Well, to be fair, his work is unbelievable.

For those of us experiencing confirmation bias by this revelation of David Brooks' umm, behavior . . . He's a flawed human being, and who isn't? Still, not everyone is a douche bag, and he is.

It's not just the premiums, it's details like this:
None of the silver and bronze plans (that I've seen) cover emergency services until after deductile is met, and the deductibles are > $6000 for a married couple.
Break your leg in america and go bankrupt.

I can't even muster a nice schadenfreude, just too disappointing.

Yes.
"Well, we can't pay you, but it'll be great exposure for your work! And for a good cause. Think of it as marketing!"
Meanwhile the person offering gets paid, as do the venue owners, ... everyone gets paid but the artist the public is there to see/hear.

Only a tiny fraction of tgeir taxes go to less fortunate countrymen, thevast majority goes to the infrastructure that created their wealth.
In fact, the wealthiest people benefit far more from taxes, dollar for dollar, than the poor. We say, "pay your fair share," but should say, "pay what ypu owe."

Celebrate every chance you get!

If you let them win without even negotiating YOUWILL NEVER WIN AGAIN!

Stop negotiating against yourselves. You made an offer. Don't make another offer until they make a counter offer. That's negotiation. What you're foing is surrender.

Science *is* always right...the room for doubt is whether the data says what the scientists think it says.

Here's a link to the site for our workshop, small town, but we have some successful writers and lots of readers. It's a good system. If you can find a place to meet, start your own!
pcww.ransomstephens.com

But do *you* love it?
No one else matters.

It's a matter of priority.
First thing, every day, learn the craft (never stop studying the craft!), find a workshop, and if you do it for the buzz, you'll probably create something you love.
And you can't beat that.

The thing about short stvs novels is that perfection is possible in 3000 words, but impossible in 100,000.

Workshop them!

#ICE With great power comes great responsibility!
We just gave ICE a 300% raise, we have a right to know what they're doing. ICE must become accountable and transparent--how can help:
medium.com/p/ice-with-g...

That's a pretty broad brush you're using to paint millions of people. What fraction do you think adheres to your stereotype.

All generalizations are wrong.