#not to mention how important a strong middle class is for stable society

[breewitch]

I wouldn't say my social bubble is terribly small. My former manager thought comparing safaris a suitable small talk topic. I had colleagues who played golf and were landlords. (Thanks to their middle-class families, not our salaries. The women in any case because men didn't discuss theirs).

But it's only their complaints about the current crisis that make me realize what being middle-class was/is really like. The small things, that is. I knew about the home-owner, 2 cars per family and holidays abroad standard (none of that necessarily as big/new/expensive as in Western Europe). Sounds neat, I have no trouble imagining living like that.

But until this nightmare inflation they'd just buy any food they wanted, including the most expensive out-of-season fruits and vegetables? Not just what was on sale? They'd take baths any time they wanted and went to restaurants all the time? And it's so difficult for them to give that up?

I do have compassion for them and worry about the impact of middle class struggling on the rest of the society, but I didn't even realize in how different worlds we lived.

[bleachluna]

Letters

Ended up skipping day 2 of @hitsukarinweek as I had no ideas for it but here’s my fic for day 3! Also on AO3

Dear Toshiro,

Can you please explain to me how the hell Soul Society managed to copy mobile phones from humans, and even put hollow tracking technology in them, but didn't make them able to send stuff across realms? I know you explained that SS phones in soul society can only contact those in soul society, and when they're here in the human world they can only contact those here, but I only realised how ridiculously stupid that is until after you left. What if there's an emergency and you need to contact someone across realms for whatever reason? Surely you need to get this fixed, I cannot believe if I want to talk to you I'm stuck writing letters like it's the 1800s. I'm even writing more formally than I expected, apparently letter writing brings it out of me and I absolutely hate it. You've gotta fix it. Not to mention I'm not a fan of leaving letters for Urahara to pass on for me, I'm not totally convinced he won't read them.

Anyway, it's been a couple of months since I saw you last. That's probably a good thing, that a captain hasn't been needed here, but I'll admit I wonder about you sometimes, I hope everything is ok on your end! I don't know what it was about turning sixteen but all of a sudden all of this stuff about trying to figure out careers is on me constantly. Yuzu figured out years ago that she wanted to go into healthcare, she took to it way back when we were kids. She was originally planning to go into nursing but her grades have improved a lot recently, she might be a doctor instead, but she's also thinking about midwifery. So there's stuff she's gotta figure out for sure, but at least she knows what area she wants to go into? I don't even have that. I mean how do you figure out what to do with the rest of your life when you're sixteen? I haven't even figured myself out yet. How did you decide to become a shinigami?

Other than that though things are ok. School is a little stressful because grades suddenly feel so much more important, but the work's manageable at least. Hollow level seems to be stable at the minute too which is great, one less thing to worry about! And Urahara improved his reiatsu blocking bracelet thing, I've had this one for almost four months and it hasn't broken so even less chance of getting eaten! Always a plus. But anyway, I hope things are good on your end as well, and that you aren't buried up to your ears in paperwork. Let me know if you ever have any plans to pop up in the human world!

Best Wishes,

Karin

P.S. - I sent this on the 22nd of June, let me know when this gets to you/when you send yours, I wanna know what sort of delivery time we're looking at here.

- - - - -

Dear Karin,

I don't even remotely have the skills or know-how to fix something like that, that's what the Research & Development Team is for. I agree it's a little daft that our mobile phones can't send things across realms, but I'm sure said team knows this and is likely working on it, as you said, it would be unfortunate in an emergency situation. Plus I know Urahara can be a little eccentric, but do you really think he'd read the letters? I'm sure it's fine.

It is a good thing I've not been needed, the last thing Karakura needs is more trouble and destruction. Have they managed to rebuild that major bridge you were talking about yet? Everything is alright here, or at least in my division anyway. I've been kept busy recently, a set of students graduated from the academy last month so I've had 18 new recruits to introduce to squad 10. As for the careers stuff, I honestly assumed from the work you did here and there for the clinic that you were interested in healthcare as well, I take it that's not actually the case then? Do you at least have rough ideas of the sort of thing you'd want to go into? I'm not sure I'll be much help in that respect, I can't wrap my head around half of the jobs that seem to exist in the human world. In some ways I had it easier, the choice was out of my hands. My reiatsu was getting stronger and Hyorinmaru came to me before I even knew what was happening, I needed to go to the academy to make sure my reiatsu didn't become dangerous, therefore I became a shinigami. I never had to wonder what to do with myself in terms of employment.

I'm glad to hear things are going well with you, I'm certainly glad to hear you don't have to worry as much about the bracelet breaking. Is your reiatsu still increasing? If it's stabilising that might be part of why this new bracelet is managing better. I know you're not particularly interested in getting involved with shinigami stuff, which frankly I agree with, but if your reiatsu is still increasing I do think it's worth training you to hide it properly. I am unfortunately always at least a little buried in paperwork, particularly recently with the new recruits, but it's manageable. I don't think I'll be in the human world soon, but I will let you know if I plan to.

Best Wishes,

Toshiro

P.S. - I got your letter on the 2nd of July, I should be handing this letter over to be sent on the 4th, schedule permitting.

- - - - -

Dear Toshiro,

Well I hope you make sure that the research team are working on it, because this really is ridiculous. And you're kidding right? I trust Urahara about as far as I can throw him, which is probably all of three feet.

The bridge is still being rebuilt, but I think they're in the last stages now thank god. All the diversions needed really messed with the traffic, maybe I can finally stop leaving the house half an hour earlier just to get to my soccer club. It's supposed to be twenty minutes max by bus and it's been taking easily twice that. Let me know if you find out which shinigami it was that released their zanpakuto on that bridge, I have some choice words for them.

An entire class of students graduated and you only got 18 newbies at the tenth? Was it a small class or is that the normal kind of numbers you see? I assumed there's like, thousands and thousands of shinigami, is there less than I thought? Is that why I only ever see you and Rukia besides the dude who's currently stationed here? And I don't know about going into healthcare, that's my whole problem! I don't know what I want. Healthcare is fine but I don't feel like it's my life purpose to go into it either so yeah, I don't know. Healthcare would be alright, sports would be cool maybe? But I don't think there's a whole lot of sports careers outside of professional (which is definitely not happening) or teaching, and I'm not convinced I'm the teacher type. I just don't seem to have this strong urge to go in a particular direction like Yuzu does. But wow, I didn't know that, you basically HAD to train to be a shinigami? I didn't know that was a thing that could happen, that your reiatsu can go that far on its own. That kind of sucks though doesn't it? That you had no choice? I hope you enjoy being a shinigami at least.

To be honest I think my reiatsu probably is still going up. I don't think it's as quick as it was before, it's settled a little bit, probably because there hasn't been much danger around recently, but I do think it's still inching up. Is that a huge issue? Obviously it became a huge issue with you so now I'm kinda nervous. I'm not gonna get kidnapped into the shinigami am I? I can train to hide my reiatsu without actually becoming a shinigami right? Frankly I trust you more on this than Urahara. And you better let me know in advance if you can, Yuzu says she wants to make you those dumplings you liked again.

Best Wishes,

Karin

P.S. - I got excited at first thinking that sending these took less than two weeks, that didn't seem that bad considering we're sending them via Urahara whenever someone comes through realms, but then your letter took almost a month to come, it arrived on the 27th :( I'm handing this letter over on the 28th.

- - - - -

Dear Karin,

The Research & Development Team is not under my command, they belong to the twelfth, I cannot make sure that they're working on it, but I shall ask at the next opportunity I get. I think you're selling yourself short, I'm sure you could get at least five feet, but I do see your point, I can't say I fully trust him either, not on an individual basis anyway. I trust him to want the best for everybody, and to work towards that, but I don't think he pays attention to what that means for the individuals in the situation. More of a 'the end justifies the means' sort of person from what I've heard. And I'm afraid I have no idea who it was who damaged the bridge, but given they were fighting a powerful hollow at the time I imagine it was the correct course of action. Better on the bridge than in the middle of town.

I get the impression there is less shinigami than you think. Most squads have just over two hundred or so members, so 18 new recruits is actually a pretty good year. As for why you only really see me or Vice-Captain Kuchiki, it's a combination of needing a strong enough shinigami to deal with the sort of problems that crop up in Karakura, while also needing said shinigami to have a vague clue on how to navigate the human world. Vice-Captain Kuchiki presumably has rather extensive knowledge having lived in the human world for months, and I've been known to visit for years so they know I'm alright with being there as well. I think it's alright to not have an idea of a 'life's purpose' when you're in your second year of high school. Maybe just pick something for now as a sort of in-between while you continue working out what it is you want? Sometimes a job is just a job after all. You could always try a career in sports and see how it goes if it interests you now, and switch later on? I'm sure you'll figure something out. I'll admit I was definitely reluctant to train as a shinigami at first, it was never something I wanted originally, so it was hard to deal with to begin with I suppose, but I don't mind it these days. It's stressful, but at least I'm doing something where I'm trying to keep people safe, that suits me well enough.

