Manifesto

INTROIT
Any time I post a colossal essay on a social media, I get messages from supportive buddies which go roughly as follows:

"Hey, you write good stuff. Have you considered doing this for money?"

And then I laugh heartily, because, dear friends, there's no money in writing*. If I could make money off Facebook shares I'd be rich enough to have fewer things to rant about, but turns out "my post went viral once" doesn't cut it on a Paid Writer resume**.

However, there is value in consolidating and archiving this kind of thing somewhere, and that's what I'm going to do. Most things I write are responses to current events, so their shelf-life is perhaps not as long as other essays, but the world moves in cycles and irrelevant things gain new relevance.

KYRIE ET PAX
All politics is local, all politics is global, so if I'm writing about anything it's probably political. I don't see this as a negative thing. The nuanced webs of money, power, and law dictate where we start our lives and shape what we can become, and knowledge of those systems is essential if we intend to change those systems.

Since I'll be writing about politics things in a divisive world, there's gonna be some friction. I wanna be all like, "if you don't like it, fuck off," but I like to think my ideas are defensible. That having been said, I will not defend them if I'm busy. I have a day job, night classes, and active involvement in various organizations, and all the normal things adults do. I don't get paid to moderate comments or respond to 'em, so I usually won't.

But if you disagree with me or others, PLEASE, please, be kind and civil. This isn't PC babying, this is basic human decency. We're all busy, tired, stressed people. Be patient with each other. That's the minimum required by the social contract and, in this small space, I'm its enforcer.

MEA CULPA
I swear a lot. I use a broad range of writing styles that convey emotion, urgency, and vernacular. I overuse semicolons in an attempt to harness the cadence of spoken language. My spelling is garbage and my typing is also garbage. I blaspheme constantly, against most things, occasionally by accident but usually on purpose. I'm not Catholic but I used Church Latin in this post because a) I took Latin in college for some reason and it's a shame to waste it and b) it lends things an air of Portent and hot dang do I love Portent.

* I've written other people's college essays for money. Side hustles aren't usually exactly legal, but that's the whole thing. You do 'em when you can't make legal money. Sorry, and thank god for the Statute of Limitations.

** "Committed academic fraud" also not good on a resume.

LIBRA NOS A MALO
We're strong when we're united. Fight with me.

Amen.

- kyp belligerent