Any supervisor who compells a person to miss a parent's funeral as a condition of employment is a hireling picked from the drunken spew and vomit of an uneasy civilization. And a shitheel withal.
Just preordered Molly’s book and became a paid subscriber to your newsletter, Lyz. I LOVED this conversation, it felt like I was in the room with you cackling away, and I can’t wait to read the book! Also condolences for Molly’s mom. I lost my mom at the end of 2021 and it’s been a devastating ride :(
I shared this in the discord and figure that I should say here too that this interview got me to pre-order Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind even though I have no business adding books to my collection when I already don't read as much as I want to or should. After reading that Molly McGhee's mom died in 2020 and also reading about the problems and questions she explores in the book re: work, overwork, community, and complicity...I just felt like this book might be something I was looking for without knowing it. It just feels very specifically relatable to me right now.
Jeez. The Guardian Article describes me. This has been a tough week as I face resuming student loan payments, and McGhee puts this into context so well. I'll die with my debt, and I'm so afraid if my husband outlives me he will have to take it on as well.
Ordering this book right now. Loved the conversation, “ One of the things I loved about the Bible was that it's just a collection of stories and ideas that, when you contemplate them deeply, can be used to create a personal philosophy of what it means to live a moral life.” Sums up my relationship with religion totally. Thanks for this.
An adult life in yoke to the invisible hand -- bad touch, invisible hand! -- is our generational legacy to this contemporary age. No wonder we don't have the spirit to challenge, well, anything. Neo-feudalism is fucking exhausting. I work in higher ed and it took me three tries to get through Ms McGhee's Guardian article; color me gobsmacked by the truth:
"The American dream has been sold and replaced with a Ponzi scheme meant to benefit the investor class. College degrees, once a pinnacle of long-term investment and self-betterment, increasingly look like the multi-level-marketing vitamin supplements hoarded in the back of your mother’s fridge. Predatory interest rates insure a lifetime of payment, which in turn prevents class mobility and enforces the limitations of their birth. If you really sit with the facts, the American education system has become a way of forcing lower-class citizens into a form of indentured servitude."
This right here is why what's left of my soul curdles every day I show up for work anymore. I'm a flim-flam man for The Man. My mom would be super proud.
" "The ultimate hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make and could just as easily make differently."
We have the power to change it, but we're stuck in a sort of catch-22 because we have the power to change it, but change is also the thing that humans fear the most, right?"
There's an interview with Steve Jobs where he says something very similar:
"Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact, and that is: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it. You can influence it. You can build your own things that other people can use. And the minute that you understand that you can poke life, and actually something will, you know, if you push in, something will pop out the other side, that you can change it. You can mold it. That's maybe the most important thing is to shake off this erroneous notion that life is there and you're just going to live in it, versus embrace it. Change it. Improve it. Make your mark upon it. I think that's very important. And however you learn that, once you learn it, you'll want to change life and make it better. Because it's kind of messed up in a lot of ways. Once you learn that, you'll never be the same again." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYfNvmF0Bqw
This interview slaps. I reserved the book immediately. But I love this conversation around how the puritan work ethic and capitalism are kissing cousins. So good. (Also, shout out to all of us who gave the our best brain years to memorizing the Bible)
Just extraordinary. Thank you for this. Her thoughts on publishing, the book making process, minority voices, fear, change are profound. I am ordering her book now!
This was a great interview. The cackling😂 I’m also so curious about your questions, Lyz. How in the world do you come up with these wonderful questions? It must be natural process for you? Love it. Thank you!
Any supervisor who compells a person to miss a parent's funeral as a condition of employment is a hireling picked from the drunken spew and vomit of an uneasy civilization. And a shitheel withal.
Just preordered Molly’s book and became a paid subscriber to your newsletter, Lyz. I LOVED this conversation, it felt like I was in the room with you cackling away, and I can’t wait to read the book! Also condolences for Molly’s mom. I lost my mom at the end of 2021 and it’s been a devastating ride :(
OMG! This interview is mind-blowing, plus I laughed out loud when I read the inserted comment about the pair of you cackling like witches!