Unfortunately yes, in my case my reiatsu continuously going up was an issue, but I don't think it's as serious with you. Firstly, you've not got a zanpakuto knocking on your subconscious as far as I know (the telltale giveaway is weird dreams where someone/something is trying to talk to you and tell you it's name, in case you were worried about that), and the people around you aren't vulnerable. You're unlikely to cause issues with your reiatsu because everyone around you has some degree of spiritual power already. As for the other questions, I certainly hope you won't be kidnapped into the shinigami, and I don't think your brother or even Urahara would let that happen, but it's possible you'll get Soul Society's attention if it keeps going unchecked. Of course with Urahara keeping on eye on it and keeping the reiatsu blocking bracelet on you, I'd argue that it's largely taken care of and shouldn't get other shinigami on you. There isn't much shinigami training you can do without becoming a shinigami, but you can learn to withdraw and hide your reiatsu even as a human so don't worry about that. I would say to ask your brother but he's never been very good at controlling his, Urahara is your other option, or possibly Vice-Captain Kuchiki if she's around. Or if those don't work out and your reiatsu gets to a point where you're truly worried about it let me know, I'll train you in it myself if it comes to it. Also, I appreciate the thought but your sister doesn't need to go to trouble like that for me.

Best Wishes,

Toshiro

P.S. - I got your letter on the 17th of August. I think it's safe to say they take anywhere from over a week to just under a month to arrive each time.

- - - - -

Dear Toshiro,

Let me know what the research team says! If they say they're not working on it please heavily suggest that they do, and if they say they are working on it, please ask how long they think it'll take them. Just think how much easier communicating would be if we could just call each other. The end justifies the means is EXACTLY Urahara's vibe, which is exactly why I don't really trust him. So yeah, it wouldn't even remotely surprise me if he's been reading these the entire time, better to assume the worst and be pleasantly surprised than the other way around. I suppose you have a point about the bridge being a better location than in the middle of a bunch of people, I'll put up with inconvenient travel times over unnecessary death.

Only a little over two hundred per squad? There is less than I thought! That's way less than your average university over here, that's crazy! 18 newbies is good in that case, your squad must be pretty popular. And no wonder I only really ever see you or Rukia, you guys clearly need to work on getting more people up to the speed with the human world or you're gonna end up over-worked! I guess I could just go for sports now and switch later? I don't know, you kinda get it into your head that you've gotta figure out what you want and stick to it, but I guess there's nothing actually stopping me from changing paths later. Once school goes back in I'm gonna get a meeting and talk to the careers lady, see what she says. I'm glad you're alright with being a shinigami now, hopefully it isn't stressful too much of the time.

Well, I'll take your word for it, you know more than me on this but I'm still kinda wary. You're right that there's no zanpakto trying to get my attention so far at least so that's something. If I do get kidnapped by the shinigami I'm trusting you to break me back out, but yeah that is kind of the whole point of the bracelet, that it blocks off my reiatsu from others so hollows can't find me so easily (and shinigami apparently, yeesh) so hopefully this won't actually be an issue. I don't really want to ask Urahara to train me but I will if I have to I guess. Asking Rukia's a good idea though! I'll ask whenever she next pops up, she seems like she'd be good at that sort of thing, maybe that'll solve this whole situation. Or you know, you, if you happen to come sooner, whoever comes to the human world next I guess! I'd feel better knowing that I myself could do the thing the bracelet's doing. Although I do have a question, how do you do it in your sleep? Or is it not possible and you're just vulnerable a third of the time? That seems unfortunate. Also you're kidding right? Cooking is the primary way my sister shows her care and affection, if she wants to cook for you there's no stopping her so you can at least give us notice so we can get ingredients and stuff.

Best Wishes,

Karin

- - - - -

Dear Karin,

I will let you know what the research team says as soon as it actually comes up. I can see your point, I suppose it is better to plan for the worst and be pleasantly surprised otherwise. Good to see you have your priorities in order, is the bridge finally finished though?

I remember being surprised by the size of your high school, I assume universities are even bigger? Must be an administrative nightmare to keep track of all those students, I feel like I can have a hard enough time with the 226 members I have. Squad 10 was surprisingly popular this year, the only other squads who had numbers like that were the sixth and the eleventh, both of which always have high numbers. We did have 'human world' classes at the academy at one point, but they ended up being scrapped a decade or so ago, any information learned was rendered almost completely obsolete within a few years, meaning the stuff the students learned was more or less useless by the time they were actually getting stationed in the human world. These days we just give a brief information pack about the human world before they leave, currently being updated semi-regularly by Vice-Captain Kuchiki. Meeting with a staff member whose job it is to deal with career pathways certainly sounds like a good idea, I hope it goes well if it hasn't already taken place.

Once again, I certainly hope Soul Society would try such a thing, it would be incredibly stupid considering I don't think your brother, who damn near took on the whole of Soul Society and pretty much came out on top, would ever let you get kidnapped in the first place. And I'm fairly sure me, a captain, breaking out someone Soul Society captured is probably considered treason of some kind, but I can promise I'll be in your corner one way or another. Not to mention, I don't think most shinigami would be prepared for you anyway, most are too used to sword combat, I don't think the average shinigami would handle your hand to hand very well. I'm sure you've got nothing to worry about. As for hiding your reiatsu in your sleep, generally speaking you just practice it enough that it becomes second nature, most shinigami do it subconsciously after a while, including in sleep, although nightmares and the like can interfere a little bit. Your sister has met me what, three times? She feels strongly enough to cook for me? It really is unnecessary although I'm sure the thought is kind. I did say I'd give you notice if I came to the human world though, our sensors are showing an increase in hollow activity in Karakura recently. We're currently just monitoring, we're holding off for now as it might be temporary, but if it gets worse I'm coming to monitor the situation properly and to make sure no incidents happen with the hollow increase. Judging from the current rate, if it keeps going as is I'll probably be there in two weeks or so. With any luck this letter will arrive before I do but if not, I'll make sure to meet up with you somewhere.

Best Wishes,

Toshiro

- - - - -

Dear Toshiro,

Your letter got here super quick, less than a week after I sent mine! Looks like there's increased shinigami activity to match the hollow activity, which boy, you're not kidding that its increased. My reiatsu's jumped up again and I couldn't tell you if it was a response to all the hollows around, or that the hollows arrived because of me. I really hope it's the former. Hopefully you'll be here soon! I think I could do with the training sooner rather than later and if I'm being honest I'd feel safer. But anyway, in response to your letter:

The bridge is actually finished! Just in time for the increased hollows to fuck it up again I'm sure! Most universities are like 10,000 to 30,000 easy, and I think some are bigger than that? So yeah, only two hundred or so shinigami per squad is insane to me. I'm pretty sure the universities have whole administrative teams just for the purpose, does your squad have an admin person at all or is it just you? When I first found out about the shinigami I didn't think I'd sit here wondering about the bureaucracy of it all but here I am. Oh wow I would've loved to sit in one of those human world classes, would've been hilarious I bet. At least you give newly stationed people something, I imagine the culture shock must be a bit much, I'm sure Rukia's information is very accurate given how much time she's spent here. And the careers meeting is actually in two days, I kinda nervous about it to be honest, but hopefully it'll be helpful.

Well I suppose when you put it that way Soul Society kidnapping me would very much be poking the bear huh? I'm extremely saddened to hear that you wouldn't commit treason for me though, what kind of friendship is this??? But I suppose I'll take comfort in you being 'in my corner one way or another', whatever that means. Does it mean in the event of soul society kidnapping me and forcing me to be a shinigami you'd immediately put me in your squad? That's the vibe I'm getting. But that's good to know about the hand to hand combat and the reiatsu withdrawing while still asleep, I'll bear those both in mind. As for your potential visit, given hollows seem to be popping up left right and centre I'm assuming you're probably coming in a week or so, I'll look out for your arrival! I get the impression this letter isn't going to get to you before you arrive in the human world but just in case it does I'll let you know, Yuzu added the dumpling ingredients onto her shopping list. That means you've gotta be at our house for at least one dinner! Consider it repayment for the training I'm gonna demand from you.

Hope you get here safe,

Karin

[dramaticviolincrescendo]

A Fitting Finale: Bringing Ian Full-Circle

Is everyone sick of my essays yet? Excellent. Here’s another anyway!

I’ve been trying to put my finger on what it is about Ian’s story in s11 that I love so much. It’s clear that he’s struggling on a number of levels, and he’s certainly spent the first third of the season under so much stress that it’s impacted his moods and marriage. In 11x04, we began to see hints of the tension breaking, and it made me realize that there’s a common trend in Ian’s behavior throughout the series coming to a head in his final act. It’s part of what has him so passionately advocating for Mickey to get a legal job, communicating their need to hammer out the specifics of what their marriage means, and upset at his own employment status.

From start to finish, Ian has been driven by two important motivators: love and fear.

Ian’s deep sense of love and compassion for others is well documented. We know that he will do anything for his family. I’ve mentioned before that Ian is at his best when he’s with them and his worst when he’s not. They’re his support system, and he’s a key part of theirs. They look after each other and rely on one another when the chips are down. They’re all grown up now, Liam being the exception, but those bonds are strong. They’ve matured and branched out to include Mickey, Tami, Franny, and Freddie. Ian’s heart belongs to his family, and he’s given as much of himself as he can to the people he’s been with over the years in whatever capacity they’ve needed him to.

Ian has also always been a fearful character, though not in the manner we typically visualize. He’s strong and motivated, ambitious and sensible, clever and insightful. When he decides that he wants something, he goes for it, from a South Side thug hovering in his orbit to pursuing the highest military accolades despite his small beginnings. Over and over again, we’ve seen him leap into serious and often strange situations in order to achieve his ends or something for the people he cares about. This man stole a water heater from a dead person’s house with his brother and tried to help his best friend hide a body. Certainly, he doesn’t fit the traditional stereotype. He’s not a coward.

But Ian is terrified—of everything:

·        Not amounting to anything

·        Not being worthy of love

·        Being the center of attention

·        Fading into the background and being forgotten

·        Not being able to help other people or those he loves

·        Not having a path

·        Not being in control of himself

·        Not being enough

He’s never said it. He’s never discussed these issues, except perhaps not having control. That isn’t who he is. That’s never been his way. Maybe we should add fear of communicating too, or fear of being seen as weak.

