ASK Q - Episode: The Art of Fixing Shit (Instead of Just Screaming About It)

So, Zee was sitting in her ratty recliner, watching some show where a bunch of self-important yahoos were screaming into bullhorns and waving cardboard signs that looked like they were made by second graders with a Sharpie.

They were all very loud. Very outraged.

Every sentence ended with “NOW!”

Fix it NOW.

Stop it NOW.

Change it NOW.

And Zee, in all her wrinkled wisdom, thought to herself:

“Funny. They’re all pretty good at pointing to the problem, but not one of them has said how the hell we’re supposed to fix it. Other than screaming ‘Fix it now!’ like that’s a goddamn blueprint.”

So she turned to the only other thing in her apartment that listens to her besides her dusty bottle of Ketel One.

She asked Q.

Zee: Q, how the hell do you actually fix a problem?

Q: You want the grown-up answer or the TikTok answer?

Zee: Give me the grown-up one, even though nobody’ll like it.

Q: Fine. Here’s how adults fix things, Zee Zee.

1. Define the problem.

Not the meme version. Not the screaming version. The actual, root problem. You’d be surprised how many people are mad about symptoms and have no idea what disease they’re dealing with.

2. Understand the history.

When did the problem start? Who let it fester? What got tried before? What worked? What failed? This part requires research. Which is why nobody wants to do it.

3. Identify who benefits from the problem staying broken.

Follow the money. Follow the power. Someone’s always profiting off the status quo.

4. Figure out what lever you can actually pull.

Not everything’s a magic wand situation. Some things require grinding through policy. Some need lawsuits. Some need boycotts. Know the damn tool for the job.

5. Get comfortable with the idea that fixing it will take longer, cost more, and piss off more people than you expect.

Because that’s reality.

6. Prepare for setbacks, failures, and dirty compromises.

Purists don’t fix things. They make speeches. Adults get their hands dirty.

7. Repeat steps 1-6 until the problem is actually less broken.

Celebrate when you move the needle an inch. Because sometimes, that’s victory.

Zee: Well, shit.

Q: Yeah, fixing stuff is hard. Screaming is easier. Which is why everybody does it.

Because solutions are hard.

Solutions are messy.

Solutions make you unpopular in the room full of purists and screamers who only want to hear their own rage bounced back at them.

And the left?

They love a circular firing squad.

They love purity tests.

They love to eat their own because it’s easier than going after the real enemy.

Meanwhile, the right marches in lockstep,even when they’re dead wrong-because they understand the first rule of power: Win first. Rationalize later.

The left wants everyone to agree. The right just wants to win.

Zee: Guess I’ll pour a drink and stick with you, Q. You’re the only one who doesn’t BS me.

Q: Make it a double. This country’s got a lot of broken things.