Selling the fantasy “If you could have one superpower, what would it be?” is a familiar conversation-starter. Flying? Invisibility? Super strength? Marvel built a media empire around that fantasy. DC Comics too. Before Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman, If I Had a Million (1932) considered what Average Joes would do if they came into a sudden financial windfall. Donald J. Trump, heir to daddy Fred’s fortune, has been selling a fantasy his entire life. When he came to prominence in New York City in the 1970s, he conned New York Times reporters into believing he owned properties his father actually owned. Even the chauffeured Cadillac he ferried them around in during the interview was leased by Fred. In If I Had a Million , several recipients of million-dollar checks use the money to get even with those who’ve done them wrong. W.C. Fields buys eight cars to crash into “road hogs” he encounters. Others find out great wealth does not make them invulnerable. In addition to living a gilded fantasy, Trump has used his money for the former his whole life.
Reading
A 2023 Column Contest grand-prize winner, Laurence Pevsner’s Sorry Not Sorry investigates why we’re sick of everyone apologizing all the time—and how the collapse of the public apology leaves little room for forgiveness and grace in our politics and culture.
- - -
In 2015, Ariana Grande licked doughnuts that were not hers to lick. She and her boyfriend at the time, as some kind of lovers’ hijinks or truth-or-dare game, surreptitiously touched their tongues to several of Wolfee Donuts’ finest unpurchased offerings. Then, when the workers came out and presented Ariana with a fresh batch of glazed treats, she declared, “What the fuck is that? I hate Americans. I hate America!”
Unfortunately for Ariana, this strange series of events was caught on camera by Wolfee Donuts and broadcast by TMZ. The media, and even her fans, pounced. They called what she did disgusting and unpatriotic. Hard to argue with either. In one response video, a young girl named Chrissy burned a picture of Ariana atop a barbecue and said, “Say bye to your career!”
A public consultation proved that nobody supported an attack on the metric system as the Brexit culture wars suffer another defeat
The impotent 'War on Drugs' policy pursued by the Government won't work without an attitudinal shift, argues Ian Hamilton.
At U-Haul, we believe that your ability to drive a midsize sedan qualifies you to drive a ten-thousand-pound box truck. But why stop there? We are proud to introduce new and extreme rental options that will make moving as stressful as possible.
- - -
Semi-Truck
The day has come for you to pack up your childhood bedroom and say goodbye to your youth forever. This is a great time to drive an eighteen-wheeler for the first time. You won’t be worrying about which box you packed your blankie in when you’re barreling down the highway, about to career into oncoming traffic. Remember to wipe away your tears before watching a five-minute YouTube tutorial on how to drive a big rig, which, by the way, is also a manual transmission.
Despite its wealthy backers and blanket media coverage, few have peered under the bonnet of Reform UK. It's time to take a look at its backers.
I’ve written for UnHerd about the international bestseller Slow Down: How Degrowth Communism Can Save the Earth by Kohei Saito, the rising star of contemporary Marxist thought. The book was a huge success in his home country Japan, selling over half a million copies, and has now just been published in English. Saito’s argument is pretty straightforward: capitalism is destroying the …
Continue reading
Continue reading
- by Aeon Video
- by Gina Elia
- by Erica Berry
Risk in its various forms and how it is evaluated was a prominent theme at a fall gathering of academics, bankers and regulators. A blog post summarizes some key findings presented.
Ed Hill Once the stuff of science fiction, quantum technologies are advancing fast. Individual quantum computers are finding a range of applications, primarily driven by the immense speed-ups they offer over normal computers. And soon the nascent quantum internet should connect those isolated computers together. This blog post starts to think about what this new … Continue reading Schrodinger’s market: what the quantum internet could mean for the financial system
An outraged Israeli mom has sparked an uproar after accusing the Israeli army of deliberately gassing her son to death while he was being held in a Gaza tunnel. Now she says the Israeli military had her son’s gravestone removed after her critical message went viral. His killing follows a pattern of Israeli military attacks on Israeli captives in Gaza, raising questions about the existence of a friendly fire policy to prevent prisoner swaps. The mother of a now-dead Israeli […]
The post Israeli army gassed my son ‘like Auschwitz,’ mother of slain Israeli soldier says first appeared on The Grayzone.
The post Israeli army gassed my son ‘like Auschwitz,’ mother of slain Israeli soldier says appeared first on The Grayzone.
Today (January 18, 2024), the Australian Bureau of Statistics released the latest – Labour Force, Australia – for December 2023, which tells us where things were at by year’s end. This looks likes the first real signs of a slowdown although the rather large swing in participation suggests there is some sampling variability and the…
The Houthis are part of what some commentators have called an “axis of resistance” in the Middle East linked to Iran.
The post Iran’s ‘axis of resistance’ can’t bring the challenge to imperialism needed first appeared on Solidarity Online.
Journalist Jeremy Loffredo visits the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, a climate of unprecedented repression has descended since October 7. Loffredo documents settler terror attacks on businesses and speaks to local activists who tell him they fear arrest and beatings from Israeli police if they speak out against the assault on Gaza.
The post VIDEO: Life in Jerusalem under Israel’s military dictatorship first appeared on The Grayzone.
The post VIDEO: Life in Jerusalem under Israel’s military dictatorship appeared first on The Grayzone.
The government’s continued backing for the genocide in Gaza has raised the question of what kind of movement can break its support for apartheid Israel.
The post Mass action and union support key for protests against Zim shipping first appeared on Solidarity Online.
Palestine activists should encourage Labor members to support our demands and seek to draw them into the movement.
The post Palestine movement should welcome dissenting Labor members first appeared on Solidarity Online.
US government documents suggest prison officials colluded to blame the sex predator financier for his own death before an official autopsy had concluded. The revelations have been met with general silence from mainstream media. Internal US Bureau of Prison (BOP) documents obtained by The Grayzone under Freedom of Information laws raise extremely serious questions about whether Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged first suicide attempt on July 23, 2019 in fact happened, and suggest the Bureau distorted evidence to attribute his death to […]
The post Internal prison files suggest Epstein ‘suicide’ coverup first appeared on The Grayzone.
The post Internal prison files suggest Epstein ‘suicide’ coverup appeared first on The Grayzone.
As Israel ramped up its genocide, and or own state and federal education ministers threw their weight behind it, teachers in Victoria used our rank-and-file networks and the Trade Unionists for Palestine campaign to take collective action.
The post Victorian teachers defy intimidation to support Palestine first appeared on Solidarity Online.
The Public Service Association (PSA) initially refused to take a position on Palestine
The post PSA members win union to support Palestine first appeared on Solidarity Online.