In s1, Ian makes a lot of brave choices. He comes out to three people, two of them family members, knowing how that is viewed in their neighborhood. When Mickey is after him, Ian takes the battle to his doorstep. He turns his back on an arguably easier life in a nice, middle-class neighborhood and a home with a father who would provide for him to live in the constant struggle to which he has grown accustomed. On the surface, he’s one put together kid. But then there’s Kash. There’s this man who preys on him, a middle child so responsible (and so male) that no one thinks he’d fall into any sort of trap—and Ian is desperate to keep him. He fights Lip over it and so painfully tries to make him understand his perspective, that he’s spending money he should probably be using for things he needs to buy Kash music and baseball tickets, to make him like what Ian does so that they can build their so-called relationship. That Kash is married with kids is unimportant to him; that he’s exploiting Ian’s fear of loneliness and not finding love outside his siblings, unthinkable. We know it. Lip sees it, powerless as he feels to do anything about it. Ian can’t. To date, he never will. He’s blinded by a culture that doesn’t believe such things can happen to males, and until Mickey comes along as a viable outlet for his affections and source of the ones he needs, he’s too afraid to be cautious.

Throughout s2 and s3, Ian makes difficult decisions. They’re not always smart, but it takes great strength to commit to the choices he makes: allowing Monica into his life, voicing even an ounce of his feelings to Mickey, pursuing West Point, and running away. All of them, however, are driven by love and fear alike. He’s vulnerable and needs his mother, the one who slaps Frank for shoving him and listens when he feels alone. She assuages his fears by telling him what he needs to hear: that he can do and be anything. We know there’s a danger in that, especially when she takes him to enlist when he’s nowhere near old enough, but it’s still validating for him. It feeds that need for attention but not too much attention, for understanding but not coddling, for love that originates from someone who isn’t his siblings. We see similar trends emerge: fear of losing Mickey on multiple occasions, fear that he’ll forever be in Lip’s shadow when he receives a letter of recommendation instead of Ian, and fear of never having Mickey’s full affections spiraling into fear of facing his own emotions in the aftermath of the wedding. We’ve seen that Ian runs from what he can’t process. He runs from what he can’t handle. He runs when he’s scared, especially of himself.

It continues repeatedly throughout the series. In s4, Ian is afraid of going backwards and once again losing his position in Mickey’s life. In s5, he’s afraid of being a burden on everyone around him, changing them, and losing control of his own mind. In s6, he’s afraid that this is it: his path and his goals have come to nothing, and he’s doomed to fall into the shadows where no one will ever see or love him. In s7, that fear of himself re-emerges when a patient is hurt on his watch and he has to come to terms with the fact that being better doesn’t mean he’s “cured.” In s8, he’s afraid of the void where Monica and Mickey used to be, and it sends him spiraling into a deeper one he doesn’t fear until it’s too late. In s9, he fears a lack of guidance, an indecisiveness born of having been able to rely on his hallucinations to tell him what to do. His path is gone, and he has no options. And that’s terrifying. Then Mickey is there, and he can put some of his fears to rest until they resurge with the idea of marriage in s10. All of a sudden, he’s back where he was in s5, fearing himself but also what he’ll do to someone he loves.

In s11, we’re seeing an Ian far more like he was in earlier seasons: rigidly devoted to having a plan, knowing what’s coming next, and ticking off certain boxes on the list of things you’re “supposed to do” as a married adult male. He’s spent a lot of this season seeking value in his employment and position in their marriage, and the stress has been dragging him down—quickly.

And it’s no wonder: he has every reason to be scared right now.

The thing about prison is that it is what’s known as a total institution. It is removed from society and, as such, operates under its own social beliefs, values, and norms. Like the military, another total institution, prison involves an initial period of sloughing off roles and identities from the greater society and subsequently being resocialized into a new role set. Upon release, a person undergoes the same process in reverse, and there’s an adjustment period to reintegrate into normal society. We can see that process begin when Ian gets in the car with Lip and shudders a bit, unsettled at the prospect of being outside these walls for the first time in months—going home far earlier than anticipated. For many people, it’s a difficult transformation, especially once they realize the full extent of how your life changes as an ex-convict in the U.S.

Ian doesn’t really get to adjust. From s8 to the start of s11, he undergoes a whirlwind of emotion and change. He literally loses touch with reality, starts a cult, commits a felony, is on the run from law enforcement, allows himself to be captured with one final display, goes to jail, remains unmedicated until he’s bailed out, panics at what his movement became, feels alone in the house as everyone deals with their own business and leaves him to his own devices, seeks guidance from above only to realize it wasn’t what he thought it was, can’t find answers, has warring factions telling him how to plead in court, ostensibly takes a plea deal that requires some amount of time behind bars, goes to prison, finds the love of his life there waiting for him, has to let his sister go, is released without Mickey, gets repeatedly screwed over by a corrupt PO, gets engaged, breaks up (sort of), gets engaged again, sees his wedding venue burned down, gets married, and hurtles straight into a pandemic. That’s… That’s a lot. Being a newlywed in a pandemic is a lot without all the rest of it, but this is what Ian is dealing with going into s11, and he hasn’t had the benefit of a stable readjustment and reintegration period.

He’s drowning.

He’s scared.

He has every reason to be. Marriage is scary, especially if you are so young and so in love with the person you’re marrying. Employment is scary, especially for them, because it could mean the difference between paying the utilities and running out of water. Change in general is scary, especially when it hasn’t done you any favors before.

Add all that to what Ian’s behavior has indicated that he’s been afraid of since the start, and you have a recipe for disaster.

To a great extent, that’s what I think his arc is all about this season: learning how to live again. It’s about not being so afraid of himself that he desperately grasps for any stereotypical structure for married life that he can. It’s about regaining the confidence that has always left him clawing his way to the top instead of letting life beat him down. It’s about finding the happy medium where he and Mickey aren’t doing anything illegal but aren’t stuck in a valueless spiral, scrambling and struggling to pay the bills like when they were kids.

It’s about learning not to be so afraid anymore, and I think that’s a beautiful goodbye for a beautiful character.

[basicsofislam]

ISLAM 101: ALMS AND CHARITY: VIRTUES OF ZAKAT: Part 1

WHAT DOES ZAKAT MEAN?

Zakat, literally, holds numerous meanings: to profit, to purify, to increase, to be worthy, nice, mercy, truth, blessing, to extol and to exonerate are just to mention a few. All of these abundant meanings can be sighted in the Qur’an and hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, Peace Be Upon Him).

For instance, in the following verses, “He has indeed prospered who purifies it (the self)” and “Prosperous indeed are those who purify themselves,” zakat means to purify and to exonerate, while it is also used to denote prosperity in another verse: “A compassion from Our presence, and prosperity.” Additionally, it can refer to purity itself “…and let him see what food is purest there.”

Moreover in many verses, zakat denotes purification, as corroborated by a hadith that uses the same word in describing the sanitization of soil. Consider these references: “…that is more virtuous for you, and purer”, “…for that is purer for you,” “…and let him see what food is purest there,”  “He said ‘I am only a Messenger of your Lord to announce to you the gift of a pure son,’” “And Moses said: ‘Have you slain a pure soul though he had killed nobody?’” 

WHAT IS TO BE GENERALLY UNDERSTOOD BY ZAKAT IN ISLAM?

In Islamic terminology, zakat is the process where a certain amount of property or money is collected from those who are sufficiently endowed and then given to a needy group of people, with donors, recipients, and the proportion of required donations being clearly specified in both the Qur’an and Sunna. Taking this definition into account, zakat (the prescribed purifying alms) is simply spending what has been bestowed by God, in the amount and places designated by Him, for the sole purpose of physical and spiritual purification.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF ZAKAT ON SOCIETY? (Part 1)

Zakat, with its innumerable facets, is a bond between members of society, one wherein collective harmony is dependent on individual harmony. Zakat explicitly creates a virtuous setting that eliminates various social problems by establishing a harmonious atmosphere for both the rich and the poor. In a nutshell, zakat forestalls, reduces, or eliminates social conflicts, strengthens the growth of the middle class, and obviates all of the greatest social diseases pertaining to financial issues, especially interest and money-hoarding.

ZAKAT REDUCES CLASS STRUGGLES

The establishment and maintenance of social solidarity are maximized when the gap between social classes is kept at a minimum and the voids likely to cause social conflicts are filled. In other terms, relations between the rich and the poor must not deteriorate if anarchy is to be avoided. Undoubtedly, the most important power that upholds these crucial relations between the rich and the poor is zakat and other principles of assistance. In societies where zakat ceases to exist, the precipice between the rich and the poor widens to the effect where abhorrence and hatred replace love and appreciation for the poor, and concomitantly, disdain and scorn replace compassion and charity for the rich.

Leaves of history attest to the gradual deterioration of civilizations that have opted to divide themselves into conflicting classes. Their initial happiness, a fruit of uncompromising discipline, has always been, more or less, short-lived, a prelude to their swift exit from the world stage, under the debris of their own civilization, as they have paid the ultimate price for their social injustices.

By pronouncing, “Zakat is the bridge of Islam”, the Noble Messenger amplified the importance of zakat in abolishing economic gaps between members of society. Zakat is a bridge used for passing over economic strife and when the whole community makes use of this bridge, class conflicts have the potential to become part of history. This bridge also constructs a stable middle class through which increasingly more recipients of zakat can become its donors and a possible clash between the rich and the poor is prevented.

