Maslow's Hierarchies of Matters - June 2025

The trouble of doing this monthly is sometimes a war starts and ends before my next deadline.  Oh well!

Also some of last month's stuff is still relevant, but in some cases changes in importance, so I'm noting that.

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


Major: Very important, will be impactful.

Was Major in June, will remain Major: "Big Beautiful Bill" is on the way to being law.  When I started writing this it's fate was still uncertain, but has since been passed by the House.  So if you're represented by someone who voted for it and are unhappy with the contents you should complain to your rep and in a few months when opponents rise up to run against them consider supporting them.  Or run yourself!

But the bill contains a lot of stuff and will affect nearly every American in multiple ways.


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

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

Was Major in June, now with the SCOTUS term up is Appreciable: The courts are ruling against Trump pretty consistently.  How will these losses be enforced?  Is there any amount of losses which motivate Republicans in Congress to start abandoning him?  If he ignores them, how can Democrats use that to motivate voters next year to support them?

Of course the courts sometimes sided with him, sometimes on the merits of the case and sometimes in a procedural way.  Definitely know the difference.  SCOTUS didn't say Birthright Citizenship can be suspended - but rather that universal injunctions are no longer a thing.  So a different legal method will be needed to prevent its enactment - but the merits of "can the President limit birthright citizenship" hasn't been decided.

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

Was Incidental in June, will remain Incidental: The Ukraine/Russia and Israel/Hamas wars continue to burn on, and there are lots of interesting details to learn about if that's your thing.


Negligible: Ignore this as much as possible.

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 tragedies 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.

The Israel/Iran war may have important fallout, but maybe not.  Impossible to know now, but it's unlikely to be cleared up within the next month.  Follow it sparsely, if you feel compelled to keep up at all.



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