Laurel Lazar

“When I look at all the forces aligned to roll back and block democratic change--the concentration of wealth, the structures of minority rule, the market imperative of endless growth, the seemingly irrepressible appeal of racism, and the rapidity of climate change--I feel my will weaken. Given the magnitude of the task at hand, how can people like me possibly make a dent? The established order is so big and powerful, and a single individual so vulnerable and small. But when I engage my intellect, something approaching optimism is possible. The past is proof that it can be done,”
― Astra Taylor, Democracy May Not Exist, but We'll Miss It When It's Gone

“I applied for a job as the night box office manager of a small theater company in Boystown. The job paid about five dollars an hour for a four-hour shift, so I was surprised to find that it required a lengthy interview with the artistic director of the theater. I had a degree in drama, I explained. We talked (meaning she talked) about playwrights we (she) liked. It was between me and another girl for the job, and she needed to know what I had to offer the Tiny Pretentious Theater Company because “We like to think of ourselves as the most exciting theater company in Chicago.” I tried a joke. “I like to think of myself as the most beautiful woman in the world. But where will that get either of us, really?” The other girl got the job.”
― Tina Fey, Bossypants

“At a basic level, Facebook, like most other forms of social media, runs on doublespeak: advertising connection but creating isolation; promising happiness but inculcating dread.”
― Jia Tolentino, Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion

“WHAT IS SOCIAL NETWORKING? – it’s a way for submissives to tweet, nudge and post their way to oblivion. While dominants get on with using their time to create things and dominate the world, the submissives fritter their time away in the most futile stream of trivial consciousness ever known. The intergalactic static that provides the microwave echo of the Big Bang has come to life in the shape of Facebook and Twitter. Now we can hear the vacuum speak.”
― Adam Weishaupt, Resurrection: The Origin of a Religious Fallacy