’ve been circling around in this regard.  

So, what’s left? 

I still believe in romantic love. The magic of motherhood. The healing properties of being in nature. The energy in humor. The power of stories. The sorcery of the pen. 

I hope those don’t fall apart.

I just get the feeling adulthood isn’t done destroying and robbing yet. I don’t know if there’s even an end to it? I suspect knowledge might be the next domino to fall for me. Which isn’t a completely bad thing. It’s just hard, man. 

Adulting is hard. The getting out of bed part AND the aggravated robbery. 

[nzenuniverse-blog]

At What Time Do Black Lives Matter?

At what time do Black Lives Matter? Is it at 7:05 pm on April 4, 1968 when MLK Jr is pronounced dead from the bullet of his assassination? Is it at noon on August 28,1963 when the “I Have A Dream” speech came into being? Is it Saturday, June 6, 2015 at 12:15 pm when Kalief Browder lynches himself in the Bronx? Is it at 2:53 in the afternoon when Michelle Obama announces the Global Girls Alliance? Is it at 3:30 during an Alamo siesta on February 5, 2016 when Tidal X: 10/20 makes its proclamation of a 1.5 million dollar donation to the Black Lives Matter movement to commemorate Trayvon Martin?

Black faces like those mutilated like Emmett Till. Black voices that guide us through the depths of Inner City Blues. Black is the color of her kinky hair.

So when in this time where Black-ish breathes new life into the family Huxtable, where we are little more than one week a way from seeing a renewal in fervor over this generations’ question of the Ballot or the Bullet, do Black Lives Matter?

It has been 54 years since Malcolm X spoke the words “We have made a greater sacrifice than anybody who’s standing up in America today.” to the congregation wedged in the dusty pews of Cory Methodist Church in Cleveland, Ohio. Within those five decades since, the shift in societal behavior in regards to the thought constructs of race and how those thoughts manifest outwardly, in policy, in economics, in daily interactions has been radical. Though, to anyone of moral conscience, this notion of radicalism belies the nascent complexity of the problem. The idea that black business, black  leaders, black excellence of any cultural vanguard is novel, should have always been. So, the question as to at what point do Black Lives Matter is inherent to the insult that at any point they did not matter.

The fact that it is no longer novel to have a black face like that of Frederick Douglass or Van Jones deliver commentary on the state of our culture on our television screens and mobile devices is essential to the progress of global societal consciousness. To think of ourselves as one human race. This maybe one reason why acclaimed civil rights activist, DeRay McKesson, describes how the Black Lives Matter movement is leaderless by design to prolific comic and tv host Sarah Silverman in an interview from her television program “I Love You America” dated from October of last year. When the black face becomes commonplace in the world of business, arts, and politics it allows for the disassociation of ideas of individuals from the colors of their skins. This maybe one reason why Kanye West has chosen this moment to stage several media events to challenge and provoke the conversation of how and why Black Lives Matter through incendiary commentary and planned promotional campaigns.

For example, maybe Ye in his recent visit on October 14 to meet with the Ugandan President Museveni was making allusion to the hip hop song by Brother Ali “Forest Whitaker” and The Last King Of Scotland. Do those Black Lives lost in the genocide Matter ? Could it be that in his infamous repugnant statements made on TMZ in May of 2018, where he claimed that slavery was a choice, that he is inviting deeper thought as to the obviousness of how it was not a choice and the psychology of clickbait tactics? If, as according to physicist James Joule writing in the 19th century, how by the Law of Conservation of Energy, that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; rather, it transforms from one form to another, then where does all the hatred of Bull Connor and George Wallace go? Maybe that is what Kanye was referring to when he claimed to have the balls to where a hat in a recent luncheon with President Trump and Jim Brown. Could it be that Kanye was provoking deeper thought as to what it means to be wearing hatred like blacks did daily. Is it still done daily?

Maybe in an age where it’s increasingly difficult to do anything radical unless you are tackling the most deeply entrenched societal taboos like sex work, West is proving the physical manifestation of clickbait marketing culture; proving himself a savvy entrepreneur in the branding battles of the internet and influencer economies. These questions as to the talented tenth of intent weren’t possible in the sixties because the idea of black leadership, business, arts and culture was so “novel” to racist society. It is important to remember that when thinking about the variety of thoughts currently circulating in the Black Lives Matter and black excellence conversations.

