A new study from the United Way
claims that 43% of American households are in a status called “asset
limited, income constrained, employed” (ALICE), which denotes employed
people who can’t afford housing, food, childcare, healthcare,
transportation, and a cellphone – the basics of modern living.
Umair Haque (previously) connects this to the idea of America as the world’s first poor rich country,
a country that is awash in wealth, yet so unequal that nearly half its
residents sink deeper into debt every month – and most Americans die in
debt.
As Haque says, if you work hard all your life and die with no assets, no
savings, and debt, that’s not employment, it’s serfdom. America’s
former middle class have now hit the limits of their ability to survive
with stagnating wages by taking on debt secured by their meager assets
– the family home, pensions and so on. Now, Americans are both kinds of
poor: asset-poor and wage-poor. Americans aren’t poor because they
don’t work hard enough: they’re poor no matter how hard they work.
And unlike poor people in countries like Pakistan or Nigeria, American
poor people live in a country where things like childcare, medicine,
rent and food are very, very expensive. American poor people are poorer
than the poor people in poor countries.
Diver and photographer Jill Heinerth has explored unmapped, underwater caves deep in the earth, as well as the submerged crevices of an iceberg. She’s seen hidden creatures and lifeforms that have never been exposed to the light of day.
“Since I was the smallest child, I always wanted to be an explorer to have an opportunity to go someplace where nobody has ever been before,” she says. “As an artist with my camera, it’s an incredible opportunity to document these places and bring back images to share with others.”
Heinerth writes about her explorations, some harrowing escapes, and the challenges she’s faced as a woman in the cave diving community in a new memoir, Into the Planet. She notes that cave diving is so risky that divers are often unable to buy life insurance; she estimates she’s lost more than 100 friends and colleagues to underwater caves and technical diving.
Before every dive, Heinerth goes through extensive safety checks on all of her gear. Then she sits down, closes her eyes, and imagines all the horrible things that could happen.
“I actually think about what would kill me today,” she says. “But I envision myself solving each one of those [problems], and sometimes I’m actually, like, moving my hands and reaching for a valve or a button or whatever to solve each of those issues, so that when I get in the water my mind is really free.”
Heinerth is also a writer, photographer and filmmaker who’s starred in TV series for PBS, National Geographic Channel, and the BBC.
“In a leaked email, Team Rugged leader Patrick Caughran describes its mission as ’[providing] patriotic and biblical training on war for young men…There will be scenarios where every participant will have to fight against one of the most barbaric enemies that are invading our country, Muslims terrorists.’ The training included knife, pistol and rifle combat.
"Team Rugged’s ideology comes from the white nationalist preacher John Weaver, whose writings glorified the Confederacy and slavery and condemns ‘interracial’ marriage.
…"Shea had already openly supported Team Rugged and appeared with child soldiers the group had trained in promotional videos, praising their training, saying, 'I love the fact that you guys looked like almost an acrobatic special-forces team out there.’ Shea had also acknowledged his authorship of 'Biblical Basis for War,’ a manifesto calling for a 'holy war.’”
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