<"Just A Simple Balancing Act"/The Reckoner>
“Hope springs eternal/When you’re down on your knees/
Overnight sensations just fade away/Nothing last forever/
I don’t care what you say.”
<"Why Compromise?"
Pete Shelley, The Buzzcocks>
<i.>
2025 is sliding sideways into oblivion, straight down the memory role of "No thank you, and goodnight." The most notorious year since 1984, the one highlighted in George Orwell's novel, will soon crumple into a black napkin of sodden broken promises...and it couldn't have happened to a better year, honestly. 2025 is ending as it began, with Yer Humble Narrator left to wait 18 days for the 600 bucks he earned from his latest project. That's down to holiday timelines, because business offices are the same all over.
Though our invoices are getting processed this week, with the New Year's Eve/Day transition dominating the calendar, there obviously won't be anyone around to send them on their way, so we won't see any money till next Friday, basically (1/9). The same situation happened last month, due to the Thanksgiving holiday, so I've had to more fancy footwork than usual to keep it all going, put it that way.
Though our invoices are getting processed this week, with the New Year's Eve/Day transition dominating the calendar, there obviously won't be anyone around to send them on their way, so we won't see any money till next Friday, basically (1/9). The same situation happened last month, due to the Thanksgiving holiday, so I've had to more fancy footwork than usual to keep it all going, put it that way.
On top of all this, the phone company dickheads have cut me off. I got the usual boilerplate disconnect letter on the so-called due date (12/15), but since I'd already booked a Promise To Pay Arrangement for New Year's Eve, I didn't see anything to worry about.
Apparently, I don't see far enough corners. The tone deaf customer service rep told me that I should have worried, because I didn't only have this month's bill on my back; they'd already tacked on next month's bill, doubling my IOU from $125 to $250. As the saying goes: nice work, if you can get it. "But that's double-dipping," I pointed out. "It reminds me of the Household Finance Corporation, when people had to take out a second mortgage just to pay the first one."
"If you paid your bill in full every month," Mr. Tone Deaf Bonehead responded, "then maybe you wouldn't have this problem. We give you 21 days to review it..."
"Hang on a second, though," I cut in. "If this bill is so easy to manage, as you claim, why am I always forced to make payment arrangements on it? And keep on extending them?"
Needless to say, he didn't like my answer. He remained immovable as the Arctic, so, the phone remains silent, for the moment. I just got a notice giving till me January 9th to repay the whole enchilada, or they'll disconnect me completely, and -- oh, I don't know -- push bamboo slivers under my fingernails. Or something like that.
My situation has improved, after selling off some more pieces from my rock 'n' roll memorabilia collection, plus I collected an advance for another project. I walked away with about $300 in my pocket, of which half has already gone for food. But it's something to build on, at least, and it'll make getting through this week a little bit easier.
Then I realize what I should have told Mr. Tone Deaf Bonehead. Hey, why don't we make the economy a little less crushing? Maybe then, I could keep a little bit more of my collection. And maybe I could actually get some sleep. Just a thought, eh? But he probably wouldn't have got that, either. Such is life, I guess.
<"The Congressman Regrets
To Inform You That..."/The Reckoner>
“The greatest danger is
if you tell people happy days are here again,
and it is 1929.”
<Frank Luntz, Republican pollster>
<ii.>
Of course, it's all a matter of perception, isn't it? As friends have pointed out, I could argue -- I am better off, since I usually have the money to give away. Or I can generate enough, when the chips are down. On the other hand, we could say that we're worse off, since we can't save money in the current climate. Which makes the risk of a wipeout all the greater, since there's no cushion, usually. For millions right now, that is their reality, as the Politico piece (see link below) makes all too clear. That's the hallmark of our phone company and all their brethren, to whom we pay tribute -- their bills are crafted to clean you out completely. Gone are the good old days of having 30 to 100 bucks left over -- depending on whom you paid, and when -- which exerts a domino effect on finances. Instead of having a cushion, however skimpy, the financial clock resets, leaving you to start from scratch.
For someone like me, who has to generate 100 percent of his own income, it can get tricky, especially if you're juggling multiple projects. I can't imagine how families manage it, let alone those caring for others. Though I'm not an economist, it's fair to suggest that depriving your citizenry of discretionary income -- in a consumer society that's enshrined around the endless disposal of it -- seems most unwise.
The richest irony of this whole business is seeing Trump's presidency hoisted on the same petard that plagued his predecessor, Joe Biden: "Look at those charts! Look at those graphs! Why are you all complaining? You've never had it so good!" As the White House's present occupant will eventually discover, all the C-suite cheerleading won't paper over the chasms yawning in our wallets. Trump's now-you-see-it, now-you-don't approach to releasing key economic data seems equally unlikely to restore confidence in his mastery of such matters.
