Our solemn pledge to you: we will not view your pledges as an existential crisis

This is a very amusing review of the latest Elon Musk-pimped “book” by Gad Saad, the Canadian pundit for people who consider Jordan Peterson too coherent and highbrow. The collection of words next to each other is called Suicidal Empathy, and the thesis is that empathy is being wasted on people facing structural material disadvantage rather than, say, lavishly overcompensated pseudo-intellectuals who don’t understand how tax withholding works:

Which socialists apparently called for the elimination of all human hierarchies? What’s the content of this “egalitarian ethos” and who espoused it? And why are Utopians, socialists, and communists all being lumped together? These aren’t matters Saad has time for. Instead, we need a full eleven pages on why Saad is angry about how many taxes he has to pay. And unlike the history of socialism or the other intellectual currents he finds abhorrent, Saad is convinced his readers really do, or at least ought to, want to know the nitty-gritty of why he shouldn’t have to pay those taxes. It’s about as intellectually stimulating as a W-2:

I have two broad sources of income: my salary as a professor and all other revenues earned from my other professional activities, including book royalties, online revenue (e.g., YouTube ad revenue stemming from my show), and speaking engagements. Whereas my professor’s salary is taxed at the source, the other revenue streams are not, so the total sum of money that I had to transfer to the two governments [Quebec and Canada] on that fateful day were truly life-altering, if not existentially shattering.

Look, I too do not appreciate the rather hefty sum I have to fork over to the IRS because of the revenue I earn from this here small business. It is not EXISTENTIALLY SHATTERING, however, because I am also aware that I will and should have to pay may taxes on revenue I earn, including the income where the government’s share is not taken out ex ante. If I am not as careful about setting that amount aside on a monthly basis — and let us be frank that’s certainly how to bet — I am aware, as a Florida poet once said, that it’s my own damned fault.

Anyway. if you are generous enough to help us keep the lights on and have enough surplus that we’ll have to make an electronic transfer to the feds every April, we will appreciate it rather than writing entire book-like objects complaining about it. That is the Lawyers, Guns & Money guarantee. Donate at any link below! I have a wishlist too. Thanks for reading and remember Not All Academics With Some Connection to Montreal.

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