In thinking again about correlations to the transference of emotional energy and the Law of Conservation of Energy, it is possible that West is influenced by having watched the excellent Serious Jibber Jabber talk from August of 2014 between heralded author Michael Lewis and legendary late night tv host Conan O’Brien. When Michael Lewis, author of “Flashboys” and “Moneyball”, references “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” by Thomas Kuhn in stating “a disruptive entrepreneur is inherently insulting” it is similar to things West discusses in his nearly two hour interview held on April 18, 2018 with popular radio host Charlamagne tha God, where he states that people will take something enlightened out of context and call it crazy to diminish its impact. In both talks, the men reiterate points about how when there are those who are the first to see things in a new way and pioneer a view that is threatening to the status quo, the surrounding industry reacts with great hostility. Dave Chappelle, who recently received the WEB du Bois award from Harvard University, made similar comments in his famous Inside the Actors Studio interview with James Lipton nearly a decade earlier.

If the Wall Street system is rigged as Lewis so brilliantly lays out in his treatise, then all colors are disenfranchised in the war against class. And West is right to point out the hypocrisy of the black community to be automatically anti-Republican. It is possible that West is taking a page from his wife’s book here as she has brilliantly embodied the Republican tenets of family first, the creation of generational wealth and rugged individualism. I think in an indirect way her genius as an entrepreneur is progress in the war against sexism in challenging the deeply held taboos against sex work. The manner in which she annually compounds her wealth through successfully monetizing and marketing her beauty is testament to her vast business savvy, instinct and skill, so much so that it renders irrelevant the tarnish of a tape, which by any means of an abstract, rational moral philosophy is hypocritical to judge if she is meeting the laissez-faire of demand meeting supply.  

Furthermore, in her advocacy for prison reform and the freedom of Alice Marie Johnson, I think she is finding her own way to participate in the concept of a “noblesse oblige”, an idea Lewis offers as an antidote to what he labels as the “vice of meritocracy.” The vice of meritocracy being a problem of modernity in the stratification of the classes as a function relative to the notion of effort, whereas in previous times, he argues, those born of privilege came into their wealth with a sense of that duality of advantage and a need to pass those advantages on to others. I think Republicans are good at communicating to its constituents “Focus your energy on the problem you want to solve and do it.” I think this is the reason why, despite the moral repugnancy of what he is seemingly corroborating in his meeting with Trump, etc., that ultimately, it is a good thing for West to highlight the dangers of limitation in maintaining a sense of automatic anti-Republicanism in the black community.

In closing, as the Ballot or the Bullet of the 2018 midterms approach, I question if anything continues to be more segregationist than a seeming conspiracy of consensus towards the segregation of intellectual class by means of coding and lexicon in promoting systemic ignorance. That silence of the methods of the money changers is a taboo I’d like to see change in 2019. And so time marches on. The first time I saw the black excellence of “sky is the limit” music video in my early teens, I thought how sweet, how cute, the children of hip hop running through their fantasy of everything they dream they can be and become. It was only in my late 20s that I began to recognize that maybe Spike Jonze was having a conversation with Biggie Smalls, Puff Daddy and 112 about some of the tougher issues limiting the growth of black culture: the historic infantilization of blacks as a means of degrading their intelligence, the over-commercialization of rap as a means to foster mental pollution through vapid consumerism, and the thought that for hip hop to survive as a musical movement it has to grow from adolescence but since, well since a long time, America has been like a drunk seventeen year old racing around in the world’s Mercedes Benz while we all just wait for the inevitable crash.

[fashiontrendin-blog]

I Bombarded Justin Bieber’s Stylist With Questions About His New Look

http://fashion-trendin.com/i-bombarded-justin-biebers-stylist-with-questions-about-his-new-look/

I Bombarded Justin Bieber’s Stylist With Questions About His New Look

This Instagram of Justin Bieber really sent me into a tizzy.

Here’s Justin Bieber, suddenly, quietly, casually leaning against the wall of my Instagram feed, in an outfit that I’d love to wear (tap for credits and you’ll find that his top is Amiri; pants, Dickies; hat not tagged but easy enough to find similar options) with what I’ll go ahead and say is a cup of Arizona Ice Tea, no ice — I assume it melted, and a crunched aluminum can that used to hold said beverage. If it were me I might add a simple strappy kind of 90s heeled sandal.

I’m very into it. Plus the hair, and the mustache. I like the whole style package. The overall look is a contentious topic — some people call it “scumbro“; I’m inclined to use the word “hot”; The Cut likened his wardrobe as of late to all sorts of guys they knew, which, given the list, can be mean different things to everybody, a real “choose your own adventure” of lovers-past, nostalgic associations and questionable decisions. If I were to add my own, it would be those who long ago left my heart in some way aflutter.

