Maslow's Hierarchies of Matters - August 2025

What were the MAIN things that mattered in August?  What was, and wasn't, worth our valuable attention?


Major: Very important, will be impactful.

Nothing


Appreciable: Good context to keep in mind, but don't sweat the details.

Tarriffs!  The details depend on your spending.  But whoever you are and whatever you think we all buy things and many of those things involve at least a bit of importing, so those prices will go up.

Was and remains appreciable: The ongoing genocide in Sudan and China.

Incidental: Good to know, but of limited use beyond its own topic.


Trump trying to fire Lisa Cook is a major issue if he can do it.  But if he is prevented, then whatever.  But right now we don't know the result.  So it's appreciable because if it happens it'll impact the economy a lot like tarriffs will - we all buy stuff and price changes impact us all.  But given its a legal battle I struggle to see what we can do, and if we can't do anything, it isn't worth much of our attention.

Texas redistricting, and California counter-redistricting, isn't good but I don't think its really as bad as it seems.  People's views change, politicians can smartly position in ways that cut unexpectedly through demographics.  I think intentionally cracking communities is bad but packing them isn't always and the lines have to be drawn somewhere.  I think expecting complete fairness is setting oneself up for failure.  "They" will work to empower themselves, and "we" will as well.  But the next move is always "take positions and deliver messages that maximize your chances with the resultant maps."  The person drawing the map may not always have the best strategy for that map.

Was Incidental in June, will remain Incidental: The Ukraine V Russia and Israel V Hamas/Hezbollah/Houthis wars continue to burn on, and there is lots to learn about if those conflicts interest you.


Negligible: Ignore this as much as possible.

Did Trump die?  Any conversation about this is pretty useless.  When its a statement of fact, obviously it'll be Major.  Just asking questions is fine and can be fun, but don't mistake it for importance.

Was and remains Negligible: Continued anti-immigrant actions.  We're still nowhere near the level of mass deportations, and still within the realm of "individual stories which can be tracked," which means these are tragedies, not statistics.  It can get worse - save your outrage for if it does.  If you know or are an undocumentated immigrants obviously this becomes a Major story for you which should command a lot of your attention.

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