The Individuality of Mass Production
Advertising invites you to express your uniqueness with a product that is simultaneously being sold to millions of people. There is an obvious contradiction in this, but not complete nonsense.…
A Pause Before Agreeing
Pressure loves urgency. The less time there is to think, the harder it is to check the terms, get advice and notice that the offer suits mainly whoever set the…
Hand the Routine to the Machine
A computer is most useful not when a person does their usual work faster with its help, but when they stop doing the repeatable part by hand. Calculations, sorting, renaming…
Substances Without the Romance
Youth culture and advertising describe substances either as a ticket to freedom or as instant moral collapse. For safety, what matters is not the symbol but the composition, the dose,…
Divorce as the Right to Exit
The leading cause of divorce is marriage. — An ironic aphorism Divorce is usually discussed as a breakdown: there was a marriage, it was supposed to continue, and something failed.…
A Leash Is Held at Both Ends
The things we own start making demands. A house needs repairs. A car needs servicing. A business needs support. A reputation needs defending. A collection needs storing. Even a beautiful…