Second
Thoughts
A home for personal meditations, critiques of art and literature, politics, sketches, and deconstructions that dive beneath the surface of thought. Experiment with form here, relate with current events, read and talk about a book you’ve never read or perhaps want to read, and criticize something, anything, everything.
Lessons Learned from Edward Crankshaw’s ‘Gestapo’
There’s a particular history lesson from school that has stuck in my mind. Imagine a 1930s Germany, still reeling from its losses during the first World War. Then imagine a political party, led by a radical politician that finally breaks through the family radio. He promises redemption for your failing country, massive economic and political gains. Finally, someone to enact real change, someone “finally able to finally do something active and bold to rehabilitate [your] shabby life.” All he needs is your vote.
The Art of American Consumerism: American Bulk by Emily Mester, A Review
Published in November 2024, American Bulk: Essays on Excess includes essays on American consumerism. Hinging on different connotations of excess and consumerism, and digging into her personal and familial dynamics, habits, and experiences, Emily Mester covers an impressive amount of ground in American Bulk.