But this problem isn't new. Just look at how the average worker's position has shriveled since the 1970s, when the celebrated "gold watch" -- given out after a lifetime, more often than not, spent at a single job -- yielded to the 401(k), which allowed employers to wiggle out of guaranteeing pensions. By the mid-'80s, the nature of work itself began to change, through the rollout of arrangements that undermined the notion of "a job for life."
Temp agencies grew by leaps and bounds, as labor union rolls continued to shrink, and various sectors of society began shedding the protective armor that had once sustained them in hard times. College professors became adjuncts; full-timers became part-timers; and, once the decimation of unions gained full force, future workers could no longer count on the same contractual arrangements that their predecessors continued to retain. And, while America had hardly been a social equity, all of these measures helped to bake inequality further into society.
The '90s and Noughties brought the Internet boom, greased by the lure of immediate, immeasurable wealth -- a bounty that raised Wall Street's infamous "Greed is good" mantra to a virtual religion on steroids. Companies embarked on an orgy of swallowing other companies, trimming payrolls and flattening wages, in rabid pursuit of ever-ballooning stock prices. Buybacks morphed into giant investor slush funds, enabling fish that were already too big -- cue Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft, "The Frightful Five" -- to become overweening beyond all comprehension.
Traditional employment continued to erode during the 2010s and 2020s, amid the explosion of so-called gig work. Companies could shed themselves of nettlesome inconveniences, ,like health insurance and other related benefits in favor of "flexible" arrangements that forced constant competition for an ever-shrinking whirlpool of opportunity. The net result, pun fully intended, created an ever-growing precariat army -- trapped in an endless race to the bottom.
The current AI boom, one that's being blamed for a record 1.1 million layoffs, is the final unhappy conclusion of this 50-year trend -- and one that should serve as a reminder, for those who still need it, that if today's edge lords could run their empires without any employees, they would. Because for them, the pursuit of power and privilege at any price is more addictive than crack. And, in the end, every bit as destructive.
The current AI boom, one that's being blamed for a record 1.1 million layoffs, is the final unhappy conclusion of this 50-year trend -- and one that should serve as a reminder, for those who still need it, that if today's edge lords could run their empires without any employees, they would. Because for them, the pursuit of power and privilege at any price is more addictive than crack. And, in the end, every bit as destructive.
<"And So, It Begins... (Take I)"/The Reckoner>
"Let us have faith that right makes might,
and in that faith, let us, to the end,
dare to do our duty as we understand it."
<Abraham Lincoln, Cooper Union Address, February 27, 1860>
<iii.>
Rest assured, though, I'm not solely picking on our current Commander-in-Chief, nor his following. In all honesty, there's plenty of blame to go around, especially when we ponder the posture of Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden. When historians write of this period, I suspect that they won't feel overly generous to the Biden era, one that began with a fair amount of promise, only to end up as a damp squib.
But don't take our word for it. Start with the failure to hold the chief perpetrators of the January 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol accountable for their actions. That blame falls on Biden's foot-dragging Attorney General, Merrick Garland, who allowed two years to pass before he finally cranked up the machinery -- whose full weight fell largely on the most minor of foot soldiers, based on a template cribbed from some '90s-era "Law & Order" episode: Flip the minnows, press them like grapes, and work your way up the pyramid, until somebody spills the beans, that helps you nab the big fish.
However, aside from a handful of Proud Boy leaders, this approach did not result in the scooping up of any big fish into the federal net. It's a lapse that Garland will have ample time to ponder, now Trump has named him as a target for his revenge tour. Let's not forget the US Senate's failure to take Trump permanently off the public game board via impeachment -- unlike Brazil, whose justice system did just that with Bolsonaro, a disparity that makes our failure all the more glaring. Accountability succumbed to expediency, a posture only cemented by Biden's ghastly grip-and-grin pictures of shaking his nemesis's hand ("Welcome home"), on his official return to the White House.
Biden failed on three other crucial fronts, all of which might have bolstered his position -- if ever so slightly -- had he only pressed a little bit harder. Having orchestrated the largest series of relief measures since the '60s -- which, briefly and tantalizingly, left America a less feral, more livable nation, during the pandemic era -- Biden retreated from that stance during the final two years of his presidency.
However, aside from a handful of Proud Boy leaders, this approach did not result in the scooping up of any big fish into the federal net. It's a lapse that Garland will have ample time to ponder, now Trump has named him as a target for his revenge tour. Let's not forget the US Senate's failure to take Trump permanently off the public game board via impeachment -- unlike Brazil, whose justice system did just that with Bolsonaro, a disparity that makes our failure all the more glaring. Accountability succumbed to expediency, a posture only cemented by Biden's ghastly grip-and-grin pictures of shaking his nemesis's hand ("Welcome home"), on his official return to the White House.
