C + C = C

Mpepper/ March 21, 2025/ Think Pieces/ 0 comments

Behaviors are bad all over. They have been for a while, but they seem to be getting worse (or I’m turning into one of those cranky old people with no tolerance for tomfoolery, which is just as likely). Movie cinema owners and operators bemoan that fewer people are going to see movies on the big screen, but they do nothing

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Places

Mpepper/ March 19, 2025/ Think Pieces/ 0 comments

We recently passed our “Caliversary,” which is the anniversary of the day we put our family on a plane in Massachusetts, flew across the country, and transplanted ourselves in California. I had lived in Massachusetts for over 12 years (12 years, 7 months, and 4 days to be precise), but I’ve now lived in California longer than that, which got

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Don’t Waste Your Empathy

Mpepper/ March 14, 2025/ Think Pieces

Leopards are feasting on faces right now. Social media is rife with posts about Trump supporters who have found themselves hoisted by their own petards. Some go so far as to post pleas directly to their clay idol to have him undo the specific harm that they have been caused. “Please hire my wife back!” “Please don’t deport my son-in-law!”

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Why America “Can’t” Have Tuition-Free College

Mpepper/ March 11, 2025/ Think Pieces

Yes, “can’t” in quotation marks because, of course, we could have education without charging ridiculous amounts of money for access to it, but… I have one child at university and two more in high school, so wouldn’t I just love it if the United States offered tuition-free options for higher education? You betcha. Germany is often pointed to as the

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I Need a Lift

Mpepper/ February 26, 2025/ Think Pieces, Writing

You’re on a road trip. You don’t know the exact destination, but you trust you’ll know it when you see it. In the meantime, you do have some thoughts about the kind of place you’d like to end up. Maybe you want to be near water. Or you want a hot, dry climate. Maybe you’re set on someplace urban. Alternatively,

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Heritage

Mpepper/ February 12, 2025/ Think Pieces

“Are you American or Mexican?” The question was asked in good faith and curiosity by my nail tech, who was helping me determine which shades of green would look good on my fingernails. As I have olive skin/yellow undertones, it’s a valid concern. Still, in the current climate (I live in the U.S.), such a question may not always be

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An Allegory

Mpepper/ February 5, 2025/ Think Pieces

There are many people living in a large house. Outside the house, a pack of rabid wolves circles. They want in. Most of the people in the house know better than to let the wolves in. They in fact work to secure doors and windows against the threat of the wolves. However, for some bizarre reason, some of the people

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The Lie of Karma

Mpepper/ January 29, 2025/ Think Pieces

Centuries ago, when faced with growing unrest amongst the common populace, the church and aristocrats (keeping in mind there has been a fair amount of overlap between those two) sold the idea that everyone would get what they deserve… eventually. They told the masses that their hard work would pay off… in Heaven. And that the poorer they were on

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Christians v Education (and why they’re wrong)

Mpepper/ January 9, 2025/ Think Pieces

My goal this year is to post at least once per week. Alas, I don’t always have that much to say. Bad news for a writer, perhaps. But I do have a thought that’s been bouncing around in my head for a while now, and I meant to make a YouTube video about it, but I haven’t (yet—I might still).

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Ignorance Is Not Bliss: The Sleeping Beauty* Metaphor

Mpepper/ October 25, 2024/ Think Pieces

*Using Disney’s animated feature for reference here. About a month ago, I posted this YouTube video about why diversity in media is not only a good thing, it’s not really a threat to the status quo. Due to my run for school board, I was thinking mostly about the attempts to ban books, but it applies to all the dude

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