Everything&Nothing: A Collection of Thoughts

  This Independence Day, let’s talk cost. Because every firework is a receipt, every flag is a price tag—and freedom? That shit ain't free. It was bought, sold, and leveraged like a subprime mortgage. Patriotism in America is just capitalism with fireworks. Every July 4th, we drape ourselves in flags made in China, buy red-white-and-blue Doritos, and pretend that a grill on sale from Home Depot is a show of national loyalty. Walmart rolls out 'Freedom' deals, Amazon pushes 'Independence Essentials,' and Budweiser drops commercials more emotional than a Hallmark funeral. Meanwhile: - Firework shows are funded by defense contractors like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon - The average 10-minute fireworks display costs cities $15,000–$100,000—while public schools beg for pencils - Politicians wave flags while slashing veteran benefits and gutting SNAP programs - The “support the troops” crowd can’t name a single VA reform they backed - The average American househ...

  Every nation has its myths. Ours just happens to be bulletproof, student-debt-backed, and statistically full of holes. Welcome to America: home of the brave, land of the statistically embarrassing. We lead the world in: - Incarceration rate - Military spending - Gun deaths per capita And trail behind in: - Healthcare access - Paid parental leave - Education quality Let’s throw some fact grenades: - 70% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck - Medical debt is the #1 cause of bankruptcy - Black maternal mortality is 2-3x higher than white women - CEOs make 400x more than the average worker - The U.S. spends more per capita on healthcare than any other nation, yet ranks 30th in life expectancy - The U.S. has over 400 million civilian-owned guns—more than people—and still can't figure out school safety - 1 in 6 children in the U.S. lives in poverty Meanwhile, we celebrate Independence Day without blinking at the irony: - 1776: Declaration of Independence is si...

  They say America is the land of the free—but only if you read the fine print, dodge the red tape, and survive the algorithm watching your every move. You’re free to protest—unless it’s too loud, too Black, too queer, or too inconvenient for white suburbia. You’re free to vote—unless your polling place mysteriously closed, your ID is questioned, or your district was carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey. Let’s talk about "freedom" in the modern sense: - Freedom of speech? Sure. But employers monitor your social media and cops trap protestors in confined spaces using a tactic called 'kettling'—just for chanting too loud or too long. - Freedom of movement? Unless you're poor, undocumented, or Black in a traffic stop. - Freedom to exist? Ask trans youth in certain states if that still applies. And then there’s economic freedom—aka, the myth of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, which is hard to do when they sold your boots to pay off student loans. “We ...