They say the soul is free, but in the year of our Lord 2026, the lease on your daily life is due every thirty days. I look out from my window, not at Harlem rooftops, but at the glowing rectangles held in tired hands on the Chicago ‘L’. We are living in a new kind of Read More …
Category: Opinion
The Gospel According to the Garment District
There is a distinct, suffocating modern aroma that smells remarkably like a blend of freshly minted crypto, expensive cologne, and the distinct, stale scent of a Sunday pew that hasn’t seen an honest tear since the Eisenhower administration. We are currently expected to bow our heads to a rather peculiar trinity: Capitalism, Christianity, and Patriotism. Read More …
The Neon Jungle and the Shrinking Ballot
Listen, I’ve seen the seasons turn from the red clay of Kansas to the steel-grey skies of Harlem, and I have maybe at least learned one thing in my life: Today the song of liberty sounds a lot like a cash register if you listen close enough. Today, we’re living in a high-speed, digital age Read More …
The Gilded Pew: A View from the Street
Channeling the Spirit of Studs Terkel The tape is rolling. It’s 2026, and the air in Chicago is thick with the same old promises, just wrapped in newer, shinier digital foil. We’re talking about faith today folks. Not the kind that moves mountains, but the kind that moves poll numbers. I’m sitting here thinking about Read More …
The Gospel According to Mar-a-Lago
One must admire the sheer, brassy architectural integrity of the modern conservative movement. It takes a special kind of craftsmanship to build a cathedral out of gold-plated ego and then insist the Carpenter would have picked out the drapes. We find ourselves living in an age where the “Blessed are the meek” crowd has been Read More …
The Ledger vs. The Lectern
https://talkbusiness.net/2025/08/acretrader-acquired-by-proterra-investment-partners/ Now, I’ve often observed that if you want to see a man’s true religion, don’t look at the leather-bound book he thumps on Sundays; look at his ledger on Monday morning. It seems our modern Patriot Leaders have found a way to serve both God and Mammon, though I suspect Mammon is getting the Read More …
A View from the Floor
Workers everywhere feel very bad about their job security By Studs Terkel (as if today) I was talking to a fella the other day, let’s call him Joe. Joe’s a machinist, or he was, until the shop “realigned” its priorities. He’s got calloused hands and a Bible on his nightstand that’s seen better days. Joe Read More …
The Gospel of the Bottom Line
I’ve been walking the blocks of Chicago lately, from the glass canyons of the Loop to the bungalows of Canaryville, and I’m hearing a new kind of silence. It’s the silence of a machine, specifically, those Waymo rigs now prowling our streets, cameras spinning like the eyes of a mechanical spider. They call it “testing.” Read More …
A View from the Street
I’ve spent a lifetime listening. I’ve sat at kitchen tables where the Formica was peeling and in mahogany offices where the air felt too thin to breathe. This thing we call the “MAGA movement.” They talk about a Carpenter from Nazareth, a man who didn’t have a stone to lay his head on, yet they’ve Read More …
The Weaponization of Christianity
How Charlie Kirk used Christianity to divide America In the landscape of American political discourse, few figures embody the marriage of Christian identity and partisan warfare quite like Charlie Kirk. The founder of Turning Point USA has become a fixture in Republican circles, his influence extending from college campuses to the highest levels of GOP Read More …