7 PHOTOS click for more

What I really like about the whole picture, though — meaning this specific look, and Justin Bieber’s overall outfits as of late — is that it’s clear Justin Bieber has, if only temporarily (because style is ever-evolving), found his fashion niche. He appears happy and confident and comfortable in these clothes. He’s in love, in these clothes. In these clothes, he looks like he has that spring in his step that says, “I found these perfect pants on a total whim, wasn’t even looking for anything specific in the store, but they were on sale so I said why not and now they’ve changed my ENTIRE METHOD OF GETTING DRESSED.” I get that. One right shoe can turn you into the person you suspected you’ve always been and wha-bam: out goes all your old ankle booties from 2010, never to be called upon again.

I have no doubt that Justin is on a journey. We all are, at the core of it, aren’t we? But behind this great style transformation is, of course, a talented stylist: the great Karla Welch, a true delight to follow on Instagram, self-described freedom fighter, founder of xkarla (you know I love those T-shirts), co-founder of Meritocracy, former Monocycle guest, and, among the knock-ya-on-your-butt resumé of cool people she’s dressed, there’s her fashion friendship with Justin.

For all that is high-watered and well-socked in this world: I had about a five-minutes window to talk to her about it.

Now, MR’s edit team had all sorts of questions for her about Bieber’s recent outfits (“Does he text you looks and say ‘this.’?” — Haley Nahman, Deputy Editor), and please, feel free to ask your own questions down in the comments; hopefully anyone who needs a work break can join you down there and cogitate about it. But in the meantime, below are the questions we did ask, and Karla answered:

Did you two sit down and intentionally decide to change his look or this happen gradually/organically? 

It’s so organic. From the beginning, we just both sort of got each other. I would [basically] operate blind and show up with stuff. He always liked it. I’d sometimes get a text from tour saying, “I need a new white look,” and I would literally make a custom look in two days and ship it somewhere in the world. Of all my clients, I owe my nerves of steel and calmness to Justin. Actually more: He’s so fearless that it makes me fearless, too!

When you’re styling someone for their day-to-day lives (as opposed to just red carpet events/concerts), how do you style them? Is it a daily, continual text conversation where you help instruct what shoe to wear with pants? Is it that you arm the person with wardrobe items that you know will work together and let them have at it? How does all of this work?

I’m really not a day-to-day stylist. I just send him stuff I love and know he will love and then he mixes it all as he sees fit. Sometimes I’ll send an image and say, “I think this is the vibe we should go to…”

And is Justin Bieber discerning when it comes to these choices, or does he prefer to let you make the selects?

Depends. He’s pretty discerning. But he know knows how much I LOVE when he says, “What are you thinking?” Like he seriously knows it makes my life to get my way!

What came first: the mustache and hair, then his new style, or the new style, then mustache and hair to pair with? (And whose decision was the hair, and the mustache?)

Who came first, Justin or Justin? There is no one more ahead of the curve than him! Fearless. I love it!

Are you familiar with the word “scumbro” that’s being used to describe this look, and what are your thoughts on the term?

Ha. Well, I guess it keeps wordsmiths in business.

If you were to make a pie chart of Justin’s current fashion influences how much of it would be Magnum PI? What about Jeff Goldblum? (We are very curious about the Hawaiian shirts!)

We could all use a little more aloha in our lives, people!

Feature photo by SMXRF/Star Max/GC Images via Getty Images.

[samuelfields]

How To Negotiate A Severance As A High-Performing Employee

Since negotiating my own severance in 2012, I’ve consulted with several dozen individuals about how to best negotiate a severance. Although I’ve taken a hiatus on 1X1 consulting since the birth of our son, I can’t help but think of my favorite consultation this Memorial Day weekend: my wife’s.

One of the most common questions I get from people who haven’t bought my severance negotiation book is: why would a company ever give a high performing employee a severance?

Hopefully with my wife’s severance negotiation example, I can convince some of you it’s possible. I’ve already published a guest post from a client who shared his successful severance negotiation strategy. He had been with his firm for over a decade and was also a high performer. 

Negotiating A Severance As A High Performer

For the last two years of my wife’s 9.5 career with one firm, I felt she was underpaid and overworked. I told her she should be more aggressive in asking for a raise and a promotion, but every time I brought up the subject she said she didn’t want to be too pushy.

Her style is very different from mine when I was working. I always kept track of how much my competitors at other firms were getting paid for what they were doing. Whenever I felt my compensation had fallen behind by more than 10%, I would sit my managers down for a heart-to-heart and make sure they were aware of my concerns.

