[rdiddly]

OK fine, but "dysfunctional places" just automatically and glibly equals "the government?" Dysfunctional places, "i.e." the government? Assuming the best, probably she just means "the one dysfunctional government agency I worked in and have been blogging about forever." I have to actively & intentionally reach for that explanation because otherwise it just rubs me the wrong way I guess, because of its resemblance to, among other things, a sloppy extrapolation/generalization by a young person who should endeavor to vacate my domesticated blade-leafed-plant-dominated steppe-biome reserve; a boring old joke along the lines of "I learned all my bullshit-detection skills from working with dishonest people, i.e. lawyers." ("Oh thanks a lot!" says every honest lawyer); or a tired talking-point of the hypocritical and unhinged faux-libertarian radical "government bad! always!" right.

The secret to maintaining a vital mental landscape is to resist the temptation to think the whole world conforms to what you've seen so far in your short-ass life. Be content to "know" a lot less, and probably say less as a result. Ice Cube once rapped something about "shut my M.F. mouth if I don't know" and that seems like a pretty good policy, though if everyone did it, there would be a lot fewer blog posts in the world, unfortunately (or fortunately?)