Mike Tobin

1 month ago | medium.com | Mike Tobin

It’s hard to imagine a world we’ve never experienced. One where we’re not constantly rushing, constantly tired, or constantly calculating if there’s enough time, enough energy, enough money, or enough left in ourselves just to be present. It’s hard to envision how life might feel without being relentlessly squeezed from every direction, without the endless struggle between survival and genuine meaning.

1 month ago | medium.com | Mike Tobin

[READ FOR FREE: https://medium.com/@miketobinuk/the-child-wasnt-a-target-just-collateral-b1c1386b0d2b?sk=d4c837de3fba6751485e227ec22c9f98]A mother in Gaza lost nine of her ten children. In one strike. In one second. They were in their home. Not holding weapons. Not making threats. Just existing. Breathing. Children. Gone. And somewhere, a press release will describe this as “a regrettable consequence.”A tragic footnote in the grand strategy of a “defensive operation.”That’s how it works.

1 month ago | medium.com | Mike Tobin

[Read for free here: https://medium.com/@miketobinuk/crime-is-not-a-choice-its-a-symptom-d84eb22864b1?sk=7e1d84cfd3678ae52233d231ab9cf06b]The story we are soldScroll the news feeds. Watch breakfast television. A parade of blurred CCTV stills rolls past while a presenter wonders if our streets are “out of control”. Politicians in hi‑vis jackets promise crackdowns. Comment sections light up with demands for longer sentences. “Society prepares the crime. The criminal commits it.” — H. T.

1 month ago | medium.com | Mike Tobin

They told us the market was wise. That if we just stepped back and let it do its thing, everything would sort itself out. Supply would meet demand. Innovation would flourish. Competition would drive progress. We were sold this sleek vision of economic Darwinism. A self-balancing force that rewards hard work, punishes inefficiency, and naturally guides humanity towards a better world. But look around. Does it look like it’s working? The market doesn’t know you exist.

1 month ago | medium.com | Mike Tobin

“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” — GoetheEverywhere you turn, someone is banging on about freedom. It’s in adverts, party speeches, war justifications, even shampoo commercials. “Free to choose”, they say. “Free to be whoever you want”. Sounds lovely on the surface, doesn’t it? Like a warm blanket of empowerment. But dig just one layer beneath and it starts to fall apart. What if freedom, as we’ve come to understand it, is a cleverly marketed illusion?