When it was time for her to get promoted in early 2014 she was passed over for two guys. One guy was a slacker and the other guy always talked about how unsatisfied he was at the firm. Both of the guys were a couple years older than my wife, but my wife had the same amount of experience.

My wife was finally pissed off enough to realize the importance of self-advocacy. She had naively believed if she did good work, her bosses would always reward her efforts.

Important lesson: The longer you stay at one firm, the more you will be taken for granted.  A boss’s favorite employee is one who never complains and never speaks up about getting paid or promoted. The less your boss can pay you, the better s/he looks.

No longer was my wife willing to stay late and deal with PITA clients. She finally asked me to help her come up with a severance plan. Ah, music to my ears!

Formulating The Severance Plan

During the year she was passed over for promotion, Financial Samurai was earning enough money to support the both of us. She was turning 34 and we agreed that it would be nice if she joined me in early retirement. After all, I was also 34 when I left work, so it seemed only fair she did the same. Hooray for equality!

We reviewed various severance negotiation case studies, and chose the archetype that best fit her: female high performer, long-term employee, large private firm, got a long with her managers, the company would sorely miss her services.

Step #1: The most important thing I did to help my wife was to make her KNOW HER WORTH. She didn’t want to entertain other job offers because after 9.5 years, she felt loyal to her firm. If she was absolutely truthful, she would also admit that she enjoyed the routine. Once she understood what her market value was, she began to negotiate.

Step #2: She demanded a meeting with her bosses at which she implied to them that if they did not promote her mid-year, she was gone. Her bosses were surprised, which is a bad thing because she hadn’t properly managed their expectations. But now, her feelings were out in the open.

She played chicken with her firm, knowing they would swerve in the final seconds because she was the point person for several major clients. Nobody else had the relationships and nobody else could do what she could do. If she left, they were screwed by more than 10X her salary in lost revenue.

Six months later they agreed to promote her and give her a 20% raise. Excellent. Better late than never. Management realized their mistake and were quiet apologetic.

During this time, Financial Samurai grew by another 50%, giving both of us even more confidence that she could walk away and never return. But of course, I never recommend anybody quit their jobs, especially after almost 10 years of service. A severance had to be negotiated!

Step #3: We went over in detail how she felt after she got promoted. Her response, “Satisfaction. I feel great knowing that I got what I deserved.” When I asked her what about getting to that next level of promotion she said, “I have zero desire to go through the stress my boss goes through every day. I can leave this unhappy place without any regrets.” Alrighty then! She was now in a very powerful position of having nothing for her to lose.

Step #4: It was now time to make the move. Five months after her promotion (11 months after she was first passed over), she walked into her boss’s office and asked for a severance equal to what some recent employees had gotten when their department shut down. Her managers balked, as expected, given she had recently gotten promoted and was an excellent performer.

About a couple weeks went by before they realized my wife was serious about leaving. Her heart was no longer into the job and they realized something had to be done. They knew they had messed up by not promoting her earlier in the year. At the same time, the needed to keep her.

They had another meeting about what they could do to make her happy. They implied she would get another 20% raise in the new year. My wife told them there was nothing they could do. Even a 50% raise wasn’t going to keep her motivated because she no longer enjoyed the work and didn’t fully trust management to promote people based on a meritocracy. She reiterated she wanted a severance, and they told her they’d get back to her in a week.

Initial Severance Offer

A week passed, and they had another meeting. All this while, my wife continued to come in on time, but leave right when the clock struck 5pm. She was always courteous to her colleagues, but she never put in more effort than expected. Good behavior during the severance negotiation process is important.

Management decided it was best to pay her a severance and arrange some type of long-term transition so that everybody wins.

Here’s what they initially came back with:

* Three months base salary (the actual severance lump sum payment)

* All her vacation days paid (required by law).

* Six months of free health insurance.

* Stay for six more months full-time

After 9.5 years of working at her firm, I knew their proposal was WEAK SAUCE. She should have gotten at least two weeks of pay per year worked.

We tried our best to negotiate a higher severance lump sum, but she was working at a private company that was on the decline. They refused. They said they were handcuffed by headquarters based in Europe.

Step #5: The only logical next step was to get creative. This step is where many severance negotiators fail.

Given her firm wouldn’t budge on the lump sum severance payment, we proposed a compromise for the remaining six months of full-time work requested.

Instead of coming in five days a week, we went back and said she’d be willing to come in two days a week and work from home one day a week. Further, she would no longer have to interact with clients, which was the main stressor of her job. During this time, she would train other people to fully take over her job and get paid her FULL salary.