Biden failed on three other crucial fronts, all of which might have bolstered his position -- if ever so slightly -- had he only pressed a little bit harder. Having orchestrated the largest series of relief measures since the '60s -- which, briefly and tantalizingly, left America a less feral, more livable nation, during the pandemic era -- Biden retreated from that stance during the final two years of his presidency.
With the C-suites whispering in his ear, Biden waved his wand and fell into line, pronouncing, "I hereby declare normalcy," and unwound all of those measures -- from his eviction and student debt moratoriums, pandemic relief payments, and enhanced unemployment measures -- despite growing evidence that the cost of living was galloping well beyond the average American's ability to keep up with it. Biden failed in refusing to acknowledge the greater implications of that surge in costs, as he and his administration dithered for months -- refusing to even utter the I-word ("inflation") ravaging millions of pocketbooks, until circumstances finally forced his hand.
Biden's entrenched stubbornness points to a greater, more damaging failure, in his refusal to harness the rhetorical power of his own office. On issue after issue -- from the loss of abortion rights, to student debt, or the need for taming the rogue Supreme Court kneecapping him at every turn -- Biden's chief contribution to these debates lay in reminding supporters of his own helplessness ("Those darn Republicans. If I could only get them to go along."), which did little to renew public confidence in him.
That brings us to Biden's most glaring failure -- of honestly pondering whether he should run for re-election. Certainly, the image of an 82-year-old incumbent clinging to the life raft of power for another four-year term left many voters queasy; yet Biden was vulnerable on other fronts, as well. His failure to deliver on issues like student debt relief, coupled with an utter lack of empathy for the mass slaughter in Gaza, essentially cost him the youth vote; a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan renewed questions about America's international capacity and resolve; and his inability to tame the cost of living left a growing number of voters looking elsewhere for satisfaction.
Given all these factors, some type of "come to Jesus" discussion seemed in order, especially in light of polls suggesting a bedrock of only 37 percent pining for a Biden re-election campaign. But that's not what happened. As we all know, the protective moat of close advisers, big ticket donors and party chieftains that Biden had spent a lifetime cultivating, snapped into action -- to spike such a discussion from ever happening.
By the time that Biden begrudgingly abandoned his second campaign, the damage had been done. Instead of "the bridge to the 21st century," Biden would serve as the bridge for the Trump restoration, an irony that surely needs no further elaboration, as The Nation observed (see link below):
Given all these factors, some type of "come to Jesus" discussion seemed in order, especially in light of polls suggesting a bedrock of only 37 percent pining for a Biden re-election campaign. But that's not what happened. As we all know, the protective moat of close advisers, big ticket donors and party chieftains that Biden had spent a lifetime cultivating, snapped into action -- to spike such a discussion from ever happening.
By the time that Biden begrudgingly abandoned his second campaign, the damage had been done. Instead of "the bridge to the 21st century," Biden would serve as the bridge for the Trump restoration, an irony that surely needs no further elaboration, as The Nation observed (see link below):
"While Biden had some genuine domestic achievements, particularly in his first two years, his larger presidency left a blighted record. Democrats won’t be able to win back the public unless they start talking frankly about what went wrong—and how party elites were implicated in the disaster. And until those elites are replaced."
If you've come across a snappier, better summary of the whole business, we'd like to see it.
<"And So, It Ends, Take I ..."/The Reckoner>
"Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number,
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you –
Ye are many – they are few."
<"The Masque Of Anarchy,"
Percy Bysshe Shelley>
<"The Masque Of Anarchy,"
Percy Bysshe Shelley>
<iv.>
So where does all this last-minute reflection leave us, exactly? We all know what happens with New Year's resolutions. We promise plenty of them, yet rarely follow through on most of them. More often than not, we find the rock rolling back downhill, after expending a considerable effort to move it a millimeter, or so it seems -- one step forward, 20 steps back. Maybe years should come with terms and conditions, instead of blips on a calendar, once the relevant number of them has expired.
Certainly, the immediate future doesn't look terribly promising, amid threats of war with Venezuela; continued public kidnappings by goon squads, masked up like '30s-era bank robbers; ongoing economic stagnation, and greedflation, that leave millions frozen between permanent anxiety, and deer-in-the-headlights-styled depression, as they worry about getting through today, tomorrow, and next week, if circumstances allow it; and the super-rich overclass, whose denizens continue to cast a dark shadow over the mess they've created, even as they expect us to service all of their excesses, such as the environment-straining, energy-gobbling, wallet-busting data centers that they want host communities to cheerfully fund, without a peep of complaint.
