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Created
Sat, 09/12/2023 - 02:09

‘My biggest worry is where my next job will come from,’ says Antonio, a fast-food delivery driver. He is one of the millions of workers in the UK in what has become known as the ‘gig economy’: a form of work based on short-term and temporary jobs, particularly those accessed through digital platforms which connect […]

Created
Sat, 09/12/2023 - 02:08

When we go for drinks with friends, we don’t always think about the work that makes this possible. Often that’s the point. Hospitality workers are encouraged to make customers’ experiences smooth, with smiles and nods. But our good nights out can also be someone else’s thirteen-hour shift, their aching feet and lower backs, their time […]

Created
Sat, 09/12/2023 - 02:08

In 2021, Spain passed pioneering legislation against the use of bogus self-employment in on-demand delivery work. The Riders’ Law took aim at the gig economy model of hiring couriers as freelancers for per-delivery pay — a practice which had allowed digital platforms like Deliveroo and Uber Eats to massively drive down labour costs but left workers […]

Created
Sat, 09/12/2023 - 02:08

‘This international gay and lesbian solidarity represents the recognition that the equality we are fighting for is a universal human right — the right to sexual choice and self-determination — which overrides national boundaries, political systems, and cultural traditions.’ Writing for Tribune on the twentieth anniversary of the Stonewall riots of June 1969, gay rights […]

Created
Sat, 09/12/2023 - 02:08

Anthony Minghella’s sumptuous drama The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), based on the 1955 psychological thriller by Patricia Highsmith, scans almost as a manual for faking your way into the upper echelons of the American elite. Tom Ripley (Matt Damon), a lowly Manhattan piano tuner, dons a borrowed Princeton jacket at a black-tie fundraiser and convinces […]

Created
Sat, 09/12/2023 - 02:07

The scale of Detroit’s ongoing transformation is staggering. There are new hockey and basketball stadiums, a streetcar system, and dozens of luxury apartment complexes. New storefronts showcase the wares of companies like Nike, Under Armour, and Whole Foods. Reconverted corporate skyscrapers look down on the city. A century ago, Detroit turned itself into a mecca […]

Created
Sat, 09/12/2023 - 02:07

In 2020 the Labour Party issued a press release in which its deputy leader, Angela Rayner, ripped into the Conservative government over ‘reports that lobbyists have been secretly serving as advisers to government ministers and departments’ and other revelations of ‘cronyism’ around ‘businesses and individuals with close links to the Conservative Party’. Rayner said it […]

Created
Sat, 09/12/2023 - 01:50

Editor’s note: This essay originally appeared December 23, 2020 and is slightly modified.

by Brian Czech

With Christmas two weeks out, folks are making tough decisions about Christmas presents. The public is rattled by inflation, credit card debt is through the roof, and gift-giving is a real strain for many. My advice for anyone stressing out over Christmas presents is simple:  Take a break from the shopping!

The post Christ Didn’t Shop for Christmas Presents (Much Less Jets and Guns) appeared first on Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy.

Created
Sat, 09/12/2023 - 00:05

This is the third chapter of my book “The Construction of Reality.” It’s first draft, so not completely edited, and is a reward for reaching a milestone in our fundraiser. The next milestone is $8,350 (a little over $2,000 from the last milestone), and will include chapters:

5. Identity and Identification (how we expand our bodies beyond our physical selves)

6. The Ritual (how we create identification)

7. Interaction ritual (how daily life creates identification and personality)


Being Aware

If you’re like most people, you have a memory which runs as follows. You left your home meaning to go somewhere, only to suddenly realize that you were actually heading to work, school or somewhere else you go often.

Created
Sat, 09/12/2023 - 00:00

CLERK: Hi, Mr. Gordon. We’ll just get you checked in here and discuss options. For the oil change, we have standard oil, high mileage, and our premium full synthetic blend.

ME: I’ll take full synthetic.

CLERK: Okay, good choice. We’ve got your cabin air filter here, it’s a bit dirty, as you can see. Want it replaced?

ME: Sure.

CLERK: Great, this is going well. While we’re talking filters, your engine air filter, fuel filter, and transmission filter are a bit old. Would you like any of those replaced as well?

ME: Do all of them.

CLERK: Wow, no one’s ever said that before. You don’t play games. So, uh … let’s talk about your engine health.

ME: Yeah, let’s do that.

CLERK: Really? Excellent. We can do an engine diagnostic test, radiator coolant fluid exchange, and a serpentine belt and radiator hose replacement.

ME: Replace every belt and hose.