Essay
Why the Melania Movie Missed Its Mark (Part.1)
I was born in 1973 in Croatia. Melania Knavs—the woman the world knows as Melania Trump—was born in 1970 in Sevnica, Slovenia. If you took a compass and drew a circle, you’d see we basically shared the same sandbox. My front door is maybe thirty miles from where she first inhaled that crisp Slovenian air.
By Feliks Karića day ago in Critique
The Ignorance Tax: Why Your 20$ Gourmet Burger is a Scam
A friend of mine charges twenty dollars for a piece of ground beef and two slices of bread. He calls it a "burger." In private, he calls it an "Ignorance Tax." We’ve reached a point where basic survival is marketed as a luxury, and frying an egg is treated like cold fusion. While the West pays a premium to be fed like infants, I’m sitting in my kitchen in Croatia, watching the world forget how to live—one overpriced burger at a time. *** Last night, I committed a miracle. At least, that’s what a modern-day lifestyle influencer would call it. I actually made dinner. In about fifteen minutes—roughly the time it takes an average Californian to find their car keys—I produced six gourmet burgers. Beef, veggie, and fish. All sourced from a local organic shop where the ingredients actually remember being alive. I toasted the buns with ghee, caramelized some onions, and watched the local cheese melt over the patties like a slow, delicious tragedy. I assembled them with the precision of a watchmaker: a thin slice of tomato, a leaf of lettuce, a pickle. Total cost? About the same as a mediocre latte in San Francisco. My wife, my daughter, and I “suffocated” ourselves in the goodness of it. It was healthy. It was fast. It was, frankly, a joke how easy it was. And that’s the problem. The Teeth-Brushing Paradox I’ve been cooking since I was fifteen. Not because I had a “passion” for culinary arts, but because life is a series of unfortunate events. My parents were divorced and busy; I lived with my grandfather, a man who viewed a stove as a decorative object. So, I cooked to survive. To me, cooking is like brushing your teeth. You don’t stand in front of the mirror and congratulate yourself for five minutes because you managed to clean your molars. You just do it so your mouth doesn’t rot. In Croatia—this little patch of earth that used to be Yugoslavia—a man in the kitchen isn’t a “sensitive modern hero.” He’s just a hungry guy. Roughly 90% of the people here, even the kids obsessed with TikTok, can actually whip up a decent meal. We are like the Italians, but with more cynicism and slightly worse PR. We value the origin of the food, but more importantly, we value the “table.” In the States, dinner is the big event. Here, it’s lunch. Even in the middle of a workday, the world stops. We drink coffee, we eat, we talk. The capitalist model of “time is money” hasn’t completely strangled us yet. We still think time is for living. Charging a Tax on Ignorance When I lived in California, I felt like a wizard from a superior civilization. I watched people—educated, successful people—treat the act of frying an egg like it was complex engineering. If someone “cooked” for you, it usually meant they’d taken three semi-finished products, dumped them in a pan, added too much salt, and called it a masterpiece. The flavors were aggressive, the execution was sloppy, and the conversation about the meal lasted longer than the eating itself. I have a friend who owns a burger joint. I asked him once, “Why the hype? It’s a piece of meat between two pieces of bread. Why are people paying $20 for this?” He looked at me with the weary eyes of a man who understands the decline of Western civilization. “They don’t know how to cook,” he said. “That’s it. To you and me, it’s nothing. But I’m not charging for the meat. I’m charging a tax on their ignorance. I charge for the service of doing what they’ve forgotten how to do.” The Survival of the Simplest We’ve turned a basic survival skill into a luxury “experience.” We’ve made it so expensive and so hyped that we’ve lost the simple reflex of feeding ourselves. Knowing your way around a kitchen is no longer just a domestic chore—it is the ultimate act of rebellion. It’s a stand against a system that wants to sell you back your own autonomy at a 500% markup. Back in my kitchen, my family is full, the dishes are done, and I didn’t even notice I was “cooking.” I was just hanging out. Maybe I’m ready to become a professional chef. Or maybe the rest of the world is just ready to admit they’ve forgotten how to live. Either way, the burger was great—and it didn't cost me twenty dollars to realize it.
By Feliks Karić2 days ago in Critique
The Message I Deleted Too Many Times
I typed her name into my phone more times than I care to admit. Not to call. Not to text. Just to stare at it. Her contact sat there like a quiet reminder of everything I never said. Every night, I opened our chat, watched the blinking cursor, and closed it again. Words formed in my head but died on the screen.
By Salman Writes3 days ago in Critique
Capitalism as a Social and Ecological Crisis: Why Profit Is Destroying the Planet and Deepening Inequality
Introduction: Capitalism as a Sociological Problem In sociological inquiry, capitalism is not merely an economic system but a total social structure that shapes institutions, social relations, cultural norms, and individual subjectivities. While often defended for its capacity to generate wealth and innovation, capitalism has also produced profound social and ecological crises. From widening class inequalities to environmental collapse and the commodification of everyday life, its consequences raise fundamental questions about social justice, sustainability, and human well-being.
By Rachid Zidine3 days ago in Critique
Pastor Jamal Bryant calls for the arrest of protestors who recently interrupted his church service
Churches on private property should be protected. No matter if it’s a white supremacist or a black supremacist. It’s about the right for the leader and parishioners to enjoy the service in peace.
By Skyler Saunders3 days ago in Critique
Chasing Shadows: Why “More” Doesn’t Mean Happier
Last year, the World Happiness Report highlighted a striking pattern: even in developed countries where people spend substantial amounts on non-essential goods, higher consumption beyond basic needs does not significantly increase life satisfaction. Imagine Jane, a young professional scrolling through her social media feed: her friends flaunt new cars, exotic vacations, and the latest gadgets, making her feel inadequate despite owning everything she once dreamed of. This scene is far from unusual. Every advertisement, post, and billboard seems to whisper: “You need more.” Yet, the irony of modern life is stark: despite unprecedented access to wealth and goods, many of us feel lonelier, more anxious, and less fulfilled than ever. The promise of happiness through consumption is, in reality, an illusion that leaves us running in circles, chasing temporary pleasures that fade almost as soon as we acquire them.
By Rachid Zidine4 days ago in Critique
School as a Sorting Machine
Education is often presented as the most powerful instrument of social mobility, a neutral arena where merit prevails over origin. In Morocco, as in many postcolonial societies, schooling is officially framed as a republican promise: equal opportunity for all citizens regardless of class, geography, or family background. Yet, behind this discourse lies a deeply stratified educational system that systematically disadvantages students from poor, rural, and working-class backgrounds. Rather than correcting social inequalities, the Moroccan education system frequently reproduces and legitimizes them. This discrimination has severe social, economic, and political consequences, and it raises an urgent question: how can Morocco move toward a genuinely egalitarian educational system?
By Rachid Zidine4 days ago in Critique
