'I can't walk, my speech is fucked up and I can't do anything for myself,' Fleischman, said. 'My wife helps me get into bed and I can't dress or put on my shoes. I am taking a gentle way out. It is the easiest way out for me.'

Of course, it’s the people-have-lost-their-everloving-minds incidents that make the news, but they are also a reflection of a deeper trend; Americans appear to have forgotten their manners, especially with those whose job it is to assist them. Lawyers are reporting ruder clients. Restaurants are reporting ruder clients. Flight attendants, for whom rude clients are no novelty, are reporting mayhem. (FAA fines for unruly behavior have already exceeded a million dollars this year.) So legion are the reports of discourtesy that some customer-facing businesses have been forced to play Miss Manners.

A remarkable new study by a director at one of the largest accounting firms in the world has found that a famous, decades-old warning from MIT about the risk of industrial civilization collapsing appears to be accurate based on new empirical data.

In 1972, a team of MIT scientists got together to study the risks of civilizational collapse. Their system dynamics model published by the Club of Rome identified impending ‘limits to growth’ (LtG) that meant industrial civilization was on track to collapse sometime within the 21st century, due to overexploitation of planetary resources.

The study was published in the Yale Journal of Industrial Ecology in November 2020 and is available on the KPMG website. It concludes that the current business-as-usual trajectory of global civilization is heading toward the terminal decline of economic growth within the coming decade—and at worst, could trigger societal collapse by around 2040.

I have a daughter who is very depressed and suffers from anxiety and outbursts of anger. She is trying medication and also sees a psychologist regularly. We are just trying to manage things the best we can for her. We even welcomed a puppy into our family to hopefully help lower her anxiety. However, most interactions, even the most basic of topics, are strained and difficult with her. She is always seeking out any way possible to push back on everything we say or be argumentative. She is a smart, beautiful girl and is quite developed for her age. My question is: What is the best way to discuss dressing appropriately with her? She makes fairly good choices for school except for the odd midriff (which is not worth the argument). At home she dresses in short shorts that are far too revealing and often a shirt that is low cut.

We have always had the family rule that we must always be dressed or wear pajamas around the house for the respect of ourselves and others in our family. My sons have both said they are uncomfortable when their sister wears this inappropriate attire. Our family is quite progressive, and we want to see the societal norms around labeling women by how they’re dressed change for the better. When we have brought up our daughter’s dress, she has sharply retorted that how can we judge her for having legs, and why should she have to cover up her perfectly natural body. In some ways, I agree, but that is the perfect attitude for living alone, not in a small house with four other people. Please help me with the right words to reach her.

While I personally don't like public displays of affection, they're a very peculiar phenomenon. Why is it that some couples can't help but touch each other obsessively, while others don't? And what's the motivation behind these physical urges?

Our parents have everything to do with the way we view and judge public affection.

"There can be an element of exhibitionism to it, which revs up your physiological system: Your heart races, your body gets hotter. And if your partner is also enjoying it, it can be mutually exciting."

And usually, a man reaching out to touch his partner in public will make her feel regarded as his prized possession.

"To some women, this can feel completely thrilling,"

But, if one partner likes the attention and the other doesn't, PDA can turn into a power struggle, which can be another type of turn-on. The physical touching actually becomes a form of ownership or domination of your partner.

You know them when you see them – the phonies in your life. Maybe they are sycophants. They laugh too loudly at unfunny jokes. They say things you know they don’t believe, because they think that then, other people will like them. Or the “right” other people will like them, the ones they are trying to impress. They are trying too hard.

You probably don’t like being with people who seem inauthentic. It’s uncomfortable. Well guess what? They don’t like spending time with themselves either. That’s one of the costs of phoniness – it is no fun being alone with yourself.

In contrast, people who are authentic have a great big advantage: they like their own company. Spending time alone doesn’t scare them. They don’t worry about being lonely. Their alone time is something they value. It is important to them and they benefit from it.