A discussion of why cheating is okay, why middle class people are going broke, how a great NFL player taught someone to say “no” and the intersection of The World Cup and race.

This is TL;DR (Too Long, Didn’t Read) Tuesdays (with a slightly different title).  I summarize and discuss two articles — one from a blogger, and from one a “traditional news” source.  I also provide links to two other blog posts you should read on your own, with a goal to feature bloggers that have popped up on here before and/or that I read on my own.

This concept is inspired by my father, who sends everyone in the family articles links by email, by my older brother, who sends articles so long I never read them, and my wife, who became tired of me sending her articles, and has been telling me “TL;DR” for years.

I write these 1-4x/month. Click here to read all of them over time.

2 Things For You To Read:

#1: The Power of Saying No: What Barry Sanders Taught Me from The Physician Philosopher

#2: The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers are Going Broke a book review by PayChecksAndBalances

2 Things I Read For You

#1

Source: The Frugal Gene

Title: Why I Don’t Think Cheating on Homework Is Wrong

Summary: The author not only forged her parents signatures on all school documents for most of her school life, she accepted money to do someone else’s’ homework.  Her parents were illiterate and her family had little money, this avoided conflict and helped her buy things she wanted.  She was ratted out but escaped punishment and the job ended.  She goes through and debunks/disagrees with various ideas of why what she did was wrong.

Conclusion: I loved this discussion of cheating because of its attempt to flip it on its head.  Parts of it are definitely tongue in cheek, but I  admire the author’s willingness to stick to her middle school ethos.  Ultimately some of her reasoning is undermined by a single fact — it’s cheating.  She admits it’s cheating, and cheating is by definition something done dishonestly.  Ultimately what the author is really saying is she was okay being dishonest and making a profit, with the end justifying the means because no long-term harm or gain come from it.  I think that’s a slippery ethical slope, but I also know middle school sucked and sometimes you feel like you’re just doing what you have to do in order to get by.

Read This Also: How It Feels To Resent Someone For Being Spoiled

#2

Source: New York Times

Title: Is Neymar Black? Brazil and the Painful Relativity of Race

Summary: World famous futbol player Neymar is of mixed race, with one parent having a black/African ancestry.  However he does not identify himself as black, or at least does not feel he is viewed as black, thus is spared the often racist treatment someone of that heritage may receive.  Brazil has a high degree of interracial marriages, to the point where it’s “normal” to be of mixed heritage, yet the majority of the upper class/moneyed people are white.  Brazil often tries to portray itself as a place where race doesn’t matter, minimizing the legacy of black people, when perhaps what’s really happening is everyone is just trying to be white.

Conclusion: The World Cup concludes in a few days and Brazil is already eliminated, but this article is fascinating because of how different the backdrop is compared to America.  It’s also interesting to me because of my family — my wife is white, I’m a second generation Pakistani-American.  My oldest son, 9 years old, has identified an affinity for Pakistan because of his family heritage despite not speaking Urdu or having visited the country.  I don’t think he views himself as Pakistani, but he considers it a part of him and is proud of it.  Unlike me, his brown hair and lighter skin tone means no one on the street will ever assume that is his identity.  I carry my family background around with me where everyone can see it, and even I don’t identify as strongly with Pakistan as my parents (who were born there), it’s an inescapable part of me because I’m one generation closer to it and physically much more identifiable as such.  If we’ve learned anything from the current and past president it’s that we’re not in a “post-racial” American society.  We’ve actually doubled down in identity politics the past two years, forcing people to choose sides that normally would not want or need to do so.  My son, because of the election and his vague awareness of it, has already felt that a little bit.  I’m both curious and concerned about what he may be forced into in the future, but proud that he has great family on both sides to learn from.

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