After another week of deliberation, they said yes! They were afraid she’d quit and leave them in the ditch. They needed her to manage her large clients until they found capable replacements.

By working 40% fewer hours and getting paid the same, she got a 67% raise for six months. In other words, the value of her severance package increased by over $85,000. Not only was she getting another six months of full company 401k matching (worth $9,000), she got to accumulate 15 more days of paid vacation (worth $7,800), and continued to receive health care insurance.

What’s even better is that she LOVED her last six months at the firm! With the stress of dealing with clients gone, everyday she went to work felt like a casual get together. The responsibility was on her managers and her trainees. She came home with a big smile every day for six months.

An interesting incident from her final months occurred when management transferred two employees from its New Jersey office. From this one might conclude my wife had been doing the work of two people. Therefore, she felt even less guilt leaving work behind.

When she finally left, she felt like she had won. Not only had she gotten her raise and promotion, she had been able to get a severance and also feel vindicated. They threw her a wonderful party and even invited her to the company holiday party where she won a $500 iPad.

Total value of her severance package: ~$140,000, up from the initial $40,000.

The Next Stage Of The Severance Package

For the next eight months following her retirement, we traveled around Europe and spent time up at our place in Lake Tahoe. We were having a lot of fun when she got an e-mail from her old boss asking if she could return in a part-time capacity. She politely said no, but told him to check back in six months.

Six months later, he checked back with her and this time, my wife was amenable to going back to work as a consultant. She had just enjoyed 14 months of absolute freedom and felt sufficiently rejuvenated to hang out with old colleagues and start making some money again.

But of course she wasn’t going to go back to her same role with the same package. It was they who wanted her back, so she asked for a 40% hourly rate raise because they wouldn’t have to pay her benefits. Further, she requested no client interaction. In other words, her job would be to manage employees to do the work she used to do and leave with no responsibilities.

Related: How Much Do You Need To Make As A Contractor To Replicate Your Day Job Income

Once again they agreed! For the next 10 months, they paid her 40% more and she felt like she was winning every time she went to the office. Further, no longer was she taking a crowded bus to and from work because ridesharing prices had become so cheap.

She saved and invested 100% of her consulting income during this time period because she didn’t need the money. Our online business had grown by another 100%+ since she first left.

I hope my wife’s severance example highlights what is possible if you maintain a good relationship with your employer and talk things out. So long as you create value, good things will happen.

Readers, have a severance negotiation success story? I’d love to hear it. 

https://www.financialsamurai.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/How-did-negotiate-a-severance-as-an-excellent-employee.m4a

The post How To Negotiate A Severance As A High-Performing Employee appeared first on Financial Samurai.

from Finance https://www.financialsamurai.com/how-to-negotiate-a-severance-as-an-excellent-employee/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[ronaldmrashid]

How To Negotiate A Severance As A High-Performing Employee

Since negotiating my own severance in 2012, I’ve consulted with several dozen individuals about how to best negotiate a severance. Although I’ve taken a hiatus on 1X1 consulting since the birth of our son, I can’t help but think of my favorite consultation this Memorial Day weekend: my wife’s.

One of the most common questions I get from people who haven’t bought my severance negotiation book is: why would a company ever give a high performing employee a severance?

Hopefully with my wife’s severance negotiation example, I can convince some of you it’s possible. I’ve already published a guest post from a client who shared his successful severance negotiation strategy. He had been with his firm for over a decade and was also a high performer. 

Negotiating A Severance As A High Performer

For the last two years of my wife’s 9.5 career with one firm, I felt she was underpaid and overworked. I told her she should be more aggressive in asking for a raise and a promotion, but every time I brought up the subject she said she didn’t want to be too pushy.

Her style is very different from mine when I was working. I always kept track of how much my competitors at other firms were getting paid for what they were doing. Whenever I felt my compensation had fallen behind by more than 10%, I would sit my managers down for a heart-to-heart and make sure they were aware of my concerns.

When it was time for her to get promoted in early 2014 she was passed over for two guys. One guy was a slacker and the other guy always talked about how unsatisfied he was at the firm. Both of the guys were a couple years older than my wife, but my wife had the same amount of experience.

My wife was finally pissed off enough to realize the importance of self-advocacy. She had naively believed if she did good work, her bosses would always reward her efforts.

Important lesson: The longer you stay at one firm, the more you will be taken for granted.  A boss’s favorite employee is one who never complains and never speaks up about getting paid or promoted. The less your boss can pay you, the better s/he looks.

No longer was my wife willing to stay late and deal with PITA clients. She finally asked me to help her come up with a severance plan. Ah, music to my ears!

