When Things Get Tough
The tough stay in bed
The day has passed, and now I’m in a funk and unable to put together a post for today.
The piano store that I have been working at has not sold anything for three weeks, and the business in general seems to be slipping in the new America that is being forced on us.
This business had been, up to now, somewhat immune to vagaries in the economy, but it can’t stand up to the current situation.
Things that seemed solid are now crumbling under the weight of the monster’s dictates.
This was not exactly the crash I had thought, but it is the crash I got.
I have thought, for years, that what’s happening would be fun until it wasn’t, and we’ve reached the “it isn’t fun anymore” phase.
There is so much going wrong so quickly that it staggers the mind.
The weirdest thing about it is that there are still dozens of articles, and books, and websites that tell you how to make money selling e-books or how to maximize your income on Substack, as though that’s what’s on people’s minds as they watch their jobs vanish, their savings dwindle, their family members sicken or die.
It’s the height of callousness, at a time when the only thing that should be ringing from every page is how to survive this situation, and it’s nigh on to unforgivable.
Sorry for the rant.
Things are not breaking in the directions I would have thought, but there are also odd coalitions I didn't expect, like environmental defenders going all in on mutual aid. I think there are a lot of folks who can't afford their health insurance and student loan debt who will just stop paying for them, and live a more vagabond or congregant housing lifestyle. It is my hope that by consuming less and sharing what we do have, more folks will get the food and shelter and community they need without the hierarchy taking their cut. You have important stories to tell, and you help us find each other. Please keep writing if you can.
No apologies. Rant on.
I'm going through the same. I may not be alive much longer.
That's the current situation and it's going to get worse. It's just starting.