Do you remember the first time you voted? I do! I was 18 years old and it was a presidential election. I was absolutely ecstatic and filled with anticipation and civic pride. You see, my community had stressed the importance of civic engagement my entire life.

Last week you heard about my hardships born out of my low teacher pay as I struggle to raise my own daughters. I am one of thousands in the same situation, and if that’s not enough reason to care about the lack of funding allocated by our lawmakers, consider how it’s impacting your children.

 

Gentleman’s couture is having a moment this summer, and not because of something amazing happening on the runway. The clothes did not make the man; their spouses did.

We can’t escape subtle and subconscious marketing. We can’t escape marketing in general, but especially that which is not direct but affects us much the same.  Everywhere we look, we are being marketed to: television, the internet, social media, billboards, magazines, the sides of busses and the list goes on.  We’re sold products that we’re not supposed to live without, that we didn’t even know we needed or heck, even existed. Products like that fountain of youth in a jar, tube or pill, and I recently saw a post for “The Fashion Sneaker Starter Pack you never knew you needed.” Go figure!