Formulating The Severance Plan

During the year she was passed over for promotion, Financial Samurai was earning enough money to support the both of us. She was turning 34 and we agreed that it would be nice if she joined me in early retirement. After all, I was also 34 when I left work, so it seemed only fair she did the same. Hooray for equality!

We reviewed various severance negotiation case studies, and chose the archetype that best fit her: female high performer, long-term employee, large private firm, got a long with her managers, the company would sorely miss her services.

Step #1: The most important thing I did to help my wife was to make her KNOW HER WORTH. She didn’t want to entertain other job offers because after 9.5 years, she felt loyal to her firm. If she was absolutely truthful, she would also admit that she enjoyed the routine. Once she understood what her market value was, she began to negotiate.

Step #2: She demanded a meeting with her bosses at which she implied to them that if they did not promote her mid-year, she was gone. Her bosses were surprised, which is a bad thing because she hadn’t properly managed their expectations. But now, her feelings were out in the open.

She played chicken with her firm, knowing they would swerve in the final seconds because she was the point person for several major clients. Nobody else had the relationships and nobody else could do what she could do. If she left, they were screwed by more than 10X her salary in lost revenue.

Six months later they agreed to promote her and give her a 20% raise. Excellent. Better late than never. Management realized their mistake and were quiet apologetic.

During this time, Financial Samurai grew by another 50%, giving both of us even more confidence that she could walk away and never return. But of course, I never recommend anybody quit their jobs, especially after almost 10 years of service. A severance had to be negotiated!

Step #3: We went over in detail how she felt after she got promoted. Her response, “Satisfaction. I feel great knowing that I got what I deserved.” When I asked her what about getting to that next level of promotion she said, “I have zero desire to go through the stress my boss goes through every day. I can leave this unhappy place without any regrets.” Alrighty then! She was now in a very powerful position of having nothing for her to lose.

Step #4: It was now time to make the move. Five months after her promotion (11 months after she was first passed over), she walked into her boss’s office and asked for a severance equal to what some recent employees had gotten when their department shut down. Her managers balked, as expected, given she had recently gotten promoted and was an excellent performer.

About a couple weeks went by before they realized my wife was serious about leaving. Her heart was no longer into the job and they realized something had to be done. They knew they had messed up by not promoting her earlier in the year. At the same time, the needed to keep her.

They had another meeting about what they could do to make her happy. They implied she would get another 20% raise in the new year. My wife told them there was nothing they could do. Even a 50% raise wasn’t going to keep her motivated because she no longer enjoyed the work and didn’t fully trust management to promote people based on a meritocracy. She reiterated she wanted a severance, and they told her they’d get back to her in a week.

Initial Severance Offer

A week passed, and they had another meeting. All this while, my wife continued to come in on time, but leave right when the clock struck 5pm. She was always courteous to her colleagues, but she never put in more effort than expected. Good behavior during the severance negotiation process is important.

Management decided it was best to pay her a severance and arrange some type of long-term transition so that everybody wins.

Here’s what they initially came back with:

* Three months base salary (the actual severance lump sum payment)

* All her vacation days paid (required by law).

* Six months of free health insurance.

* Stay for six more months full-time

After 9.5 years of working at her firm, I knew their proposal was WEAK SAUCE. She should have gotten at least two weeks of pay per year worked.

We tried our best to negotiate a higher severance lump sum, but she was working at a private company that was on the decline. They refused. They said they were handcuffed by headquarters based in Europe.

Step #5: The only logical next step was to get creative. This step is where many severance negotiators fail.

Given her firm wouldn’t budge on the lump sum severance payment, we proposed a compromise for the remaining six months of full-time work requested.

Instead of coming in five days a week, we went back and said she’d be willing to come in two days a week and work from home one day a week. Further, she would no longer have to interact with clients, which was the main stressor of her job. During this time, she would train other people to fully take over her job and get paid her FULL salary.

After another week of deliberation, they said yes! They were afraid she’d quit and leave them in the ditch. They needed her to manage her large clients until they found capable replacements.

By working 40% fewer hours and getting paid the same, she got a 67% raise for six months. In other words, the value of her severance package increased by over $85,000. Not only was she getting another six months of full company 401k matching (worth $9,000), she got to accumulate 15 more days of paid vacation (worth $7,800), and continued to receive health care insurance.

What’s even better is that she LOVED her last six months at the firm! With the stress of dealing with clients gone, everyday she went to work felt like a casual get together. The responsibility was on her managers and her trainees. She came home with a big smile every day for six months.

