The cool thing about those who hit it late in life — after the age of reason, or let’s say, 25 — is that they’ve usually lived enough life like normal folk to still be normal folk. In an earlier life as editor-in-chief of a men’s fashion mag in Los Angeles, I found this to be the case when interviewing celebrities. Billy Bob Thornton talks to strangers in the street about their dentist brothers. Ed Bradley, the late 60 Minutes colossus, would hold forth on his love of, of all things, sweaters.

There was never a time when I didn’t love guns. As tools of force projection, it was impossible to miss the fact that they provided a kind of punctuation that guaranteed you were heard. This I knew at the age of 4. Courtesy of George Reeves, the guy who played Superman on a TV show I watched religiously. Reeves as Superman was immune to the charm of guns, but he was SUPERman.

Last week we asked, “Should you have to pay taxes for issues you disagree with?” You answered. Here are some reader responses and perspectives, with editing for clarity. Check back tomorrow for our next question. Every Wednesday, we’re debating hot topics in the lead-up to our next TV show, Third Rail with OZY, launching on PBS this fall. Keep your eyes peeled.

Poet laureate of the streets Charles Bukowski said it best when he said of the inevitable roads to madness that it wasn’t the big things in life that were likely to send you over the edge. Death, divorce and injury were all bearable in a way. But that “shoelace that breaks with no time left”? That’d do it. Well, that and ATM cards misplaced. Gas cards slipping between the cushions of the car. Credit cards you can’t keep track of and the eventual accounting at the end of a dunning call from the card issuer.

When I call Corey Asraf and John Swab — co-writers and co-directors of the blistering crime drama Let Me Make You a Martyr, which stars goth-rock icon Marilyn Manson as the homicidal hit man Pope and Sons of Anarchy alumnus Mark Boone Junior as Larry Glass, a sleazy local drug lord — they are driving south to Austin, Texas, to catch the sold-out theatrical release of their movie at the Alamo Drafthouse.

Kyle Ferguson is president of Bristlecone Holdings, a high-growth financial technology company based in Reno, Nevada.

When Lending Club fired its CEO over dodgy lending practices earlier this year, people feared the scandal would set back the world of alternative finance. But the misstep was actually a blessing: While the missteps were unfortunate, they inspired other lenders to get more disciplined. Financial technology (fintech) is a young but $78.6 billion–strong industry, and legal precedents can only help it thrive.