Reading list
Shortform reading
This is an incomplete list of the shortform reading (and listening and watching) I’ve been doing lately.
Near Milwaukee, the lives of landlord Todd Brunner and tenant Angelica Belen intersect in a house that catches fire. What came before and after shows there's one kind of justice for those who own and another for those who rent.
How the Tech Elite Plans to Escape an 'Apocalypse' of Its Own Making
An excerpt from legendary tech reporter Douglas Rushkoff's latest book, "Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires."
Wells Fargo Rejected Half Its Black Applicants in Mortgage Refinancing Boom
Fewer than half of Black applicants were approved by the biggest bank mortgage lender.
My Burnout Isn't Just a Health Issue. It's a Money Issue.
When we think about what causes financial instability, we typically think about a business closing, a person losing their job, or an economic downturn. We don't typically think about burnout as a threat to our finances — but we should.
The last days inside Trailer 83
Dreier profiles a family whose home was destroyed in a California wildfire, who spent a year living in a trailer park established by FEMA, then were dropped into homelessness as the park closed. The piece is a part of her examination into why so many people become permanently homeless after losing their homes to wildfire, and highlights ways FEMA is failing people as these disasters only increase in severity and frequency.- Elison lists a number of examples of times she knew she was the only person at her tech startup, and times when she felt alienated by her wealthy colleagues who made assumptions that everyone they worked with was like them.
- This is an excellent article that a friend who read this page recommended to me, and I similarly recommend it to anyone else reading this. Leondar-Wright discusses how progressive-middle-class activists (PMCs) often do not see characteristics of our own that can be alienating to members of the working class, and how our alternative values can "confuse us about who's the enemy" and "may [cause us to] take a superior attitude that working-class people will correctly read as classism". She also distinguishes between "essential weirdness" (for example, gay people may seem weird to a particular group, but it is essential for organizations to support them being out) and personal differences that are very important to an individual and must be respected (a recovering alcoholic not drinking even if it seems weird in a particular space), from personal choices that ought not to be imposed on others (a vegan planning an all-vegan menu at a conference not devoted to veganism) and "inessential weirdness" (a group of activists suggesting everyone howl like wolves during a coffee break).
"So here's a shorthand version of my point: if you want to build cross-class alliances, don't howl. If howling is important to you, go off on a howling retreat with other howlers; don't do it in coalition spaces. Blend in if there's not a strong reason not to. Truly, you can be your authentic self without indulging your impulses to howl." The article ends with a list of five guidelines for PMC activists to follow to maximize the effectiveness of their work, and to help build cross-class alliances.