ZAKAT STRENGTHENS THE MIDDLE CLASS

By the prevention of the polarization of society, Islam envisages the construction of a strong middle class.  In providing an opportunity for the unemployed to embark on new business ventures, zakat gains them back into society, stronger than ever, instead of deserting them to become burdens of the community. The strengthening of the middle class in Islam is not encouraged just through zakat and sadaqa; in actuality, there are more precepts pertaining to this issue. For instance, when dividing booty or the spoils of war among members of society, God declares:

That which God gives as spoil to His Messenger from the people of the townships, it is for God and His Messenger (for the State) and for the near of kin, orphans, the needy and the wayfarer so it will not become the property of the rich among you. (Hashr 59:7)

The circulation of capital solely in the hands of the rich inevitably leads to them becoming richer at the expense of the poor, who then become even more stricken. In actual fact, wealth has been created for the benefit of the whole of humanity, indiscriminately. In societies where individuals are deprived and usurped of the wealth bestowed by God, the existence of social classes is tolerated and the scorn of the rich towards the poor is sustained, riches never bring true happiness; on the contrary, financial resource easily becomes a profound source of conflict, even within families and close-knit groups. Additionally, in such societies, the poor remain in perennial anxiety in regards to attaining their sustenance whereas the rich foster similar anxiety pertaining to the security of their wealth. The resort to dangerous alternatives can thus evolve into an option for the poor, a plight we have been so used to witnessing around the world. In contrast, zakat eliminates all of the illegitimate options, graciously providing the poor with an ethical way out of their strife—exhaling into the community a fresh breath of life.

ZAKAT CURES SOCIAL DISEASES

The prime hindrance of the formation of a harmonious atmosphere within societies is the existence of social classes based on wealth. It is self-evident that it is an impossibility for the poor to nurture the love for the rich in a society where they are turned a blind eye on. As prevalent experience has shown, such a society is destined to become a hotbed for social conflict. The following verse corroborates this proposition:

Spend generously for the cause of God, and do not cast yourselves into destruction by your own hands. And know that God loves the doers of good. (Baqara 2:195)

The embracement of self-centeredness, at the expense of abandoning an altruistic life with social awareness, would be tantamount to trotting dangerously, as brilliantly illustrated by the Qur’an. Throwing one’s self into danger is due to deserting infaq or spending in the way of God and its grave outcomes that immediately c o me to mind, including anarchy, becoming the dominant force over a society that further leads to inextricable national and international complications. This dissipative demeanor of the aristocratic class,  indubitably, remains the prime cause underlying anarchy. It is this shockingly irresponsible attitude of the rich,  who squander astronomical amounts of money to attain luxuries in an attempt to satiate their interminable carnal desires, which causes the insurgence of crude souls, leading to anarchy and eventually turning the social welfare system upside down.

Wasteful displays as such will, no doubt, whet the appetite of the poor, inculcating in them an insurmountable feeling of hatred for the rich and perhaps, an excuse to usurp their property upon the first chance given. Obstinately abiding by the notion that enormous financial gaps between individuals do not cause an implicit or explicit upheaval is simply ignoring the realities of life.

The inveterate enmity the poor have for the rich, through zakat, providentially evolves into love and respect, patching up the wounds initially caused by greed and selfishness.

By responding to hate with love, the rich will attain immense respect, and consequently, the bond of fraternity throughout society will be reinforced. Those who do not spend in the way of God impede the rights of others by depriving them of what is theirs and simultaneously, wrong themselves by evading an obligation. God, indeed, dislikes wrongdoers and following such a line of action would ultimately attract the dislike of the Creator.

“Indeed God does not wrong humankind in any way; but humankind wrong themselves” (Yunus 10:44) underlines how human’s worst enemy is, ironically, himself. Those who indulge in “self-oppression” by avoiding zakat will suffer an assault of another form of oppression. “The oppressor is the sword of God; taken revenge with and then taken revenge of” is a vital principle of social life. Thus the wealthy that are in denial of their duty with regards to alms are prone to suffering onslaughts from the poor as immediate punishment for their ignorance. The poor, given they partake in such an upheaval, are also punished in turn, as the realization of the celestial cycle enunciated by the Prophet of God. God may delay a punishment, but when His verdict is decreed, there is no turning back.

Those who furtively stockpile wealth and withhold it in fear of zakat are bound to receive an uncalculated slap in the face as their insatiable greed generates unavoidable calamities from their wealth.

By fixing the problem before it spreads, zakat forestalls the potential complications of society, establishing a firm social structure. Looking from this perspective, many current issues could be avoided if zakat is effectively utilized.

ZAKAT LIBERATES SOCIETY FROM INTEREST

Interest has come to be an essential method of exploitation for the happy minority in their quest for greater wealth. While attempting to establish a society where benevolence reigns, it is inevitable that an effective antidote is applied to extirpate interest, to its very last residue, to prevent the upsurge of many social predicaments.

God, the Almighty, has explicitly forbidden all types and forms of interest, the chief catalyst in causing the rich to become richer and the poor to become poorer—repudiating the common notion that interest increases wealth. The Qur’an, which had aimed to put end to the widespread use of interest and liberate the believers from its fetters, again, makes use of the principle of gradualness, which was discussed earlier:

That which you give in usury in order that it may increase on people’s property has no increase with God; but that which you give in charity, seeking God’s countenance, has a manifold increase. (Rum 30:39)

Though on the surface, wealth may seem to increase with interest, in actual fact, it fails to deliver prosperity which is, instead, promptly taken away by the Creator and replaced with gradual deterioration. Riba, the Arabic term for an interest, holds various meanings, almost all of which are negative, like destruction and devastation; and it also refers to something that carries with itself misfortune. A sharp comparison is made above between, on the one hand, riba or interest that bestows the wealth perennial depreciation and, on the other, sadaqa, the prime inviter of prosperity. What’s important is the actual prosperity bestowed by God on the riches, not the ostensible increase. Seeing that God has given this assurance, it is unthinkable for Him not to realize this assurance, and He will perpetually shower prosperity on wealth out of which sadaqa is given, as confirmed by a copious amount of verifications. Abandoning all forms of interest and embracing sadaqa is a key step towards realizing social justice.

Interest contributes to an apparent increase in wealth but this increase is nothing but a veil put over its eventual depreciation. The above verse, through comparison, implicitly alludes to h o w sadaqa generates a prosperous economy for society, as opposed to the overall deterioration caused by interest, in the purest sense of the word.

The Qur’an, by introducing the prohibition on interest, slowly prepared the early Muslim society for the  total acceptance  of zakat, by articulating how  the Jews, due to partaking in forbidden interest, were deprived of many things which were otherwise previously permissible:

Because of the wrong-doings of the Jews, We made unlawful for them certain good things which were otherwise lawful; and because they hindered many from God’s way, and of their taking usury when they were forbidden from it, and of their devouring people’s wealth by wrongful means. (Nisa 4:160-1)

O you who believe! Do not live on usury, multiplying your wealth many times over (as compound interest). Have fear of God, that perhaps you may be successful. (Al Imran 3:130)

This last revelation proved to be an unambiguous declaration, comprising serious threats for indulgers in interest:

Those who swallow usury shall rise up (from their graves) before God like the men whom Satan has bewitched and maddened by (his) touch, for they assert that usury is just like trading, although God has permitted trade and forbidden usury. He that receives an admonition from his Lord and mends his way may keep what he has already earned; his affair will be determined by God. But those that return (to usury) will be the rightful owners of the Fire. They will abide there forever. God blights usury and makes almsgiving fruitful; He does not love the impious and the guilty. Those that believe and do good works, and establish salat and pay zakat will be rewarded by their Lord; and no fear shall come upon them, neither shall they grieve. O you who believe! Have fear of God, and give up what is still due to you from usury, if you are true believers. And if you do not, then be warned of war (against you) by God and His Messenger. If you repent you may retain your principal (without interest). Wrong not, and you shall be not wronged. And if the debtor is in straitened circumstances, then grant him a postponement until a (time of) ease; but if you remit the debt as almsgiving it will be better for you if you did but know. (Baqara 2:275-80)

As stated above, God and His Messenger deem interest-oriented transactions as a reason to wage war, which in effect, means an exile from Divine Mercy for the rebellious perpetrators. By retorting, “Shall I bow to him (Adam) whom You have made of clay?” (Isra 17:61), Satan had become the first rebel through his denouncing the Divine Command. Such a  seditious demeanor, therefore, incommensurable with that of Satan’s who ultimately was branded with the curse and expelled from the Eternal Compassion of God.

[etirabys]

I just read this fascinating paper about clientelization for my class: Ronald Dore's Goodwill and the Spirit of Market Capitalism (1983), which talks about how some submarkets in Japan tend to consist of entities that deal with each other on a personal and recurring basis, far more than other developed economies (at the time). Dore talks about a dynamic he calls relational contracting: economic relationships that are treated as personal relationships (even between large entities), where 'someone else is cheaper' is not an acceptable reason to cut an ongoing relation but 'you're not dealing with me sincerely/with goodwill' is, where prices/orders tend to flexible and favorable towards the party who has a market disadvantage (e.g. only has a few major customers), where biannual gifts are an expected part of the business relationship.

The paper is really interesting and I quoted a lot of it below, but Dore is not a very good writer, and I've taken slightly more than minimal liberties in typing this out, for clarity and relevance. Below: some quotes about zaibatsu, national loyalty and astonishing resistance to imports when domestic producers are struggling, a hypothesis that more personal / trust-based business relations appear in affluent economies where consumers care more about quality than price. Caveat: paper is several decades old, and I don’t know enough about econ to judge whether any of this is obviously bullshit.