An interesting incident from her final months occurred when management transferred two employees from its New Jersey office. From this one might conclude my wife had been doing the work of two people. Therefore, she felt even less guilt leaving work behind.

When she finally left, she felt like she had won. Not only had she gotten her raise and promotion, she had been able to get a severance and also feel vindicated. They threw her a wonderful party and even invited her to the company holiday party where she won a $500 iPad.

Total value of her severance package: ~$140,000, up from the initial $40,000.

The Next Stage Of The Severance Package

For the next eight months following her retirement, we traveled around Europe and spent time up at our place in Lake Tahoe. We were having a lot of fun when she got an e-mail from her old boss asking if she could return in a part-time capacity. She politely said no, but told him to check back in six months.

Six months later, he checked back with her and this time, my wife was amenable to going back to work as a consultant. She had just enjoyed 14 months of absolute freedom and felt sufficiently rejuvenated to hang out with old colleagues and start making some money again.

But of course she wasn’t going to go back to her same role with the same package. It was they who wanted her back, so she asked for a 40% hourly rate raise because they wouldn’t have to pay her benefits. Further, she requested no client interaction. In other words, her job would be to manage employees to do the work she used to do and leave with no responsibilities.

Related: How Much Do You Need To Make As A Contractor To Replicate Your Day Job Income

Once again they agreed! For the next 10 months, they paid her 40% more and she felt like she was winning every time she went to the office. Further, no longer was she taking a crowded bus to and from work because ridesharing prices had become so cheap.

She saved and invested 100% of her consulting income during this time period because she didn’t need the money. Our online business had grown by another 100%+ since she first left.

I hope my wife’s severance example highlights what is possible if you maintain a good relationship with your employer and talk things out. So long as you create value, good things will happen.

Readers, have a severance negotiation success story? I’d love to hear it. 

https://www.financialsamurai.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/How-did-negotiate-a-severance-as-an-excellent-employee.m4a

The post How To Negotiate A Severance As A High-Performing Employee appeared first on Financial Samurai.

from https://www.financialsamurai.com/how-to-negotiate-a-severance-as-an-excellent-employee/

[adambstingus]

Listen to 5 immigrants explain why they have American pride on the Fourth of July.

Some 300 million people live in the United States. And over 40 million of them are immigrants.

Now, some people might have you believe that too many immigrants might cause us to lose our identity as Americans or that we ought to be fighting and clinging to “the way things were.”

But if you look around, you’ll see that more than 1 in 10 Americans were born somewhere else meaning they have their own unique set of amazing experiences to share and their own amazing stories about why they’re here.

They each have their own ideas about what being an American means to them, too. And they each have their own reasons for celebrating American independence on the Fourth of July.

So if you want to feel proud, excited, and maybe even a teensy bit emotional about being an American this July Fourth, this one’s for you.

Meet five immigrants from all over the country (and all over the world!) who are showing their American pride in many, many shades of red, white, and blue this year.

1. Nayeli Ruvalcaba’s Fourth of July is full of traditional Mexican food and mariachi music.

Ruvalcaba, who was born in Mexico but moved to Chicago when she was 4, spent her early childhood in a mostly caucasian neighborhood called Lakeview. There, she says the Fourth of July was pretty much what you’d expect.

“Everyone would be making ribs and burgers and mac and cheese. And my dad would be drinking Budweisers and Coors Light,” she said with a laugh.

Nayeli with her parents. Photo by Nayeli Ruvalcaba used with permission.

But when she was 16, she moved to a more diverse area of the city filled with families from Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Poland.

There, she says, their holidays are much more vibrant. Neighbors gather in the alleys and share their customs and cultures with one another. They sing along with music (her boyfriend, who is in a mariachi band, often gets the party going). They play games. And then there’s the food: Nayeli says she loves to chow down on delicious Fourth of July dishes like arrachera (a Mexican skirt steak), polish sausage, guacamole, and, of course, burgers.

“I know it’s an American holiday,” she says. “But everyone has their own culture. You just mix it in with what everyone else does.”

Nayeli and her boyfriend in full mariachi get-up! Photo via Nayeli Ruvalcaba, used with permission.

2. Johanna Dodd and her family celebrate their Fourth of July the “old fashioned way” but with a small U.K.-based twist.

A one-year work contract for her husband brought the Dodds to Connecticut from the U.K. years ago. 12 years later, they’re still here.

The Dodds! Photo used with permission.

On their Fourth of July, she says, “We tend to do what everyone else in town does. We’ll head to the fireworks display with our cooler packed full of food, and, occasionally, we’ll sneak in some alcohol.”

Sounds pretty American to me!