Still, if we look here, and look there, we can see evidence of a growing backlash against the tentacles of Big Money, and the collateral damage it's unleashed against our lives. For instance, data center proposals have flopped soundly around the Midwest, in settings as large as South Bend, IN, and their rural counterparts (Howell Township, MI). The current debate swirling around them is simply the microchip equivalent of the conflicts over megafarms in the 1990s.
Growing numbers of young people are looking for off-ramps away from the virtual walled gardens that knee-bending oligarchs like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg crafted specially for them, as evidence continues to pile up against letting the dog wag the tail nonstop. The dry detachment of the '90s-era slacker pose has given way to a rawer, more insistent brand of activism, particularly against the siren song of social media -- because when you're the product, that joke no longer feels so funny and cutting edge anymore.
Growing numbers of young people are looking for off-ramps away from the virtual walled gardens that knee-bending oligarchs like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg crafted specially for them, as evidence continues to pile up against letting the dog wag the tail nonstop. The dry detachment of the '90s-era slacker pose has given way to a rawer, more insistent brand of activism, particularly against the siren song of social media -- because when you're the product, that joke no longer feels so funny and cutting edge anymore.
The political classes, particularly the Republican variety, are doing what courageous counterparts from past decades have done -- scramble for the exits. At last count, 10 US Senators and 43 Congressional Representatives are hanging up their gavels, either for the far less strenuous pastures of full-time lobbying, or running for other offices that seem more enticing (and less dysfunctional). For them, the prospect of defending an increasingly chaotic presidency no longer seems like a bet worth taking, even if its chief hatchet men like Russ Vought (see link below) seem hellbent on trying to prove otherwise. If that profile doesn't motivate us to agitate for a more balanced, lived America than the gleaming, steaming shit sandwich on offer, nothing ever will.
Undoubtedly, the short term picture will feel darker and dimmer before we ever reach the promised land. If there's a silver lining, it's that all of these heinous have been fully and mercilessly exposed. No longer can the super-rich write off criticisms of their doings as so much "class warfare," when they're declaring it on the rest of us. No longer can the far right scream about "that liberal media," when they're buying up so much of that space. No longer can the apostles of trickle-down economics and endless power grabs tout them as the answer to all our ills, blessed by a government bent on imposing its will to a degree not seen since the Civil War -- or, as Lincoln stated, on the eve of that conflict: "You will rule or ruin in all events."
Imagine a society not driven solely by the brutish business of survival. Imagine a world where every move we make doesn't feel like taking a cold shower, once the grimy deed is done. Imagine a more balanced lifestyle that doesn't revolve constant toiling on the hamster wheel, for the privilege of giving away what little we take home, to these shadowy panther kleptocrats playing dominoes with our lives. Imagine the prospect of one job -- instead of multiple, energy-draining ones -- that allows sufficient funds for life's necessities, and time enough for personal pursuits that enrich the occupant's life, rather than constantly chipping away at it.
Imagine a society not driven solely by the brutish business of survival. Imagine a world where every move we make doesn't feel like taking a cold shower, once the grimy deed is done. Imagine a more balanced lifestyle that doesn't revolve constant toiling on the hamster wheel, for the privilege of giving away what little we take home, to these shadowy panther kleptocrats playing dominoes with our lives. Imagine the prospect of one job -- instead of multiple, energy-draining ones -- that allows sufficient funds for life's necessities, and time enough for personal pursuits that enrich the occupant's life, rather than constantly chipping away at it.
All of those things are only possible when we stop writing them off as impossible pipe dreams, and wishes that we cannot hope to achieve in our beleaguered lifetimes. Let us take this spirit with us, as we confront all the double-barreled uncertainties and social ills on offer for 2026, and put them to the test. Those who stood in our shoes in times of greater crises, from the Civil War, to the Great Depression, the Civil Rights era, and beyond, would expect nothing else. And nothing less. --The Reckoner
Links To Go
Abraham Lincoln: Cooper Union Speech:
https://housedivided.dickinson.edu/sites/lincoln/cooper-union-speech-february-27-1860/
https://housedivided.dickinson.edu/sites/lincoln/cooper-union-speech-february-27-1860/
The Nation: The Biden Scandal
Goes Well Beyond The Aging Cover-Up:
The Nation: The Careerism That Enabled Biden's Reelection Run...:
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/original-sin-jake-tapper-alex-thompson-biden-democrats/
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/original-sin-jake-tapper-alex-thompson-biden-democrats/
Politico: New Poll Paints A Grim Picture...:
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/10/poll-affordability-cost-of-living-00678076
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/10/poll-affordability-cost-of-living-00678076
ProPublica: The Shadow President:
<"And So, It Ends...Take II"/The Reckoner>
