From the Archives: How to Save the World

An essay from 2016, still relevant today.

Below is an essay I wrote for the late Deadspin in December 2016, right after Donald Trump was elected the first time. I believe it remains just as relevant today.

Last week, a man named Adam Saleh was kicked off a Delta flight from London to New York City. Here is the video. You may have watched it already, but it’s worth refreshing your memory of it before we get started here.

(I love when Saleh keeps yelling “it’s 2016!” as if this is some sort of argument for discrimination not happening. Has he looked around? The first thing I thought when I saw this video was “Well, it’s 2016: This is exactly what happens in 2016.” The idea that human history is on this constant upward progression, I’d argue, was rather definitively debunked specifically by the year 2016, so the claim that “I can’t believe this still is a thing in 2016!” seriously misunderstands what in fact 2016 was. I swear, someone in recorded history, at one point, must have said something like, “It’s 22 A.D. and we’re still burning…