Johanna’s young daughter watches the fireworks. Photo used with permission.

“The kids run around, there’s lots of glow sticks, lots of football (both kinds) being played, lots of fun stuff happening. As it gets darker, there’s the national anthem, and then out come the fireworks.”

But there is one slightly British twist to the Dodds’ holiday: “We don’t really do the tailgating thing. We bring what we would call ‘an English tea.’ There’s watermelon, yogurts, cheese sandwiches. Kind of a mishmash of both cultures.”

3. Martin Matthews says he never misses a Fourth of July parade and for a powerful reason.

Matthews was 8 years old when he first came to America to escape a civil war in his home country of Liberia. One of his first memories? A huge Fourth of July parade in New Jersey.

“I had never seen anything like that. The flags, the drums, everything. I remember watching in awe.”

Martin with his wife. Photo used with permission.

He returned to Africa later on but came back to live in America again when fighting broke out in his home country. And when he returned, that big parade stuck in his memory.

“I always loved that about America. It was a place I could be safe. A place I could enjoy freedom,” he said. “To celebrate the independence of the United States holds a deep place in my heart.”

These days, Martin is big on having barbecues with friends to celebrate Independence Day. There are a lot of burgers and hot dogs, but he’ll sometimes mix in traditional African dishes, too, like African-style kabobs, to introduce his friends to his heritage.

“It’s a big thing in Africa for people to put fish on the grill, like the whole fish,” he added. “You put the whole thing on there. It was the first time some of my American friends had ever tried fish on the grill that wasn’t salmon.”

But his favorite thing about the holiday is still the parades. “We get there early and wave our American flags. Every year I always wear some kind of American shirt. We sit there and watch everything. It’s my way of saying thanks to my adopted country.”

4. Jay Pockyarath mixes cricket with an American-style barbecue on Independence Day.

“Ever since I was in eighth grade, all I wanted to do was come to the United States,” he told Upworthy. After finishing college in India, he finally got the chance when studying nuclear medicine at the University of Michigan. From there, he married an American woman and started a family.

“The thing that works [in America] is that it’s a meritocracy,” Pockyarath said. “July Fourth is a celebration of that, in my mind. Of independence. Of the freedom to succeed.”

Jay, who was born in India, proudly flies an American flag outside his home for July Fourth. Photo used with permission.

Pockyarath has lived in the United States for over 40 years, so it’s no surprise that his holiday celebration looks pretty familiar: steak, hamburgers, and hot dogs on the grill. To him, what’s really important is spending time with family.

“Usually we make up games,” he laughed. “We play cricket not the way it’s supposed to be played, but with a tennis ball. We make up our own rules.”

5. Natalia Paruz is originally from Israel, and she decorates everything in red, white, and blue.

Natalia is now a musician in New York City. Photo used with permission.

“First I came here with my parents [about 20 years ago] for a year. At the end of the year, they went back to Israel, and I wanted to stay here,” she told Upworthy.

Now she works as a musician in New York City. And she absolutely, positively loves the Fourth of July.

“It’s a really fun day. It’s a day where you can put politics aside. It’s a day for celebrating the joy of this country.”

Natalia and her husband host friends every year for a big meal. “I love decorating the house for the holiday with the flags. There’s always a big flag hanging from the flagpole. In the back, that’s where I really go all out. Every tree gets some kind of decoration!”

“We make hot dogs, hamburgers how can you not?” she said. “We also make tahini, which is a traditional Israeli food. It’s made of sesame seeds and it becomes a paste and you spread it on pita bread. Our friends here love it.”

Natalia says an overabundance of food “as if you’re going to entertain a bunch of soldiers” is a nod to her Israeli roots. Photo used with permission.

This year, she’s going out with friends to watch fireworks. “I wear a T-shirt that has an American flag on it and a bracelet with the colors of the flag. If you’re celebrating, you might as well go to the maximum.”

It turns out, celebrating America means different things to different people. And that’s kind of the point.

In my mind, the only thing better than a Fourth of July party filled with burgers, steaks, beer, and fireworks is a Fourth of July party filled with all of those things plus Mexican food and African music and “English tea” and tahini and mariachi bands and more.

So whether we choose to embrace the “American way” of celebrating Independence Day (red meat and fireworks) or to use it as a chance to celebrate the unique melting pot of culture that is our country today or something in between, I think we can all agree that the America we have now is already pretty great.

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/2017/11/05/listen-to-5-immigrants-explain-why-they-have-american-pride-on-the-fourth-of-july/ from All of Beer https://allofbeercom.tumblr.com/post/167139198072