We live in a country where anything remotely related to the word opioid is just a statistic. A world in which we care more about our own well-being than that of others because they are just another person out of the many who are suffering from addiction. It is their choice – not our problem. […]
Tag: capitalism
Instrumentality and Power
We have arrived today in a totally bizarre epoch. Contemporary society is oriented towards means (things that are desirable because they achieve something else), while increasingly estranged from ends (things that are desirable in-themselves (an sich)). We pursue means to achieve further means in an infinite chain with no consummating end. To do so constitutes […]
When the Free Market Isn’t Free
The promise of American capitalism has long offered a vision of prosperity driven by the market and the people, where the government’s role was simply to stay out of the way. This American creed is embraced by conservative politicians shaped by Reagan-era beliefs in deregulation and small government, but it does not belong to conservatives […]
Private Markets Aren’t the Problem in Healthcare. It’s Patents.
The issue that destroys the most lives is an instrument intended to save lives. The United States widely implements patent protections for medical technology, but its use internationally leaves the most vulnerable populations at risk. This political tool damages developing economies and deprives millions of essential healthcare. Medical patents are licenses that grant pharmaceutical companies […]
Environmental Activism: Eco or Ego?
2023 was set to become the hottest year on record. Carbon dioxide levels are at their highest point in history. Heat waves and wildfires are scorching our planet… Need I go on? It is impossible to turn a blind eye to the climate crisis we face today. And many of us aren’t—we feel we are […]
The Business of Eating Disorders
In 2023, beauty standards reign supreme, seemingly stony and impossible to truly change or avoid. Yet, throughout history, the definition of a “perfect” body has been incredibly transient depending on the time and place in question. From the Paleolithic curves of the Venus of Willendorf to the jutting collarbones and translucent limbs of the nineties […]
Fitness Influencers and the Unseen Market of Teenage Exploitation
Being trapped inside the house for months during the COVID-19 lockdowns gave everyone new options for how to spend their newfound free time: one could turn to binge-watching a new Netflix series, picking up a new hobby, or for many, attempting a new workout regimen. Thanks to social media, during quarantine, it became a trend […]
The Democratic Party is Untenable
The United States stands at the precipice of so many crises that I cannot hope to list them all here. We seem intent to drive straight off the cliff of imminent climate catastrophe. Our healthcare and education systems balloon in costs, run by and for profit-seeking middlemen rather than the interests of the people that […]
Get Ready for our Newest Style Icon: Capitalism
So you want to be “that girl”? Will that be cash or card? Though Paris Fashion Week concluded its last show on October 4th, Bella Hadid’s career is just getting started. Hadid walked in a whopping 64 runway shows this season, going viral for modeling in the now-famous spray-on Coperni dress. Countless designer outfits tailored […]
Stronger than Steel: A Small Alabama Town, The Richest Man in the World and the Future of the Labor Movement
Twenty minutes south of Birmingham, just up the road from a state park, lies the town of Bessemer, Alabama. Termed the “Marvel City” for its industrial prowess, and named for the British inventor who created the famous steelmaking process, Bessemer has since fallen on hard times. Deindustrialization gutted the region, and more than 27 percent […]