His older brothers Doormat Knievel and Wishywashy Knievel hadn't amounted to much, so they had to try something.

Maybe audiences are just risk averse right now, so higher ticket prices (Broadway show, first run movie) discourage casual entertainment because people can just find something new on streaming instead. Want something new? Go dive into K-dramas on Netflix or whatever.

<3

You are well loved, man.

so good

I HAD NO IDEA

seriously, this is the first time I ever heard the original version

it rocks -- thanks!

Non, non, non! (As the French would say.)

In short, I caution against the identification of small businesses as full-blown capitalism rather than looking at most small business owners as fellow members of the class of citizens exploited for the benefit of elite super-capitalists. /fini

Our unconscious acceptance of and treatment of these social structures as inevitable and the natural order of things instead of looking at it as a set of socially and collectively constructed values only benefits and perpetuates the rule of elites. 6/x

Many legal and social structures perpetuate this system. Just look at the benefits given to small businesses who own their property (which requires capital) compared to businesses that rent, allowing the rich to get richer. Other laws protect corporate wage theft but prosecute employee theft. 5/x

Creating confusion between the idea of business-as-vocation, or the expression of a person's labor, and business-as-exploitation, or the structural maintenance of undercompensated labor as a means for perpetuating the generational wealth of elites, also serves the interests of elites. 4/x

Elites promote the idea that small businesses = capitalism because it causes business owners to align their values and ambitions with the very same people who are often exploiting them. The select few small business owners who become elites are valorized to perpetuate this identification. 3/x

4 out of 5 new small businesses fail within the first five years precisely because they lack capital. Small businesses also function as a key way wealth in the US is transferred from lower-middle classes to the elites, through debt interest, franchise fees, reliance on corporate suppliers, etc. 2/x

I'm not sure we should think of local small businesses as capitalism, although becoming capitalists is the goal of many small business owners. Most small businesses I know are based on debt (borrowed from real capitalists) and paycheck-to-paycheck living, not previously accumulated capital. 1/x

I would also recommend "Afiya's Song" by @justinkey.bsky.social. An unflinching examination of the horrors of slavery, incorporating a fantasy element (the eponymous song).

If you're open to stories with fantasy/horror elements, then I recommend "Testimony of Samuel Frobisher Regarding Events upon His Majesty's Ship Confidence, 14-22 June, 1818, with Diagrams" by Ian Tregillis. Virtuoso example of voice in historical fiction.