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Cake day: July 6th, 2023

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

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






  • Freight trains. The funny thing is that I was never really interested in them as a kid, only once I got into my early 20s. There’s tons of adults who love trains, but for some reason it’s still viewed as kind of a childish interest and I’m not sure why.

    The last time I drove out to watch some I was kind of disappointed though. It’s been a long time, so I was actually surprised that out of hundreds of freight containers, 90% of them are now just giant Amazon logos, and the other 10% are giant Walmart logos. It kind of sucks. The engines make it worth it though.



  • You must live below the people in the apartment next to me.

    Why are people like this. Really. I want a serious, well thought out answer from people who act like this. I would be fucking appalled if I found out people had been losing sleep because of me. Or they weren’t able to concentrate when working from home, or had to get a bluetooth converter for their tv to connect headphones because otherwise they can’t even enjoy tv with all the stomping, banging, furniture moving, and door slamming. I would feel so fucking guilty and especially embarrassed for coming off as such an entitled piece of shit. I literally cannot comprehend that there are people who know they’re disturbing others, in their own homes, day and night, and they either don’t give a shit, or they get mad at the person they’re torturing for asking them nicely to keep it down. Or both. And yes I have brought it up with my landlord countless times. They could give a fuck. The next step is to contact the city and have them come in with a decibel meter or something. In my state, landlords must ensure “peaceful enjoyment” for tenants. But I’d have to prove it’s over a certain level, then deal with filing a complaint and/or civil court or whatever, so nothing ever changes.

    This is one situation where I think an eye for an eye is perfectly reasonable, because after living through over a year of daily constant noise, I think my next door neighbors aren’t deserving of a single moment of peace from now on.


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

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

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