Inspiration and motivation are neurotic states sought by masochists to force themselves into unwanted activities.

More from Lea Ypi:

I received presents from my parents and we went to eat ice cream by the beach and to visit the funfair. On that occasion, they also gave me a yearly subscription to several children’s magazines. It was through these magazines that I learned about the fate of other children around the world. The magazine Little Stars was for children from six to eight years old, and on Children’s Day it ran a cartoon called “Our 1 June and Theirs.” On one side there was a fat capitalist wearing a fat top hat buying ice cream for his fat son, and on the floor next to the shop’s entrance two ragged children and a caption: “1 June never comes for us.” On the other side, there were Socialist flags, happy children carrying flowers and presents, holding their parents’ hands, waiting to buy ice cream in front of a shop. “We love 1 June,” their caption read.

Lea Ypi, Free

I was also subscribed to a bunch of magazines as a kid. People were forced to get magazine subscriptions at work. There were literary ones, women’s magazines, and children’s magazines. I loved them all. Yes, they were ideological and preachy, but have you seen Teen Vogue?

In her memoir about life in Albania on the eve of the collapse of the USSR, Lea Ypi gives this description of a family suddenly discovering the concept of commercials:

Whenever my father caught an advert on TV Skopje, especially if it was an advert for personal hygiene, he would immediately shout, “Reklama! Reklama!” My mother and grandmother would drop whatever they were doing in the kitchen and sprint to the living room to catch the last sight of a beautiful woman with a delightful smile on her face who showed you how to wash your hands. If they were held up for a while and arrived when the adverts were over, my father would declare apologetically, “It’s not my fault—I called you, you came late!” and this usually marked the beginning of an argument about how they were late because he never helped with anything around the house.

Lea Ypi, Free: Coming of Age at the End of History

This sounded very familiar. I remember the time when we first started seeing commercials on TV at the end of the Soviet regime. We loved them more than the regular TV offerings. Often we watched a program solely for the commercials. We didn’t really understand their purpose (and frequently the companies paying for them didn’t either) but they were mesmerizing. The life depicted in them was incomprehensible but very attractive.

I’ve felt sad that there have been no comments on the blog for 2 days. Turns out there have been tons of comments but the app decided not to show them to me. I apologize and will start answering immediately.

I have a strong suspicion that Murdoch fired Tucker Carlson because Trump asked him to. Trump can’t stand disloyalty, and Tucker’s text messages where he mocks and expresses deep contempt for Trump must have been humiliating.

Murdoch must want to get into Trump’s good graces because Trump has been going around calling him a RINO globalist.

The rest of the explanations offered by fantasists at left-wing outlets all sound stupid.