Both in the US and in Europe, the part of the nation-state that people seem interested in preserving is not the one that has to do with economic security provided by the state. Probably the reason is that the price for it is perceived as being too high.

Instead, people are very clearly and even aggressively signaling that the remnant of the nation-state they want to preserve is the one that offers an opportunity to imagine a shared national identity, morality and culture. The nation-state used to force its subjects into shared identity and Co but now people are choosing that on their own and placing it above all.

The political and administrative units that are going to matter from now on are small. Cities, towns, residential neighborhoods. Local politics matters more than anything. And by local I mean the tinier the better. Global politics is crucial, too. “National” politics is valuable only in terms of its symbolism. People who are comfortable with globalization and fluidity and who aim to belong to exterritorial (or not linked to any territory) elites and people who want to live in pockets of (mainly artificial) solidity will stop communicating at all. Until now, they’ve been trying to open each other’s eyes to the “correct” way of perceiving reality but I’m not seeing many opportunities even for this kind of a stilted dialogue.

People keep asking what’s next after the nation-state. The most recent election in the US, as well as Brexit and the European elections, have demonstrated that even if most of us don’t use the words “the erosion of the nation-state model” to refer to what’s happening, that erosion is the central preoccupation of voters everywhere. 

The important thing to remember is that nothing is set in stone. We are undergoing an enormous transformation in the structure of our societal model, and it’s up to us where the changes will take us. 

The way things are shaping up right now is that the welfare state is pretty much doomed. Voters are showing very little interest in preserving it. This means that people are ready to embrace the loneliness and heightened risk (in return for a chance at greater rewards) of seeking out economic solutions on their own. Before you argue with me about this, ask yourself why Bernie Sanders is not making his cabinet picks right now. He was the candidate of the welfare state model here in the US. 

[More on this later.]

I ordered a skinny peppermint mocha. The contrast between my 208 lbs of weight and a skinny anything is very funny, and I’m in the mood for some hilarity.

And hey, it’s not half bad, even if it tastes like toothpaste.

I decided to be cool and stop at the campus Starbucks for a fancy coffee. It turns out, though, that you get to wait for 20 minutes for the fancy beverage, together with a crowd of other seekers. And that doesn’t feel very cool.

The semester has entered into the final stretch, and I’m looking for ways to keep things fun and enjoyable.

After the first episode, I’m not sure I want to keep watching. The show is depressing as hell. It was clear from the logic of the original show that Roby was going to be a failure – everybody’s too rich in the family for a different result – but why is everybody else so pathetic? I feel like I’m about to cry. Of course, I’m at that stage of sleeplessness when I can’t fall asleep even when Klara is sleeping or not even at home but still, the show is sad. 

I’m finally watching the new Gilmore Girls while doing my sexual harassment training. The characters are loud and they successfully drown out the training. Spoiler alert under the fold!

Continue reading “Watching the New Gilmore Girls” →

Looked at my newsfeed and realized that in 2020 Trump will be reelected in a landslide because Liberals will not be able to renounce the joy of flipping out (see here and here) over one tweet of his after another. Gosh, it’s so easy to bait these fools. The welfare system will be shredded to but from right under their asses while they explore the delights of cheap online outrage.

I heard that Trump’s education  appointee will remove the Title IX strictures recently introduced by the Obama administration. And I can’t wait! These recent requirements make us sit through an endless collection of ridiculous videos that are the same year after year. It always has to be done at the end of the Fall semester when we are drowning in work. It’s humiliating and annoying to have to do this kind of shit. And the idea that my sitting here like an idiot, staring at the stupid videos will somehow help victims of sexual assault is downright offensive.

And hey, won’t it be great not to have to hear me bitch about it year after year?

Fidel Castro: I will not die until the US is destroyed!

Donald Trump: I’ve been elected president of the US.

Fidel: OK, I’m gone!

Two sleepless nights with a screaming baby and I was a wreck at work today. Crawled into my office, slumped in a chair, wheezing (I’m coming off a cold), and stared at the computer screen for 5 minutes, feeling too weak to press the power button.

Got up, knocking off a pile of papers, and started shuffling laboriously towards the classroom. Saw a colleague but couldn’t greet him because of feeling too exhausted to make any sounds. 

Dragged myself across the threshold into the classroom. . .
. . . and it was like somebody had changed the battery. For the next 1,5 hours, I was running around the classroom, explaining, answering questions, cracking jokes, lighting up the room, and feeling as energetic as ever. 

Once the class was over, I was back to being a wreck. For those who know me in person: I didn’t even have any lunch. Have you ever known me to miss a meal? For anything? I did today. 

Teachers are weird. We’ll rise from our deathbeds if there’s half a chance to explain the Spanish Civil War or the imperfect subjunctive one last time.