Persistent poverty – not situational but persistent – is closely linked to an incapacity to contain oneself physically and emotionally. Mountains of junk spilling out onto balconies and front yards, public emotional outbursts, noise, odor, violence. This is a glitch in early childhood socialization that infects a whole life.

The people who train us to run around reciting our traumas want us to live in poverty. They tell us trauma is a badge of honor and neurosis is what makes you a good person but they know it’s really a dead weight that will keep us down forever.

The union leadership’s went to the new neoliberal administrator to discuss the yearly cost-of-living salary increase. We all know what happened to the cost of living, so they thought they had a productive conversation ahead of them.

As usual, the union leaders asked the administrator what was the salary increase he was considering. The administrator, who already gave himself a raise and is using university money to build a covered parking spot for the new vehicle he bought with university money amidst our huge budget crisis, said in a nasty voice, “The salary increase I have in mind is zero point zero percent.” Then he left.

The union people are shocked. They thought the “diverse” administrator would be pro-labor. He’s ultra progressive, he says all the right words, he respects everybody’s pronouns. So he can’t possibly be a neoliberal bastard who hates workers, right?

The previous top administrator was not diverse. He was as un-diverse as it gets. But he got us our salary increases punctually. He protected us from lockdowns, from vaccine mandates, from hiring freezes. We let the Board of Trustees get rid of him and welcomed an ultra-progressive diverse dude from California. He immediately proceeded to fire workers, cancelled half of summer classes, created mega complex bureaucratic procedures for everything, and told us we are lazy, overpaid, and too numerous.

Pronouns and budget cuts are one side of the same neoliberal coin. Wokeness (leftism, progressivism) means our standard of living worsens and we are told its our own fault because we are bad. It seems harmless to humor a few “Hate has no home here” posters and a couple of “How to Be Anti-racist” workshops but they always lead to budget cuts, layoffs, and disrespect.

If you’ve never observed a kid discover the concept of a commercial, you are really missing out. It’s hilarious.

“Mommy, that thing you said people make you watch to sell products… the mercial?… I think it got stuck. Can you come and unstick it for me because it’s showing the same thing for the third time.”

Then, in a loud whisper, “Mommy, I don’t want to buy this toothbrush they keep showing but I don’t want to hurt its feelings. What should I do?”

And finally in a loud, triumphant yell, “Mommy, that song my teacher Mr Gabe keeps singing, ‘Red Robin, yummmm!’ It’s from a TV show!”