Rent-Seeking Behaviors

[mallorys_camera]

The kid came over and we worked on his valedictorian speech last night. He’s an excellent writer, but doesn’t quite get the fact that speeches are about communicating with people, not about expressing yourself per se. You really want to keep the figurative flourishes to an absolute minimum in a speech.


At 5:30pm, it was still 97 degrees in the shade. Summer coming in with a literal flourish. Northeast is pretty much over the flower cycles I love. Peonies bloomed the first week I was here – I filled the apartment with them. Then came the irises, now we’re on to tiger lilies. After them, there’ll be no more cycling flowers. Stamens are all furiously metabolizing into seed pods.

I really haven’t done much in the last month.

Max comes for a week tomorrow.

###

I took the apartment for a month. Among the many pieces of unfinished business hanging over me, there’s one that it would be best to complete in Ithaca – and that’s the dental work. I had planned to do it in late April but then the car broke down. Car’s been operative since the beginning of May, but the dental work involves some drastic stuff and I didn’t want to be in less than fighting trim for graduation and Max’s visit.

So I’m thinking I ought to do it now. Truth is while my teeth are in such bad shape I'm always going to be marginal. Dentalwork really defines class boundaries in the United States today. Unfortunately, this involves finding another Ithaca hideaway for July. Pickin’s are somewhat slimmer than they were a month ago so it may not be possible. All one can do is try, right?

###

Price of oil is now hovering around $75 a barrel. I’m not entirely sure why this is bad for the economy, but apparently it is. Seems to me that the pump price of gas is the primary determinant of consumer confidence, and consumer confidence is the spending engine that drives the American economy. But what do I know?

Heard the economist Joseph Stiglitz on Terry Gross the other day. “One of the reasons that we have such inequality is that much of the income of those at the top arise from rent-seeking,” he said – in other words, not from labor but from asset ownership. The words have stayed with me as an explanation for everything that’s wrong with capitalism, an economic system I like in many ways because it seems to incentivize effort. But capital trumps labor every time, doesn’t it?

Marx suggested that social conflicts arise from class warfare – masquerading, as it often does, in the costume of our times -- racism, or sexism, homophobia, anti-semitism,and religious intolerance, wrote Robin. Ultimately bias is an artificial construct disguising the battle for capital.

“I am not taking that out,” he announced.

“Of course not,” I said. “That’s the truest part of your speech. But, you know, you should use words of two syllables or less for the rest of it.”

"You're talking about dumbing it down!"

"No-o. I'm talking about making sure people understand it."

I started quoting Hemingway. Line those darlings up! Blindfold them! Ready! Aim! Fire!

"Would you stop?" RTT said. "Hemingway's been dead a long time."

Comments

[millysdaughter.livejournal.com]

At the smallbear's graduation, the valedictorian's speech was the worst one I have ever had the displeasure to hear -- worst speech of any kind I have ever been forced to sit through -- he wanted to prove he was smart and the audience was stupid. What he actually proved was that he was a nasty little ass, from the audience reaction.
Luckily the salutarian had a nice speech, or that school might have refused to ever permit another student to speak again.

[anais-pf.livejournal.com]

I think what RTT may fail to grasp is that writing is different from speaking. I understand his quote about Marx when I read it, but it would be difficult to understand if spoken, especially as part of a long speech. There's no chance to go back and reread in a speech. Has he ever taken any acting classes? I'm guessing not.

Both A. and I can recommend excellent dentists in our area if you can't find anywhere to stay in Ithaca for the month of July. But I would assume dental work is much more expensive here than there. The cost of real estate, you know.

[platofish.livejournal.com]

He would get more respect - and understanding - by using a Groucho Marx quote instead..... I think it was Groucho who said

'if hard work is such a great thing, why don't rich people keep it all for themselves'.