On zaibatsu:

Competition between Japanese firms is intense, but only in markets which are (a) consumer markets and (b) expanding. ... What does concern us here are markets in producers' goods, in intermediates. And for many such commodities markets can hardly be said to exist. Take steel, for instance, and one of its major uses for automobiles. The seven car firms buy their steel through trading companies, each from two or three of the major steel companies, in proportions which vary little from year to year. Prices, in this market, are set by the annual contract between the champions.

It is the concentration of such relationships which is the dominant characteristic of the famous large enterprise groups, known [to foreigners] as zaibatsu. These groups are quite distinct from the hierarchical groupings of affiliates and subsidiaries around some of the giant individual firms like Hitachi. The Mitsubishi group, for example, has no clear hierarchical structure. In its core membership of 28 firms, there is a certain amount of intra-group share ownership – on average about 26% of total equity widely dispersed throughout the group in 3~4% shares. There is a tiny amount of interlocking directorships – about 3% in all directors' seats. And most of the firms have the group bank as their lead bank, and bank of last pleading resort, but that bank provides on average less than 20% of all loan finance to group firms. The only thing which formally defines the identity of the group is the lunch on the last Friday of the month when the Presidents of every company in the group get together, often to listen to a lecture on, say, the oil market in the 1990s, to discuss matters like political party contributions, sometimes to hear news of, or give blessings to, some new joint venture...

The main raison d'etre of these groups is as networks of preferential, stable, obligated, bilateral trading relationships, networks of relational contracting. They are not conglomerates because they have no central board or holding company. They are not cartels because they are all in diverse lines of business. Each group has a bank and a trading company, a steel firm, an automobile firm, a major chemical firm, a shipbuilding and plant engineering firm, and so on... Hence, trade in producer goods within the group can be brisk.

A statistic that demonstrates how dominant exchange/trade across continuing relations are:

The starting point of this discussion of relational contracting was the search for reasons to explain why it made sense for the [Japanese] spinning firms to coordinate production neither through hierarchy (integration of economic entities into one firm), nor through the market (in the normal sense of continuously pursuing the best buy), but through 'relational contracting'. It was, I said, because such arrangements could be relied on in Japan more than in most other economies. There is one striking statistic that illustrates the extent to which it is relied on. The volume of wholesale transactions in Japan is no less than four times as great as the volume of retail transactions. For France, the multiple is 1.2; for Britain, West Germany and the USA the figure is between 1.6 and 1.9.

On loyalty and nationalism:

The Japanese economy is riddled with misallocation. Take the market for steel which I mentioned earlier. Brazil and Korea can now land some kinds of steel in Japan more cheaply than Japanese producers can supply it. But very little of it is sold. Japan can remain as pure as the driven snow in GATT terms – no trigger prices, minimal tariffs, no quotas – and still have a kind of natural immunity to steel imports. None of the major trading companies would touch Brazilian or Korean steel, especially now that things are going so badly for their customers, the Japanese steel companies. Small importers are willing to handle modest lots. But they will insist on their being landed at backwater warehouses away from where any domestic steel is going out, so that the incoming steel is not seen by a steel company employee. If that happens, the lorries taking the steel out might be followed to their destination. And the purchaser, if he turned out to be a disloyal customer, would be marked down for less than friendly treatment next time a boom brings a seller's market.

On how the kind of personal obligations that drive relational contracting can be beneficial to an economy:

– The Japanese system of relational contracting has merits which, I suggest, more than compensate for its price-distorting consequences. The compensatory advantages which go with the disadvantage of inflexible wage costs are reasonably well known. In a career employment system people accept that they have to be learning new jobs; it makes more sense for firms to invest in training... If a firm's market is declining, it is less likely to respond simply by cutting costs to keep profits up, more likely to search desperately for new product lines to keep busy the workers it is committed to employing anyway. Hence a strong growth dynamism.

– The relative security of such relations encourages investment in supplying firms. The spread of robots has been especially rapid in Japan's engineering subcontracting firms in recent years.

– The relationships of trust and mutual dependency make for a more rapid flow of information.

– A by-product of the system is a general emphasis on quality. What holds the relation together is the sense of mutual obligation. If one side fails to live up to his obligations, the other side is released from his. According to the relational contract ethic, it maybe difficult to ditch a supplier because, for circumstances beyond his control, he is not giving you the best buy. It is perfectly proper to ditch him if he is not giving the best buy and not even trying to match the best buy. A supplier who consistently fails to meet quality requirements is in danger of losing even an established relational contract.

A hypothesis that relational contracting arises in affluent economies, and that we ought to see less neoclassical profit-maximizing behavior in firms and individuals in well-off societies:

In the British textile trade, Marks and Spencers is well known for its relational contracting, squeezing suppliers a bit in times of trouble but not ditching them as long as they are maintaining quality standards. In the supermarket world, Sainsbury's have the same reputation, supposedly very different from that of Tesco's, which believes that frequent switching of supplies encourages others to keep the price down.

Try adding together the following thoughts.

– Marks and Spencers is well known for one thing besides relational contracting, namely that it bases its appeal on product quality more than on price.

– There is an apparent relation between a quality emphasis and relational contracting in Japan.

– Sainsburys is up-market compared to Tesco, which is for keen pricers.

– Japan's consumer markets are generally reckoned to be more middle-class, more quality sensitive, and less price-sensitive than Britains. Textile people have given me rough estimates that if one divides the clothing market crudely into two groups, one that is fastidious about quality and not too conscious of price, and one that looks at price rather than neatness of stitching, in Britain the proportions are 25:75, in Japan 60:40.

– Japan of the 1920s, and again in the postwar period, was much more of a cut-throat jungle than it is today. Not the ethics of relational contracting nor the emphasis on product quality nor the lifetime employment system, seem to have been characteristic of earlier periods of Japanese industrialization.

Add all these fragments together an an obvious hypothesis emerges that relational contracting is a phenomenon of affluence. It is when people become better off and the market-stall haggle gives way to [a world where] best buys are defined more by quality than by price, that relational contracting comes into its own.

It does so for two reasons: first because quality assurance has to depend more on trust. You always know whether the butcher is charging you sixpence or sevenpence. But if you don't know the difference between sirloin and rump, and you think your guests might, then you have to trust your butcher. Also, I suspect, when affluence reduces price pressures, any tendencies to prefer a relationship of friendly stability to the poker-game pleasures of adversarial bargaining – tendencies which might have been formerly suppressed by the anxious concerns not to lose a penny – are able to assert themselves.

Applying this hypothesis to explain the shift in employment contracts in the West:

(...) The fragmentary evidence about relational contracting in interfirm trading relations in Britain is complemented by evidence of its growth in the labour market. Not only Britain, but Europe in general – even the USA to a lesser extent – are no longer countries where employers hire and fire without compunction. In industries like steel, job tenures are valued at well over a year's wage. More generally, labour mobility has been falling for 15 years. More attention to career promotion within the firm and managerial doctrines about 'work involvement' in the enterprise exemplify the transformation of the employment contract into a more long-term, more diffuse commitment.

[emsalazar16-blog]

Blog #1 Critical Criminology

The roots of criminology can be traced to the political-economic vision created by philosopher Karl Marx, who believed that modern capitalism had turned workers into a dehumanized mass who lived an existence that was at the mercy of their employers (Siegal, 2019). As discussed in the readings and modules, conflict theory is the view that human behavior is shaped by interpersonal conflict and that crime is a product of human conflict. However it was not until the social and political upheaval of the 1960s that criminologists began to analyze the social conditions of the US that promoted class conflict and crime. Critical criminology was the result of these upheavals which indicated that the economic system produces the conditions that support a high crime rate. (Siegal, 2019).

Dutch scholar Willem Bonger proclaimed in his 1916 work Criminality and Economic Conditions that in every society that is divided into a ruling class and an inferior class, penal law serves the will of the ruling class (Siegal, 2019). Crimes are considered antisocial acts because they are harmful to those who have the power at their command to control society (Siegal, 2019). Using the legal apparatus to 1) impose their particular morality and standards of good behavior on the entire society 2) protect their property and physical safety from the depredations of the have-nots 3) extend the definition of illegal or criminal behavior to encompass those who might threaten the status quo (Sykes, 1974:210). In a condensed statement, Meier (1976) draws to the same conclusion Sykes stated: the new criminology is centered around a view of society that is dominated by an elite who uses criminal law as a means of meeting and controlling certain threats to the elite’s power and position (462). The use of the legal apparatus defines what acceptable standards of conduct are and by repressing the behavior, and the people, who violate established standards, the powerful are able to maintain their privileged positions (Meier, 1976:462-3).

Middle class are drawn to this pattern of domination because they either 1) are led to believe they too have a stake in maintaining the status quo or 2) are made part of the agencies of social control and the rewards of organizational careers provide inducements for keeping the poor in their place (Sykes, 1974:210). In 1973, critical theory was given a powerful academic boost when British scholars Ian Taylor, Paul Walton, and Jock Young published The New Criminology – it called for the development of new methods of criminological analysis and critique; it became the standard resource for scholars critical of both the field of criminology and the existing legal process (Siegal, 2019). Since its publication critical criminologists have established a tradition of focusing on the field itself and questioning the role criminology itself plays in supporting the status quo and collaborating in the oppression of the poor and powerless (Siegal, 2019). Critical criminologists scoffed when their fellow scholars used statistical analysis of computerized data to describe criminal and delinquent behavior (Siegal, 2019). Criminologists were quick to point out that the statistics used could lead to overestimation or underestimation of the total amount of crime in any given year, but no one could be sure which was the case (Sykes, 1974:209).

