I am in awe of her paragraph: “ Every time I read one of the Russian greats my life transforms into an eerie mirror of the work. I had already experienced a year of obsessive relationship analysis (Anna Karenina), six months beneath the thumb of a powerful boss whose political maneuvers were far reaching and whose requests quickly spiraled into the hellish and fantastic (The Master and Margarita), a week on the run with a depressive whose obsessive psychosis ended in a prison sentence (Crime and Punishment), a much-too-long friendship with a man whose preoccupations with his father were borderline incestuous (Fathers and Sons), and, after I finished War and Peace, years stuck in sprawling disillusionment that, unlike many characters in the novel, I have yet to overcome.”
America’s Dead Souls
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Re: America’s Dead Souls
#52I am in awe of her paragraph: “ Every time I read one of the Russian greats my life transforms into an eerie mirror of the work. I had already experienced a year of obsessive relationship analysis (Anna Karenina), six months beneath the thumb of a powerful boss whose political maneuvers were far reaching and whose requests quickly spiraled into the hellish and fantastic (The Master and Margarita), a week on the run w…
Real talk.
Re: America’s Dead Souls
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is pretty damn scary. Are debtor's prisons about to make a comeback too?
Dude, that's basically what we have now. Bond, fines, court fees, lawyer fees, prison labor, etc. Even if you win, you still lose financially. Edit: I forgot a big one. The early intervention or accelerated rehabilitation programs cost tons of money, paid both to the system and to the vendors of ignition interlocks, ankle bracelets, etc. You really are paying to stay out of prison.
So basically the system in the medieval Arab Gulf countries. Unbelievable.
Re: America’s Dead Souls
#54This is breathtakingly well-written and also terrifying. Unfortunately this is but one version: it’s also not uncommon for children and grandchildren to milk their elders dry financially, particularly when the elders are a bit addled. If those elders leave unpaid bills to a nursing home, why shouldn’t those children be held responsible? It’s rough out there.
>If those elders leave unpaid bills to a nursing home, why shouldn’t those children be held responsible?
Because people should only be forced to pay for things they agreed to pay for.
Re: America’s Dead Souls
#55If this happens to you: 1) The creditors are full of shit. Don't accept the estate, don't acknowledge that you owe any debt, and you don't owe them a damn thing. If no-one accepts it, they're simply screwed. They'll try to trick you into paying anyway, because they are, in fact, monsters, but they're full of shit. 2) Look up (online) the correct magic words to tell the creditors to go fuck themselves, or else face ch…
Yeah this article is a bit dramatic. As evil as the rich people who try to recover debts may be, children are not legally responsible for their parent's debts.
I was aware of filial support laws but it seems like they're only applied this aggressively in Pennsylvania? Generally they're used to keep children from looting grandma's bank account and then sending her to a nursing home on the government's dime--which seems reasonable to me.
Re: America’s Dead Souls
#56Re: America’s Dead Souls
#57If you want to read Dead Souls , there's a free high quality edition at Standard Ebooks: https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/nikolai-gogol/dead-souls/d... It's a surprisingly funny and brisk read.
Gogol is the master of witty short stories. I also recommend Diary of a Madman , in which a mediocre civil servant begins to imagine he is the King of Spain. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/36238/36238-h/36238-h.htm#Pa...
Speaking about his short stories, read "The Overcoat"/"The Mantle" by Gogol. Dostoevsky is said to have said that "we all came out of 'the overcoat' of/by Gogol", in the sense that the tradition of deep compassion with the simple/poor in Russian literature started with this work.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/36238/36238-h/36238-h.htm#Pa...
Another very good (and short one) is 'the Nose' - this one is quite surrealistic, it's a hundred years ahead of its time. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/36238/36238-h/36238-h.htm#Pa...
Re: America’s Dead Souls
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
We already have them. Inmates in most US jails and prisons are charged a per diem just for being there. It’s disgraceful.
That’s not debtor’s prison?
Imagine being locked up for not paying fines, only to be fined further while your in, and unable to break the cycle...
Re: America’s Dead Souls
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't understand how this is legal, let alone upheld by a state Supreme Court. How can I be legally responsible for my parents? How would the courts even find me if I don't live in the US anymore (the example case is the courts successfully suing a man who moved to Greece)? I am thankful to you for bringing this to my attention, but my WTF! meter is soaring.
Realistically, when parents get old, it is their children who become responsible for them. I feel like this is quite common sense... especially seeing as children inherit from their parents...
Consider that parents may have children in their mid 40s. These children are effectively dependent until ~20. Often they'll accrue significant debt to pay for college. Then 10-15 years later their parents may need significant care. If those parents weren't wealthy or careful to save then these children could find that they've few if any years free of heavy financial or caretaking burdens. Then consider they may want children of their own.
The lack of a real social safety net in the US really feels like previous generations pulling up the ladder.
Re: America’s Dead Souls
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
Realistically, when parents get old, it is their children who become responsible for them. I feel like this is quite common sense... especially seeing as children inherit from their parents...
Consider that parents may have children in their mid 40s. These children are effectively dependent until ~20. Often they'll accrue significant debt to pay for college. Then 10-15 years later their parents may need significant care. If those parents weren't wealthy or careful to save then these children could find that they've few if any years free of heavy financial or caretaking burdens. Then consider they may want…
> The lack of a real social safety net in the US really feels like previous generations pulling up the ladder.
At first I misread the last word as 'latter' and I was confused because it completely reverses the meaning. English is fun sometimes.