Longer Step: Ideas for Justice and Sustainability

  Needed help overcoming error messages in self-publishing (on KDP/Kindle). Daughter said "hire an expert on Fiverr." I found two, a guy in India and a woman in Pakistan. They charge $60 and $25, respectively, for what should be (for them; they're experts at this and have done this 100s of times) a job of an hour or so. Sadly, Hareem (woman in Pakistan) hasn't been able to overcome the error messages either, which makes me feel vindicated but also frustrated because we always hope an expert can fix our problem. She is beaucoup hours in, but constant failure. The guy in India is champing at the bit, promising he can fix it easily. One issue here is: This is skilled labor-you need a lot of experience and knowledge, to do this (to fix error messages when the error messages don't say anything about what the problem is). But the pay they ask for is so low that it has the effect of freezing out anyone in the US who might want to run a biz doing this. I bet $25 will bu...

Watching " Outer Range" triggered these thoughts: Some of us watch a show as spectators...we watch and are entertained. But others watch and participate -- we are drawn in and play 'what if' we were a part of that world. It's not a psychosis...it's not delusional. But it is a deeper level of imagination and interaction. It is like we (imagine that we) project ourselves into the story, and see what we can feel, what we can learn, from that perspective. I think this is an important way to perceive any story. The Greeks perfected comedy and tragedy, in order to allow spectators to project themselves into a portrayal of the story, in order to feel as if the story was happening, or could happen, to them. It allows an emotional catharsis, a cleansing or reboot of the soul. Storytelling, whether it is Greek plays or fiction books or movies, is virtual reality. It is a way to expand your mind by imagining yourself in a different sort of life. Maybe the Metaverse wil...