Police hold high stakes in the amount of crime that is reported – if crime rates go down then they are able to take credit for effectively dealing with crime; if crime rates increase, they could demand for higher financial support. Hulu’s Crime + Punishment I believe does an incredible job at capturing how high the stakes are for reporting crime. Although New York City banned quotas on arrests and summonses, that did not stop police chiefs from ordering officers under their command to continue the use of quotas on arrests. This was especially the case in lower-income neighborhoods and areas where minorities were high in density. 

Reexamining Richard Quinney’s The Social Reality of Crime Wozniak, Cullen, and Platt (2015) objective reality is filtered through images and stereotypes that people hold (202). We have to unpack the filters otherwise we are unable to understand why support for punitive practices such as mass incarceration holds strong. This draws back to the point made earlier about middle class citizens, including those in the lower middle class, being drawn to the pattern of domination that favors those in positions of privilege and power, even if they themselves are not a part of the privileged and powerful cohort. Wozniak et al. (2015) also examined race, finding that those who harbored racial animus were more likely to favor punishment, including death penalty (202). This highly suggests that support for punitive punishments is not simply the result of objective conditions (crime rates) but was also refracted through racial prejudices and stereotypes. 

Contemporary critical criminologists devote their attention to a number of important topics, concepts, and themes. In our postindustrial, capitalist society our economic system produces the have and the have-nots which directly shape social life and controls behavior (Siegal, 2019). The economic competitiveness leads to increases in interpersonal conflicts and destabilizes social institutions and social groups. Economic predictions show a clear pattern of increasing wealth for the upper-income families and no wealth growth for middle- and lower-income families (Siegal, 2019). This is interesting because it was previously mentioned that those in the middle- and lower-middle classes were more likely to support the use of legal apparatuses to maintain elites in control and subordinate those who were not part of the exclusive group that controls the power. These families are seemingly living a false consciousness, in my opinion because they believe they have some high stake just as the elite rather than realizing they are more similar to those who they believe are below them (those in lower-class and poverty).

https://www.sentencingproject.org/criminal-justice-facts/  Read more about the criminal justice system with graphical data which includes state and federal data.

https://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Race-and-Punishment.pdf Read more about racial perceptions of crime and the support for punitive policies. 

https://www.projectcensored.org/the-state-class-and-false-consciousness-within-the-american-working-class/ Read more about the state and false consciousness within the American working-class.

References:

Meier, R. (1976). The New Criminology: Continuity in Criminological Theory. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (1973-), 67(4), 461-469. doi:10.2307/1142761

Siegel, L. J. (2019). Criminology: The Core. Australia: Cengage.

Sykes, G. (1974). The Rise of Critical Criminology. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (1973-), 65(2), 206-213. doi:10.2307/1142539

Wozniak, J., Cullen, F., & Platt, T. (2015). Richard Quinney's "The Social Reality of Crime": A Marked Departure from and Reinterpretation of Traditional Criminology. Social Justice, 41(3 (137)), 197-215. Retrieved March 12, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/24361640

[pileofsketches]

Hi Writer!

I’m noun on Ao3; thank you for writing for me! To give you an idea of my tastes, I’ve got the standard DNWs below. Anything not mentioned is fair game.

On consent, I’m ok with dubious consent—be it because consent cannot be discussed beforehand, dubcon turning into con, or simply because desire overcomes reasons why person didn’t consent fully in the first place. Otherwise, go wild. I like enthusiastic consent, arousal is arousing.

DNWs: dialogue lifted entirely from canon (callbacks are fine!), first-person writing (unless in epistolary format), character studies (whole fic musing on someone’s canonical actions, no new content/action), hopeless or depressing endings (angst and struggle during the fic = great), coffee shop/minimum wage struggle AUs, noncon, trans headcanons, autism headcanons, asexuality headcanons, prostitution as a positive (background prostitution/mentions of trafficking are a-ok), daddy kink or parental role kink, and sexualized choking.

A/B/O is a trope I absolutely adore—the changes to society! the possessiveness! the various kinks!—but please no male pregnancy/women who can impregnate.

If, in any place, a kink/trope looks to override any specific DNW, the kink/trope wins out. That shouldn’t happen in this exchange, but if it does—kink/trope trumps.

List is organized by fandom, then universal kinks, parings, then paring specific kinks if applicable. There are so many freeform tags, I tried to give a sentence each as to why I like each one, and more if possible. Also, you can assume if I like a specific kink (ie, Breeding Kink -- We Have to Conceive the Chosen One(s)) then I will like it in a general sense (= breeding kink) and it’s a-ok to use it in combo with another prompt.

Assassin’s Creed – All Media Types

I have not played anything after Syndicate, but am familiar with the comics up to Juno’s death and some of the YA novels. Please do not use any of the Odyssey/Origins lore, be it on whatever they’re doing with the Precursor backstory or Assassin motivations or whatever.  

 A/B/O - Alpha begs to be allowed to knot: I love the desperation and the contrast between perceived authority of the alpha versus the omega actually giving permission.

 A/B/O - Animalistic Behavior: Biting, marking, a general retreat to more animalistic instincts. I like A/B/O set-ups where it’s the alpha who gets uncontrollable while the omega, while in heat, retains their wits. I do love nesting omegas!

 A/B/O - breeding triads:  ‘Successful’/stable relationships involve either one of each, or two alphas and an omega, or two omegas and an alpha.

A/B/O - First time rut Alpha with experienced omega: Self-explanatory.  

Alternate Universe - Role Reversal: Fandom specific! Either a) make the Assassins Templars, or b) swap motivations as far as Pieces of Eden.

Bondage and Discipline - Honor Bondage: Give me some of that Assassin control! Does the paranoia and like, actual expertise with restraints and weapons make this the more interesting/more sexual option? How does control get handled when that’s one of someone’s huge ideological pillars?

Breeding Kink - Those are some excellent genes you have there: For any of the past parings, they know they have to have a kid to make Desmond happen. For any of the later ones, is it a pre-Flare attempt to get them a backup plan? Is Abstergo making them do it?

Breeding Kink - We Have to Conceive the Chosen One(s):  For any of the past parings, they know they have to have a kid to make Desmond happen. For any of the later ones, is it a pre-Flare attempt to get them a backup plan? Is Abstergo making them do it?

Character From Future Tries To Convince Current Enemy They Will Be Friends/Allies In Future: Desmond going back to the Farm, Desmond going back before his kidnapping, Desmond waking up from any of his Animus experiences with knowledge of the Flare and trying to get to Lucy earlier, Maria going back to the first time she met Altair and trying to help him, Altair waking up in the middle of his missions from either the end of his life or the middle of his successful relationship and trying to mend things with Malik/meet Maria sooner.

Character goes bad to save the world and enjoys it more than expected: I will kill for this in a ToWK setting for Connor. Or, Desmond—the Eye somehow gives him all the power, and he decides to fix everything/break the cycle. I’m also for this with anyone in the Altair/Malik/Maria trio—what does it look like if one of them manages to use the Apple?

Comes Back Wrong: Mostly for Desmond. Everyone is glad he’s ok, but there’s some element of Precursor/just plain done with being manipulated/whatever you want to slap on. Also, for Malik or Maria after their canonical deaths.

Dubcon voyeurism to consensual threesome: self-explanatory.

Lavish Descriptions Of Historical Clothing: specifically 18th century, but I’m flexible.

Loyalty Kink: self-explanatory.

Sex Pollen: self-explanatory.

Soulmates: Characters have each other's names on their wrists: self-explanatory.

Soulmates - they know from a young age that they're soulmates but smth keeps them apart: self-explanatory.

Touch-Starved Character Having Overwhelming Tender Long Foreplay First Time Sex: self-explanatory, but it does scream Connor.

Werewolves - Sex With Werewolf in Wolf Form: self-explanatory. 

Desmond Miles/Lucy Stillman (Assassin's Creed)  

I like this paring because of what an effective lure Lucy was for Desmond, with the fact that she was 1) attractive 2) saved him and 3) had a relationship with Bill that seemed like perfect bait (and was) for Desmond’s own issues with him. Desmond’s forgiveness of her, Lucy’s tragic death, the parallels that were made in the game between him and Lucy and Maria and Altair—all great.

Malik Al-Sayf/Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad/Maria Thorpe (Assassin's Creed)

My favorite OT3s are the ones where each person has an independently strong relationship with the other two in the trio, and supports each one/gets different things out of each one. I like Maria and Malik moderating Altair and dealing with the complicating feelings he has for each one when he’s been such a lone wolf for most of his life. (I am also a big fan of Tazim being Malik and Maria’s kid)

Ratonhnhaké:ton | Connor/Original Female Character(s) (Assassin's Creed)

This ship is entirely a vehicle for kinks/tropes, do whatever you’d like to make the OFC work. My only request is that she not be a colonist who’s Not Like Other Girls, ie, won’t wear stays/a corset and a skirt, or be someone that Connor rescued who now has a crush on him. Also, I would kill for a ToKW setting.

Rebecca Crane/Shaun Hastings/Desmond Miles (Assassin's Creed)

Pretty much the same as the Altair/Malik/Maria ship- I like OT3s are the ones where each person has an independently strong relationship with the other two in the trio, and supports each one/gets different things out of each one. I would be as happy for something set pre-Flare where the three of them fall in together because hey, it’s the end of the world, as much for something Syndicate/Black Flag era where Desmond is revived/downloaded from the cloud and they’re very glad to have him back.