Me too! All previous interviews are now diminished in my eyes
I shared this in the discord and figure that I should say here too that this interview got me to pre-order Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind even though I have no business adding books to my collection when I already don't read as much as I want to or should. After reading that Molly McGhee's mom died in 2020 and also reading about the problems and questions she explores in the book re: work, overwork, community, and complicity...I just felt like this book might be something I was looking for without knowing it. It just feels very specifically relatable to me right now.
Jeez. The Guardian Article describes me. This has been a tough week as I face resuming student loan payments, and McGhee puts this into context so well. I'll die with my debt, and I'm so afraid if my husband outlives me he will have to take it on as well.
Ordering this book right now. Loved the conversation, “ One of the things I loved about the Bible was that it's just a collection of stories and ideas that, when you contemplate them deeply, can be used to create a personal philosophy of what it means to live a moral life.” Sums up my relationship with religion totally. Thanks for this.
Welp, that was powerful. Annual subscription done. "Abernathy" pre-ordered. Your book pre-ordered. You made my day.
This discussion hit me on multiple levels. There is so, so much to do and we are all exhausted by our bullshit jobs. An inspiring interview, thanks.
An adult life in yoke to the invisible hand -- bad touch, invisible hand! -- is our generational legacy to this contemporary age. No wonder we don't have the spirit to challenge, well, anything. Neo-feudalism is fucking exhausting. I work in higher ed and it took me three tries to get through Ms McGhee's Guardian article; color me gobsmacked by the truth:
"The American dream has been sold and replaced with a Ponzi scheme meant to benefit the investor class. College degrees, once a pinnacle of long-term investment and self-betterment, increasingly look like the multi-level-marketing vitamin supplements hoarded in the back of your mother’s fridge. Predatory interest rates insure a lifetime of payment, which in turn prevents class mobility and enforces the limitations of their birth. If you really sit with the facts, the American education system has become a way of forcing lower-class citizens into a form of indentured servitude."
This right here is why what's left of my soul curdles every day I show up for work anymore. I'm a flim-flam man for The Man. My mom would be super proud.
Omg I work in higher ed too 😂 😬
Same where you are, too? What a racket we've perpetuated...
Thanks for this - looking forward to reading Molly's book.
I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I read it!
Love this part:
" "The ultimate hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make and could just as easily make differently."
We have the power to change it, but we're stuck in a sort of catch-22 because we have the power to change it, but change is also the thing that humans fear the most, right?"
There's an interview with Steve Jobs where he says something very similar:
"Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact, and that is: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it. You can influence it. You can build your own things that other people can use. And the minute that you understand that you can poke life, and actually something will, you know, if you push in, something will pop out the other side, that you can change it. You can mold it. That's maybe the most important thing is to shake off this erroneous notion that life is there and you're just going to live in it, versus embrace it. Change it. Improve it. Make your mark upon it. I think that's very important. And however you learn that, once you learn it, you'll want to change life and make it better. Because it's kind of messed up in a lot of ways. Once you learn that, you'll never be the same again." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYfNvmF0Bqw
I had seen this book mentioned around the internet recently but this interview got me to pre-order it. Molly seems cool as hell!
Fantastic conversation - thank you. (I especially enjoyed imagining you both cackling like witches.)
This interview slaps. I reserved the book immediately. But I love this conversation around how the puritan work ethic and capitalism are kissing cousins. So good. (Also, shout out to all of us who gave the our best brain years to memorizing the Bible)
I finally had a chance to finish this interview and LOVED IT.
This quote hit me:
“The thing is we're surrounded by religions but the religions actually aren't about your spiritual health at all.”
Whooooooaaaaaa. Yes, that’s it exactly.
Just extraordinary. Thank you for this. Her thoughts on publishing, the book making process, minority voices, fear, change are profound. I am ordering her book now!
This was a great interview. The cackling😂 I’m also so curious about your questions, Lyz. How in the world do you come up with these wonderful questions? It must be natural process for you? Love it. Thank you!