The United States is getting accustomed to a completely crazy level of inequality,” Mr. Piketty said, with a degree of wonder. “People say that reducing inequality is radical. I think that tolerating the level of inequality the United States tolerates is radical.
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For many different reasons (Ayn Rand is one of them), it will be a long slog towards actually dealing with income inequality. But in our highly socially stratified culture, maybe it’s time to actually deal with these issues?
For Economists Saez and Piketty, the Buffett Rule Is Just a Start - NYTimes.com (via wonklife)
(via wonklife)
I’ve been missing in action for a couple of weeks! Hectic times! Lots of drawings and other new exciting but busy developments.
I did finally get a chance to finish up my contribution to the Pokémon Battle Royale show at the Light Grey Art Lab Gallery in Minneapolis MN! I was asked to draw Team Rocket, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the selection. Prepare for trouble etc.
Information on the show here: http://pokemonbattleroyale.blogspot.com/
Participating artists here: http://pokemonbattleroyale.blogspot.com/p/participants.html
Lots of cool folks have done lots of cool stuff! Check out the opening on April 20th if you’re in the area!
(via twentypercentcooler)
So I wasn’t quite expecting a wistful electro-dub track from Major Lazer. Nor was I expecting Dirty Projector vocalist Amber Coffman’s plaintive vocals.
“Get Free” is a plesant surprise from Diplo and Switch. The last album, Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do, was full of exhausting maximalist bangers full of sound and fury while “Get Free” is a contemplative track for staring off into the starry sky. Which the video ably illustrates.
(Source: stereogum.com)
I really have to read Journey Into Mystery.
“What I wish…is to be Loki”
And that’s it for a while, lest I do absolutely no work for Uni this holiday~Er… I tried to resist Reblogging this one, but couldn’t. Fucking hell.
metricjulie: Let's talk about consent. Seriously.
It’s better to learn these lessons now, gentlemen. Enthusiastic yeses each step of the way — isn’t that far more sexy than grinding your way to middling sex with your a deeply uninterested partner?
I thought it might be pertinent to refresh everyone on what consent is, and teach a little about making sure you get enthusiastic consent before engaging in sexual relations. To me, enthusiastic consent means “YES HOLY GOD YES I WANT THIS SO BAD” and not “ugh fine I’ll just get it over with then…
Fort McMurray Files: When your wealth is all you’re worth
No matter where I’ve lived, the one constant has been exhausted-looking Filipino domestic childcare workers carting around their young white charges.
From Fort McMurray’s Franklin Ave to the tony streets of Yorkville, these domestic workers are one of the most obvious symbols of two very different cities where your only worth is your wealth. Despite the social class differences (NOT economic classes) between the two cities, these women are the glue that helps keep each city humming along.
I never expected I’d live in Toronto. Hell, I never even really thought of it much. The only time I ever really paid attention to Toronto was when Mayor Mel called the army in to help clear the streets of snow and ice. As a proudly progressive Albertan, I assumed I’d be working my tail off to make my home a better place. The plan was to live and work in Calgary, volunteer and help move the province slowly, inch-by-inch, forward.
Yet, here I am in the deepest, darkest, downtown elite-iest part of Toronto, Ontario — Jane Jacobs’ Annex.
There are similarities between the bitumensands (or oil/tarsands, take yr pick) capital of the world and the Centre of the Goddamn Universe. Though similar in many ways, the major cultural differences between Toronto and Fort Mac provide reflect each city’s very different class compositions. Toronto has a very white-collar sensibility, where Fort McMurray has a very blu-collar mindset.
Each city is an important economic engine for Canada. Where Toronto is built upon the Bay St. financial and creative economy, Fort McMurray is built on the hard-toil work of mining the oily muck from the ground.
In Toronto you need an education and/or the right connections to access those high-paying jobs in skyscraping towers. Higher education and family networks are going to be hugely helpful. But in Fort McMurray, as long as you’re willing to work long hours and can pass a piss test, you can make your money out in the open-pits driving truck or working as a labourer. Skilled tradespeople are in ever-short supply in Fort McMurray and can make even more for their labour.
