Noah Grayson awoke to the cold blue glow of his wrist implant, a silent reminder that every breath he took had a cost. He blinked away sleep and glanced at the display. 4,231 LifeTokens remaining. Enough to make it through the day; but not nearly enough to feel safe. Everything…
Living Authentically in the Concrete Jungle
If you’ve ever spent a long, quiet afternoon alone in nature, you may know the allure of Thoreau’s Walden. The idea of retreating to a quiet cabin by a pond, shedding the clutter of society, and discovering oneself through simplicity still speaks to many of us. Thoreau’s experiment in self-reliance…
Karma – Is it a Real Thing?
The idea of karma (that actions have corresponding consequences) has been a cornerstone of many spiritual and philosophical traditions since the beginning of time. Rooted primarily in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, karma proposes that moral actions bring positive outcomes, while immoral actions result in suffering. But is karma simply a…
On the Virtue of Problem-Solving
There are many ways to describe the drama of human existence. Some say life is a journey, others a battle, a test, a trial, or a performance. These metaphors are not without merit. But if we are to speak with candor and philosophical precision, I suggest a simpler and more…
Finding Home in the Rubble: Andrew Lee’s “Defying Displacement” Charts a Quiet Rebellion
In Defying Displacement, Andrew Lee has written a book that feels both timely and timeless, a meditation on the nature of belonging that never slips into sentimentality, even as it breaks your heart. With quiet urgency, Lee gives voice to those who are often pushed to the margins; by war,…
Escape wage slavery by creating your own economic mutual aid network
In today’s economic landscape, many people find themselves tethered to jobs that offer little satisfaction, often referred to as “wage slavery.” This term describes a condition where a person’s livelihood depends on wages, especially when the work is monotonous or exploitative. However, an alternative exists: forming economic mutual aid networks….
Not Food but Grace
There is a quiet strangeness in the act of giving. The gesture may appear noble to the onlooker, and indeed, it often feels noble at the outset. We tell ourselves we are helping; distributing food, handing out coats, making the destitute a little less hungry and cold. We give, often…
The Bare Mind
I do not know if such a mind exists. But I believe in the ache for it. In our strange world of echoing memes and flickering screens, of verdicts before questions and answers before silence, we speak too much, think too quickly, and rarely see. We interpret. We frame. We…
Charity or Ego Trip? Rethinking What It Means to Do Good
There’s a particular kind of feeling that comes with realizing you’ve been wrong about something for years. Not the minor kind, like discovering that capers aren’t baby peas or that “irregardless” is technically a word now. No, I mean the kind that rearranges your whole approach to what it means…
“Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand – a review
Few novels inspire as much fervent devotion, or outright disdain, as Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand’s sprawling, polemical ode to individualism and unrestrained capitalism. Published in 1957, this nearly 1,200-page tome is part mystery, part dystopian thriller, and part philosophical treatise, all wrapped in Rand’s signature vision of a world teetering…