The Ever Elusive Normal
New Substack stories this week
I've got a few new posts up this week. Let's do a rundown.
The U.S. endured four record storms this week. The odds for each one hovered around .1 percent. And yet, the current administration is gutting everything from disaster relief funds to weather forecasting, while local politicians send more thoughts and prayers. If that weren't enough, the richest man in the world wasted billions of dollars building a Nazi robot that he insists "isn't racist." Nothing has felt normal for five years now, so let's just be weird.
We're Never Going to Feel Normal Again
A while back, psychologists at UVA locked people in a room and gave them two choices. They could sit and think for 15 minutes, or they could administer mild electric shocks to themselves. About 67 percent of the men chose the shocks, and so did 25 percent of the women. It explains a lot about the world.
In this weird era, you might be feeling bad because you didn't start prepping 15 years ago. I've got some thoughts on that:
Nobody Really Knows How to Survive What's Coming
Talk to enough preppers, and you pick up on something. A lot of them think they know what’s coming and how to survive it.
If you've ever been shamed for having kids, you know what it feels like to wish the world had given them a better future:
The media wonders what's going on inside MAGA's brain.
Some of us already know.
Growing Up MAGA
Sometimes I think about my last conversation with my grandma—not the one who died before I was born, the unapologetically racist one.
That's it from Substack this week.
Take care,
Jessica
So important, so insightful, so well written as always, Jessica.
I hope, truly & deeply, that we can pull through with something approximating an equitable civilization.
And more than hope, I’m trying really hard to make it happen personally, locally, nationally, and globally.
Be well, and keep up both your spirits & your amazing work!