Those Filipina nannies are in many ways a symbol of each city. In each city, parents are busy with the reality of their time-consuming jobs. They’re unable to spend the time necessary to raise their kids because they’re out in the workforce earning cash money. In Toronto that may mean long hours spent at the law firm. In Fort Mac, that could mean long hours out at site.
Either way, it’s perfectly acceptable. Nothing wrong with having a Filipina nanny take are of the kids. It’s an ugly necessity. An ugly necessity that most lower-income families would never even get a chance to have.
But it’s a symptom of privilege. Parents who work hard and spend little time with their kids will, GENERALLY SPEAKING (in my experience talking to people and living my life, so I readily acknowledge I may be FULL OF SHIT HERE), throw money at their child to shut them up. Long hours at work mean lots of cash in the bank, so if a harried parent can’t give their kid time, they can give their kid cool cloths and toys.
This kind of treatment by parents is dangerous. It creates entitlement and privilege and teaches these children that your ultimate worth is in your wealth. If your parents can’t share their experiences with you, they can at least share their money and buy your love.
But money only wards off the emptiness for so long. The thrill of money is in the buying. Like a bump of cocaine, that thrill only lasts for minutes. Then the creeping emptiness is back upon you…
I’ve listened to this two-minute slice of darkly melodic post-punk way too many times to count.
Wax Idols are one of the most exciting bands out there right now. No Future was an incredible pop record that managed to straddle all sorts of different genres. WI Frontwoman Hether Fortune is one of the most under-appreciated songwriters with a verve for making hooky rock.
“Schadenfreude” is the A-side off Suicide Squeeze’s 7-inch single series. I’ve already pre-ordered my copy, you can do the same here.
Classic Rap Album Covers Remixed with Comic Book Characters - artist Kenny Keil reworks iconic rap album covers from artists such as NWA, Nas, Tribe, Biggie, Ma$e, ODB, Big Daddy Kane and others. Check out his Flickr Page for MORE
Seriously, Beyonce is rocking this high-waisted Spider-Man costume. It looks great, her eye makeup is gorgeous and it’s not some goony “sexy” costume for women.
+1
(Source: beyonce)
I think that any completely delusional fascist in the course of human history has come from the lack of self esteem.
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Some real talk from Tom Hiddleston on the motivations of his character, Loki, in the upcoming Avengers movie.
What’s more, I’m just taken aback at the deep truth Hiddleston just sort of tosses out in the middle of his interview.
(Source: slashfilm.com)
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
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Okay so I’m late to this track (the original Stereogum post was dated March 30th) but Cities Aviv’s “Normal Immortal” is rad as all hell.
The production on this track is something else. The simple, pounding instrumentation propels the track forward. Aviv breathes fire, swimming inside the song’s relentless fuzzed-out depths.
This banger is best enjoyed — LOUD — in some skeezy-ass underground club with concrete floors and a permanent piss-stink. And I’m very excited to see what he puts out.
From Halloween, 2011. According to my three year old son, the kids were dragons, Mommy was a princess and Daddy was “a scary”.
Not much to say but Carrie Brownstein and the ladies in Wild Flag are rad. You knew that already.
(Source: pitchfork.com)
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
—A Place To Bury Strangers - "You Are The One"
“Life is rough” moans vocalist Spencer Ackermann over downcast guitars and propulsive bass. Like the character in the song, the song is a fast-driving piece of gloom to get bummed out to.
“You Are The One” is the theme song of a million shame-spiralling depressives who’ve lost their love over their inability to experience happiness. Obliviate, medicate, escape from inner turmoil by driving like a bat out of hell away from real life.
The thrill of going fast is an addictive thrill, especially when depressed. It makes you feel alive and human. Like emotions, though, speeding cars are very good at spiralling out of control… “ ”I start to fall/I lose control/I try to turn/I start to roll/I can’t hold on, moving so fast.” “
Over chugging guitars, Ackermann laments the sorry state he’s in, a smear on the road of life as last-minute regrets take over his last moments. ”I’m on road, about to die/I break my face, I break my life/I wish I had the chance to do it all again”
Worship is out July 26th on Dead Oceans Records.
(Source: pitchfork.com)
