What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?
There is a question we ask almost every child. We pose it lightly, with a smile, often in moments of calm or celebration, as if inviting them…
Latest Articles
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The Company Store Never Closed
It’s easy to forget that America once ran on company stores and scrip. Coal miners in Appalachia were paid in vouchers redeemable only at their employer’s shop,…
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Excuse Me, Are You Leaving or Moving In?
I was sitting in my car in a Target parking lot, watching a young woman do everything except leave. She had entered the car a full five…
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The Mythology of the Economy and the Enslavement of the Soul
There is a strange piety that governs the modern world, a religion that no one names but that commands greater obedience than any god ever known to…
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Mammon in the Modern Age: Who (or What) Do We Really Serve?
In today’s world, Mammon – once the symbol of wealth and material obsession – has taken on new and less obvious forms. It’s no longer just about…
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The End of Passive Economics: Building a Stakeholder Society
In today’s economy, most people are locked into one role: consumer. We buy what’s offered, work in jobs where decisions are made elsewhere, and live in a…
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The Addiction to Consumption: What Are We Really Trying to Buy?
Walk into any shopping mall, fast-food restaurant, or social media platform, and you’ll see the same expression on people’s faces—a vacant, almost trance-like engagement with whatever they’re…
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“The Well-Connected Community” by Alison Gilchrist: Why Networks Matter More Than Plans
If you’ve ever been involved in community work, whether organizing a neighborhood event, running a local nonprofit, or just trying to get people to care about something…
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“Manufacturing Consent: by Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman: A Propaganda Model for the Modern Age
In the nearly four decades since its publication, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media has solidified itself as one of the most incisive critiques…
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The Currency of Showing Up
There’s a woman in my neighborhood who bakes extra muffins every Sunday and leaves them in little paper bags on doorsteps. No note, no fuss. Just something…