Dishonored (Video Games)

 Arranged Marriage - Public Consummation

Bondage and Discipline - Honor Bondage

Breeding Kink - We Have to Conceive the Chosen One(s)

Character goes bad to save the world and enjoys it more than expected

First Time - A Patient with B's Clumsy but Enthusiastic Blow Job/Cunnilingus: Would prefer Emily to be the experienced one. 

If I Must Solve A Dozen Geopolitical Problems Just To Have Sex With You Then I Will

Lavish Descriptions Of Historical Clothing

Loyalty Kink

Ritual Sex Magic

Soulmates - they know from a young age that they're soulmates but smth keeps them apart

Emily Kaldwin/The Outsider

General monster boyfriend vibes, the idea of the destined lover, the inevitability of fate vs active and individual choice. I prefer Outsider-Outsider, but am ok with a story that splits between divinity and mortal or sets him as the slightly-off human. Please no naivety/woobie human Outsider.

Xeno - Loving oral on Wet Pinecone Dick (Awapuhi Plant gif)

Xeno - sex shouldn't be physically possible but we're not cowards

Be Not Afraid for I have some excellent dick

Consentacles

Kirin Jindosh/Emily Kaldwin

Coup-tested royalty vs clawed his way up from the gutter genius—the class divide is a huge part of why I like this paring. I like Emily pushing and Jindosh resisting—until he doesn’t—and the idea of the public/private divide as far as behavior.

Masked Ball As An Excuse for Inadvisable Sex: This is just the Fugue Feast, so. 

Pregnancy - Impregnator Wins the Throne

Soulmates - Characters have each other's names on their wrists: The angst! How does Jindosh handle this, growing up. (How do you even prove it’s real?) How does his struggle to get close enough to Emily influence his choices? Is he even interested in nobility? How does Emily handle her side? Just give me class issues and the concept of fate/avoiding fate.

The Witch (2016)

Please don’t make Thomasin’s age/youth a kink. In the period setting, she’s more or less a full adult, dresses like one, etc. Also, I would prefer a benevolent/semi-benevolent Black Philip in the sense of a viable alternative to the religion Thomasin was raised in, and a humanoid over a goat. The theme of willing and educated consent is particularly important to me in this one- Thomasin makes her choices understanding the cost, and is an enthusiastic participant, or is actively convinced. 

Black Philip/Thomasin (The Witch)

Alternate Universe - Formal Matriarchy: How does the witch commune in the forest work? Where do they get their food/supplies? (’noun, that’s too much thought for a horror movie’) How does this turn out in fifty years/sixty? Listen, I just want a functioning magical matriarchy that yells fuck off/fights expansionism. 

Breeding Kink - We Have to Conceive the Chosen One(s) Slash anti-Christ, or a bunch of demons, or whatever.

Lavish Descriptions Of Historical Clothing: Particularly corsets, or the sort of clothing that wealthy women would wear in this time period. She was tempted by a pretty dress, among other things. 

Pregnancy - pregnant with multiples

Sex with Monsters

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (TV)

Please keep this in the era the show is set in! I am a-ok with period homophobia, but am not interested in a coming out type story where the focus of the struggle is triumph over adversary- I like Midge’s career being the focus, or little domestic scenes. Maybe something where they’re in a relationship by the time she realizes that Shy’s gay? Is she able to handle herself better because of this? I am also perfectly happy if Midge and Susie remain closeted to friends/family during the story/their relationship seems like how it is in the show to everyone else, and there’s no angst over that.

Miriam "Midge" Maisel/Susie Myerson (Mrs Maisel)

Butch woman is allowed to remain butch for entirety of story

Canon Got Fucked and They Lived Happily Ever After

Character A thinks they're just character B's rebound but they're not

Lavish Descriptions Of Historical Clothing

Make This Fic Super Excited About Bing Set in New York

[sjphotosphere]

(Should Your Child Become A Doctor?) [Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from a Northern California cardiologist who blogs about parenting and personal finance at DadsDollarsDebts.com. This is a great post that explores where medicine and parenting collide. We have no financial relationship. Enjoy!] Raising kids is tough but rewarding work. It is honestly the hardest thing I have done. Harder than being on call. Worse than telling a loved one that their family member has died unexpectedly. Definitely worse than dealing with my dislike of confrontation. [Wait, isn’t that the definition of parenting?-ed] Still it is the most rewarding thing I have ever done. Watching all of those synapses connect and all of the experimentation that goes on in my little ones head. It is quite incredible. As I am raising mini me my biggest thoughts are about how to not screw this up–how to raise a productive member of society instead of a serial killer. Parents and Kids DDD and Mini-DDD It seems that all of our interactions, starting at a very young age shape who we are. Parents are kids biggest influencers. From the time we are 1 day old, we are watching the actions of our parents, learning from their communication styles, and figuring out how important relationships work. We have to watch what we do and say in front of our kids, even when they can’t communicate. For example, Mrs. DDD and I have a pretty solid relationship. It is rare to get in a dispute, but like all relationships it happens occasionally. A few months back, we had a slightly heated conversation in front of our then 18 month old boy. He quickly changed his smiling face and started crying. It was obvious to Mrs. DDD and me that we had screwed up. We quickly changed our tune. That memory sticks in my head going forward every day. How quickly my son absorbed that feeling of conflict and emotionally reacted to it! Now I continue to try and be positive with him about all my daily interactions, including doctoring. Role Modeling Interactions and role modeling also are true for careers. When someone asks me why I became a doctor, I really don’t have a cool answer like “I wanted to help people” or “I really loved science”. Don’t get me wrong, I like helping people. This is a very rewarding job and there are days where I really feel like I have made a difference. There are days too, where I just feel like a customer service rep at your local chain store. With patient satisfaction forms and checkboxes that need to be clicked, it is hard not to get disheartened at times. So why did I become a doctor? Role modeling. My father is a physician and his grandfather was a physician before him. So I became a physician. I really never gave it any thought. It was just what I was going to do. It was expected. I assume that’s why firefighter and policeman families exist. One person does it and the rest follow suit. So I wonder if my kid will want to become a doctor, and if so should I dissuade him? This is a tough topic. When I poll my colleagues, most say they would not want their kids in medicine. We all understand how fortunate we are to be in a high paying job where we are actually helping people. For the most part we are all our own bosses (yes, even the employed physicians maintain some degree of autonomy). I am also in the camp that I hope my son does not choose a career in medicine. It seems sad to say so. I, however, will never tell him this and will try to model the positives in our fields. [Ha ha, wait until he reads this as PGY2!-ed] So how can I go forward and raise a kid who wants to do something else? Supporting Interests My plan is to be supportive of all of my kid’s interests and talents. I say interests AND talents because he may have interest and want to pursue basketball. If he is anything like me, he will lack the LeBron genes and talents. Sorry kid, you will have to go to college! As he grows and his interests change, we will support those too. Hopefully over time he will find what he is interested in and devote a lot of time to it (10,000 hours anyone?) Become talented. Make a living. This is much like the boy who built a nuclear reactor in high school, Taylor Wilson. I will try to not discourage any of his interests until he figures this out. Then if he wants to become a physician, I will support that too. If, however, he wants to become a rockstar, I am ready to buy an RV and travel around the county being his number one fan. Man I hope he becomes a rockstar. 5 Reasons I Do Not Want My Kid To Be a Doctor Emotional fatigue- As a cardiologist there are days when I am dealing with very sick and dying people. There are days people die unexpectedly. This is very trying on the soul and can lead to physician burnout. More importantly, it can lead to emotional fatigue so that when I get home, I do not have the energy to bring it for my wife and kid. I try my best to distance work from home, but some days I am just beat by the time I get home and am not as patient handling my toddler. Sacrifice- Burning his 20s in medical school and residency (minimum 7 years with some people doing up to 12 years). He will be missing out on potential earnings at that point and time with friends. Though residency was quite fun and most residents know how to party. As they say, work hard play hard! Bureaucracy- Medicine is an ever changing field where Congress, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and people with MBAs who have never touched a patient have more control over your practice then you do. Sunk cost fallacy- As I discussed previously, once he has committed 7 to 12 years of life towards a task, it is hard to leave it even if he hates it. [Especially if he owes $500K in student loans.-ed] So once in medicine it is likely he will stay in medicine until he retires. That makes me itch. I like movement, change, and entropy. Other careers may allow for more lateral or upward movement. For instance, leaving a $100K job for another $100K job in a different field is easy. Leaving a $300K job in medicine for a $150K job in tech is hard. Physical fatigue- There are a lot more physically taxing jobs like construction work. Still some of our colleagues, like Orthopedic surgeons, wear body lead for 8 hour surgeries. This takes a toll on the back and knees over time. Not to mention hazards such as radiation exposure, etc. The other side of this equation is that some “non-physician” jobs have you sit at a desk all day which is also harmful. Actually, my job requires me to sit in front of a computer all day. Darn electronic medical records! (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push(); 5 Reasons Why I Am Okay If My Kid Chooses Medicine Freedom to Choose- It’s his choice. If he wants to pursue medicine, without my pushing, then I am all for it. I will help him to my full abilities, though I may recommend a call-light field like dermatology or allergy. Service-oriented- He can help people. This is a job where every day I go in and know that I am helping at least 1 person. Really making a difference in their lives. That is pretty satisfying. Nice living- He will make a stable living and likely a good income. I think a career in medicine is quite stable with very rare occasions for unexpected job loss. Plus, it is a way to make over $100K and up to $1,000,000 depending on the chosen field. Will it be as lucrative in 26 years when Young DDD is ready to practice? Nobody knows, but I suspect it will still be in the upper middle class range. Great relationships- Training allows for meeting great friends. There is nothing as good for forming friendships as putting people through hardships. Medical school, residency, and fellowship all do that and the relationships built become quite strong. Some of my best friends are from these periods of my life and I am thankful for it. Job mobility- As a physician you can move practically anywhere, especially if you are a generalist. As a general cardiologist I can live in small town America or big city USA. It doesn’t matter. It may take some time to find the job I want in the area I want, but I can do it with patience and perseverance. There are not many jobs that can do that. Going forward we will see where life leads. It is so cool to watch him grow as I continue on my path to financial independence so hopefully by the time he is 10 and I am 45, I can leave work if I want and help him continue to grow into a good human being. What do you think? Would you want your kids in medicine? Why and why not? Comment below! !function()function e()var e=document.createElement("script"),n=document.getElementById("myFinance-widget-script"),a=t+"static/widget/myFinance.js";e.type="text/javascript",e.async=!0,e.src=a,n.parentNode.insertBefore(e,n);var c="myFinance-widget-css";if(!document.getElementById(c))var d=document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0],i=document.createElement("link");i.id=c,i.rel="stylesheet",i.type="text/css",i.href=t+"static/widget/myFinance.css",i.media="all",d.appendChild(i)var t="http://ift.tt/2oFUowK";document.attachEvent?document.attachEvent("onreadystatechange",function()"complete"===document.readyState&&e()):document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",e,!1)(); http://ift.tt/2qH1K3j

