I have been observing with breathless awe the latest triumph of our grand Republic’s economic engine. We are told by the public prints that the government has appointed its first Chief Design Officer, a gentleman of immense private fortune and impeccable aesthetic taste, whose solemn patriotic duty is to “modernize the internet-facing portions” of our Read More …
Tag: The Gilded Pew
A Dream Deferred by a Dollar Sign
There is a peculiar kind of weather in America today. It is a season where the rain falls only on the pavement, leaving the gardens of the ordinary man to bone-dry dust, while the glass towers of corporate high-rises are washed clean every morning by the sweat of people they never see. If we look Read More …
The Prison Boom Nobody Talks About Enough
There’s a story hiding in plain sight in America, and it’s one we should probably be talking about a lot more. Start with some numbers. In 1972, around 330,000 people were behind bars in the United States. By 2008, that figure had ballooned to 2.3 million, an increase of over 700 percent. Even today, in Read More …
The Captains of Phantom Industry
It has been brought to my attention through the standard digital pipelines, which I understand are powered by invisible currents and the tireless labor of folks sitting in cubicles under dimly lit fluorescent lights (to save on the electric bill, Bob Cratchit) , that we are on the precipice of welcoming our very first trillionaire. 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 …