September 26, 2008
Economania
Are we witnessing total economic meltdown? Over the past two weeks, several major banks have failed and it looks like more are on the way. Why? Because these banks made high risk loans and mortgages that didn't pan out. Banks create money through loans, extending immediate cash for larger future payments. This is the credit system that we live on. It allows for growth and encourages investment, but unfortunately, it is not based on anything more than hope; hope that the investment will pay itself back and reward it with additional future earnings. There is nothing secure about this arrangement and when banks get greedy and make loans that can't pay back their hope, they crash. Right now we are witnessing an unprecedented collapse of the banking industry based on bad debt. Our extended credit has finally caught up to us and it is imploding the entire system. So what is the solution? Bush's proposal pumps $700 billion of taxpayer money into the machine, hoping that will save us. Some estimates put the number at one trillion. I can't even conceive of that much money, but it seems like an awful lot to be throwing at a dysfuctional industry. I understand the consequenses of not taking immediate action could be even more dire, but let's be clear about why we are facing this bleak situation in the first place: It is built on banks' unquenchable thirst for making loans at any cost. They prey on (foolish) consumers who think about the present and not the reality of their ability to pay it back with interest over time. It thus becomes a losing game for both sides. We need to re-write the rules of this game before anybody should be allowed to play with our money anymore.
September 24, 2008
Back To Boston
Since I moved away to college 12 years ago, my family has been spread out in various locations throughout the country. Now, I am the only one living outside of Boston. Last weekend I went back to the house we grew up in to visit Mom (actually away visiting Grandma) and Dad, Andrew and Caitlin. The family has expanded in the past few years to include Alaina, my brother's fiancee, Rachel and my sister's boyfriend (no pressure), Sam. On Friday night we celebrated Sam's birthday with his brother and sister and on Saturday we went to dine at Clio, where my bro is a chef. This is certainly one of the finest restaurants I have ever eaten at and I say that not because Andrew works there, but because the food he prepared was actually amazing. From the first course, a tomato juice martini (no alcohol, just strained tomato puree), through five more plates of incredibly varied taste and texture, to my lobster entree, we were treated to a phenomenally delicious meal. I'm a pizza and sandwich, simple tastes type of guy, but when I experience haute cuisine like this, I am reminded that food is high art that goes way beyond simple nutritious necessity. This is not everyday sustinence, but that is what makes it truly special.
Defeated
I also had the (dis)pleasure of attending the Patriots game on Sunday. Although they won every game last season (except, of course, for one), they were humiliated by the Miami Dolphins, a team that won only one game last year, by a play one expects to see in Pee-Wee games, but somehow worked for four touchdowns against the Pats. It was a direct snap to the running back who then has the option to run it up the middle (three touchdowns) or throw it to a receiver (one touchdown). It was sickening to witness the defense's complete meltdown every time this play was run. As if that were not bad enough, I had to sit right behind the most obnoxious Dolphins fan who insisted on intensifying my misery with constant heckling. It was almost enough for me to comprehend the irrational rage that consumes soldiers in war. But at its worst, when he mockingly turned around looking for a high five after the Dolphins fifth touchdown, I repressed my anger and rather than slap his hand or punch him in the face, I tickled him in his armpit.
Everything Bad Is Good For You
Subtitle: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter. Typical thinking bemoans the rise of video game culture and popular television as the dumbing down of our youth, but Steven Johnson argues that in fact, these and other activities are actually increasing our brain power in very important ways. Video games, which have been lauded for their hand-eye coordination value, are also deconstructed as multi-levelled, "telescopic" thinking games. In order to complete any given mission in a game, one is required to complete many objectives that are dependent on one another for success. They are rarely designed as linear walk-throughs, but rather as complex environments where the goal is not always clear and must be deduced by the player based on observations. This type of thinking excercises the mind in ways that few other activities can. Popular television has also evolved over the past 20 years to include multiple story lines and character relationships. Having just finished The Sopranos, I can relate to the extreme mental dexterity required to make sense of the senseless violence. How many characters and stories are we capable of following? The Sopranos (and I'm told even more so in The Wire) tests our capacity for understanding social structure in a way few other mediums can. Does watching The Sopranos make me more likely to resort to violence in a tough situation, or is it a safe release for any fantasies I may be harboring? That is a question we may never be able to answer, although personally I can safely say that I will never harm another human being regardless of what I watch.
The Tipping Point
Epidemics can be positive or negative, but they all share a similar pattern of growth. They all begin relatively small and then grow enormously over a short time period. What happens in this period that allows for such rapid growth? Malcom Gladwell explores this phenomenon and all of its consequences in his book. The sudden reemergence of Hush Puppies shoes, the precipitous drop in New York City crime, and the addictive nature of kids TV like Sesame Street and Blue's Clues all demonstrate that when small and seemingly insignificant changes take place, enormous ones can follow. It is a fascinating look at our social network and the power of people to make a difference.
September 17, 2008
Home!
My last blog entry was two months ago and it would be almost impossible to do justice to our trip trying to remember everything we did, so I will leave it to my wife, who kept people abreast of our travels with some delightfully detailed emails. I offer them here as an *almost* live blog of our trip
Truly, it was an amazing experience. We are so fortunate to be able to travel as we do because we both consider it essential to our beings. It is always a deep learning experience, about ourselves and our home, as well as the people and country we visit. I find it so refreshing to see daily activities done differently. We basically all live our lives with food, shelter and love, but our lifestyles can be so diverse on this planet. To see how families live in the cities of Guatemala compared to the highlands of Peru is extraordinary; how we choose to work or what we choose to celebrate varies so much from one place to the next and it makes me appreciate everything that makes me unique as well as everything I share in common with rest of the human race. This trip was even more of an intense education because we actually went to school--we studied Spanish for two weeks and also received a crash course in Guatemalan history at the highly recommended "Proyecto Linguistico Quezaltenango". The school is very political and was founded 20 years ago to educate the world about the realities of Guatemalan life. At that time, they were in the midst of a major civil war, with many guerrilla armies fighting the unjust and terrifying, and unfortunately U.S.-backed, military dictatorship. Just another embarassing example of our government pushing another country into unneccesary war...
But that's the strory and always has been. The Mayan culture was destroyed by the Spanish when they arrived 500 years ago, and the mighty Inca empire disappeared from Peru shortly thereafter. As we live and die, Empires rise and Empires fall. In trekking through Inca country to Macchu Picchu, I was constantly wondering what our culture will look like to future historians. While I can't (or refuse to) imagine the apocalyptic event that would wipe us out, I can picture people (or aliens) studying our remains and trying to make sense of our lives. In a way, I think that is what I try to do when I travel: to broaden my perspective on my own life and really understand why we do what we do. It can be difficult to see when we are engaged in our day-to-day lives, but when we step back and absorb a different lifestyle, we gain clarity. I have a greater appreciation for everything in my life when I live without it or when I see it done differently. In the end though, home always feels more like home and I am reassured that this is where, who and why I want to be.