[emotionallaborunion]

Against "do you want fries with that?"

I don’t usually cross-post between my blog and Tumblr, nor do I usually try to give advice to younger people (unless they ask), but I do want to say this and I know a lot of people who follow me here are younger than I am. So, here’s the contents of a blog post.  

Compiling what I wrote in an impromptu Twitter thread: I saw a tweet that said: "English major = 'Want fries with that?' 🍟. Pick something that will give you enough money to write what you want." (In the interest of discretion, I won't say who wrote this, but you can find out if you go to the thread.) This is bullshit. I have a computer science degree and thus all the money I want and no emotional energy left after work for writing. If I'd majored in English (like 13-year-old me wanted) I wouldn't have gone down the path of lots of money and spiritual/artistic vacuity. (Maybe more like 10-year-old me wanted; 13-year-old me wanted to be an editorial cartoonist and major in sociology or journalism in order to get there. 10-year-old me maybe had the best plan.) I was in debt -- student, medical, or both, at various times -- from September 1997 to January 2017. Now that I'm out of it, I can choose what to do next, so the point here isn't "cry for me". It is: Please do not pretend choosing an economically useful major while telling yourself you can do your important work "in your free time" (imagine all the finger air quotes there) doesn't have a serious, permanent cost. It does. You can never get back the time you spent doing stuff you don't care about for people who despise you. You need money to live, but time is the most precious resource you have because when you lose money, you can get it back; when you lose time, you can never get it back. Me, I didn't even choose computer science for the money (that came later). I thought, at the time, that I'd enjoy it more than I enjoyed writing or playing music. (I didn't enjoy playing music at all at the time, because I spent most of the first 16 years of my life playing classical music not because I wanted to, but because I had a parent who was foisting "what I didn't get to do when I was younger" onto me. I did get over that, but it took me about another 20 years. That's another story.) Anyway, once you get into industry, you realize the real day-to-day work isn't much fun, or that there are fun things about it but not the ones you anticipated, and a whole lot of soul-sucking baggage that's the price of both the fun and the money, but by then the money has you trapped. So if somebody had said all this to me when I was 18 (which they probably did, but I also had a parent yelling at me pretty loudly to be practical so I could support her when she got old (joke's on her, she's old now and I haven't spoken to her since 2014 and never will again)), it wouldn't have mattered -- I thought I was choosing the major that was what I wanted to do most, and I was pretty solidly on the side of telling my peers to do the same, and grieving with the ones who had parents who felt their tuition money was buying them permanent control over their children's lives. I would hate to see someone who doesn't even like computer science, though, choose it anyway because of shaming from people using the 🍟 emoji (and by the way, there is zero shame in working in food service -- someone has to cook for the people who get to spend their time writing), because of middle-class anxiety over the psychic cost of being one of the people their parents or grandparents stepped on to achieve middle-class status. It's one thing to choose it because it seems like the most fun thing at the time, another to hide your light under the barrel of "a stable job, a practical career." So if you're reading this and you're a teenager, choosing a major, or choosing whether to go to college at all, and you want to write or make art: write. Make your art. Put your first energies into those things, build whatever scaffolding you need to in order to keep your first energies there. (And if you change your mind later, that's cool too.) If you de-center those things in your life now, it will never get any easier to center them again. Do what it takes to survive, but never pretend that what fuels your fire is secondary and "real jobs" are primary; know it's the other way around. If you're 28 and in a "good" job and you want to write or make art but you're afraid of losing safety, know it'll never get any easier. So you might as well do it now. If you're 38 and you want to write or make art but you have 2 kids to support, I wish you the best. We -- as in, we adults who've had our dreams beaten out of us -- terrorize kids with a lot of fear-mongering about starving artists and starving musicians. The truth is that artists and musicians have always found ways to survive in a world hostile to art, so long as they're lucky enough to get taught that the shame of not being affluent must be avoided at all costs. (There are a few other kinds of luck that I'll talk about a little later.) Sometimes there's a very strong reason to pick the "I'll make a lot of money, then I'll do what I want" path: medical bills or responsibility for children or parents or both, while living in a society that is vicious towards young, old, sick, and disabled people. But ask yourself: If I'll be able to do The Thing later, when I have X amount of money, can I do it now without the money? And likewise: If I'm afraid to do The Thing now, will having X amount of money actually address the root cause of that fear? Because "I need to have X amount of savings before I do Y" tends to turn into "no, no, I was wrong, I need X*Z amount of savings first". The goalposts never stop moving. When you were 12, maybe you thought all you needed was rent money and enough food to eat. At 25, maybe that turns into a down payment on a house, and at 30, maybe a hot tub in the yard, a nice car, and a vacation home. Centering yourself on what really matters now builds a foundation on which it remains easier to not forget what mattered to you in the face of the distractions capitalism will try to sell you (especially when you spend all day in an office with people who also believe they can buy their way to personal fulfillment). Another thing to keep in mind: even if you are a person who can put in 8+ hours a day at a professional job, then leave and spend 6+ hours on your art (and not sleep much), you don't really know how much time you have before becoming too disabled to do both. Might be 60 years. Might be 1 year. All abled people are temporarily abled, and some of the most common disabilities and chronic illnesses take your excess energy first. Not to mention that chronic stress both from toxic jobs and double-timing tends to trigger any latent predispositions to those illnesses. Especially now, in 2017: there is only the present; stability in the future is a lie. Keep in mind reading all of this, I don't necessarily know the answer or the plan, not even for me and certainly not for you. I'm 36 and still in a job I'm ambivalent about on the best days, and I want to buy a house and adopt kids; renting a room doesn't afford much space for musical instruments or my sewing machine or more animals, much less kids. At this point, I don't have the conviction that the writing and art I want to make are worth delaying those plans for (the plans that more closely resemble the lives of my peers, my college friends and my office co-workers, and have their own appeal). A few months ago I was driving through Iowa and bought a new hardcover copy of Bruce Springsteen's autobiography on impulse. When I started reading it, I loved the writing but I had to set it aside because some uncomfortable feeling overwhelmed me, and a little later I realized it was envy: of people like him and his friends who got to spend their time, from early teens onwards, playing the kind of music they wanted to play. I was playing music when I was a teenager, too, but I hated it, and stopped as soon as I had the freedom to. It took me my entire adult life so far to want to do it again. My other musical hero, John Darnielle, worked day jobs for most of his career. Envy, as well, because I can't seem to find work that isn't primarily emotional labor (even when my business card says "engineer") and that doesn't leave me with much at the end of the day to put into art. So while part of me knows it's not too late, part of me is too busy grieving over all the time I lost to be able to make a new plan. If you're younger, and don't have as many sunk costs, maybe listen to whatever inside you makes you feel the most alive. And if you're older than me, do it too so I'll have more examples to look to. Another reason why the original advice is garbage: yes, Wallace Stevens was an insurance agent. But I suspect that if you look at the writers you like, you'll find more people who can write because they have a partner who financially supports them than you'll find full-time engineers or lawyers who are part-time writers. This is sort of a dirty little secret. The best thing you can do to be a successful artist is major in whatever you want, then marry rich. This doesn't mean you should marry for money. It does mean that "bust your ass doing 2-3 jobs if you want to earn the right to be an artist" is toxic victim-blaming capitalist pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps bullshit, because a lot of the artists you admire got there because someone else worked full-time to support them, not because they moonlighted. The good luck of being loved by someone with money should not be confused with hard work. Aside from economics, something I think stops a lot of younger people from following their vision is belief in scarcity: there are a lot of people who want to be musicians and writers, and many who are more talented than you, so why bother? Even if you make a living off it, you won't be famous. There are too many novels and no one will read yours; too many bands and no one will go to your shows. Sound familiar? It does for me. The more time passes, the more I think that's a seductive lie, too, not because you will get famous, but because that probably isn't what you want anyway. What you do want is time to spend doing the work that makes you feel whole. 'You hold onto Berryman’s line – “It is idle to reply to critics” – and understand that the actual work isn’t the thing you make, but the process that makes it, whose inherent value and dignity is well beyond any debate, because it is an expression of your self and therefore nobody can really judge it.' -- John Darnielle