If we’re going to change the definition of “utopia” to simply mean, “the journey toward envisioning and building a better society,” then it seems like we can do without the word entirely, eh? Why not just call it, “optimistic fiction”? Dystopias have historically existed on Earth — utopias have not. The inclination…

Pfft. This is just the sort of dark humor I enjoy, star for you.

One thing that always comes to mind when something unpleasant is happening to my body: My mom told me that a (female) co-worker had complained about indigestion for a week before she finally went to the doctor for a check-up. Turned out she’d had a heart attack.

Most likely scenario is he was feeling cheeky and thought a flippant headline would be fine until it wasn’t and by then it was too late. But I’ve seen a lot of writers get attacked online for shitty headlines they didn’t have any input in so I like to err on the side of caution.

Has Nick confirmed that he was the one that wrote the headline, though? If he did, then yeah, your point is valid. Otherwise you’re letting one of the unseen editors off the hook. Writing and publishing articles is a group effort. The writer takes the brunt of the praise or criticism by virtue of their name being on…

Honest question: Are you disabled? Do you know how large a toll chronic pain takes on your ability to self-motivate and complete basic tasks? I do.

Yes. I remember the #GirlIGuessImWithHer hashtag on Twitter. Plenty of Black women weren’t feeling that enthusiastic about Hillary but they were willing to vote for her anyway to keep the Cheeto Devil out of office. Mind you, Hillary is the same woman who helped campaign for the Crime Bill that put millions of black…

Every single person who doesn’t vote because post offices are too hard is letting people like her down.

WTF is wrong with this country.

I was responding to the OP more than the article, though. Once you equate non-voters to people who shoot up synagogues you’ve lost all grip on reality. That’s what I had a problem with, nothing else.

It is, in fact, possible to both see the value in voting and still acknowledge that living in a democracy (lol) means people are going to make choices I don’t agree with and those choices don’t exist in a vacuum. Voter turnout has always been pathetically low in the U.S. — why isn’t anyone talking about the civics…

I neglected to mention that somehow, but yes, you bring up another good reason for why the vitriol against not only non-voters but also third-party voters in 2016 (and in 2000) was and always will be bullshit. Compulsory voting for one of two people you don’t like is not a democracy, but it’s funny (as in sad) how…

“Anything less is not trying hard enough” is definitely shaming, but I appreciate that you’ve at least tried to walk that back. (Says a disabled woman who suffers from executive dysfunction and routinely is unable to feed or bathe myself.) I hope she has stamps and the mental energy next time, too.

I feel like everyone is skimming over this part of my original comment: “comments like these also implicate the very same people you probably think your vote is supposed to help.”

Jesus. Do you not know what executive dysfunction is? I’m not even the person you’re angry with and reading that comment just exhausted me. I hope to God I’m never desperate enough to present, “shaming disabled people for not trying hard enough” as a valid political tactic, because wow, you’ve nailed it.

She said right in the article that she was homebound unexpectedly and didn’t have stamps. Executive dysfunction is a huge issue that can’t be dismissed outright as “laziness,” come on.

Not because the racist right voted for it, but because the rest of you lazy assholes didn’t vote to stop it.

We completely agree — down with capitalism. But while it still exists, we should be extremely careful about the assumptions we pass on to the next generations. (e.g., “Go to college and you’ll be set for life!”) Until we get rid of this economic system the people who benefit from more women entering STEM are the CEOS,…

Tech companies want to bring in girls in order to increase their pool of candidates, but guess what will happen to your girl when everyone and their dog start looking for a job with their STEM degree. Yep, market saturation, low pay, poor working conditions.

Maybe I’m confused, but I thought buying the physical copy didn’t actually save any hard drive space because it downloads the entire thing regardless? I thought the disk was just a verification device for authenticity.