It's economic commentary time. Generally I do not intend to post content on the economy but for this post I will make an exception. Two recent videos that have been circulating on the internet this past week nicely complement each other in helping viewers understand what is wrong with the American economy and how to fix it. The first video was uploaded by AJ+; it is titled "Killing the Middle Class". The video makes the argument that the greed of the top 1-10% is squeezing out the middle 40%, making it more and more difficult to sustain a traditionally middle class standard of living.
The second video was posted by former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, who argues that "deficit-hawk" austerity program is precisely the wrong prescription for a week economy; it will only make a weak economy even weaker, possibly throwing it into recession or worse. Reich identifies three essential points in order to understand what is necessary for an economic recovery. These three points are, waved in front of advocates of austerity measures, are like garlic when you wave in in front of a vampire; they make the enthusiasts for austerity measures shrivel up and blow away.
Together these two video clips provide a clear and concise explanation of what is going wrong and how to fix it.
This was, hands down, one of my favorite songs when I was growing up. This song captured the spirit of the times, when society seemed to be spiraling toward total breakdown and chaos and states squandered human and material resources on endless warfare. It was a period that did not inspire much confidence in political leadership or in the future. This song speaks to the sense of hopelessness and futility that many people have in their lives if they cannot see beyond the bookends of birth and death.
Another song that explored the theme of wisdom being silenced by fools was this popular song by Simon and Garfunkel:
As you can see, I was a very deep, if not melancholy, child (lol). I grew up in a time when we were afraid that truthful witness would be swallowed up in commercial absurdity. That sense that futility might triumph over meaning may not have been very different from any other period of history, really. Both of these songs mention the suppression of the words of "prophets". Both songs mention the all-pervasive "silence" that envelopes meaningful expression. It seems to me that people without faith, without hope and without love still live with the fear that meaning will be swallowed up by silence.
Philosophy writer Alain de Botton, an atheist, acknowledges what religions do well and tells his audience how to mine religions for what they do best.
This is what religions know, according to Botton:
We are forgetful: religions are circular systems where they constantly repeat and rehearse.
They try to arrange our time for us: every day is associated with a concept; important ideas must be parceled out over time. Spontaneity is way overrated.
Religions are fascinated not just with what is said, but how it is said: we are creatures of the senses, not just the mind.
Religions involve the whole body: they are ritualistic.
Religions appreciate the utility of art: religions approach art as a form of propaganda, which is supposed to point you toward what is good and away from what is bad. Art gives us visceral reminders of the messages from religion.
Religions are good at drawing communities together; religions bring together people who have nothing in common.
Along these same lines, one of the more insightful comments I have read, during a discussion about Islamophobia where people constantly confuse fundamentalist sects with Islam itself, was a statement along these lines, which I am paraphrasing here because I believe it applies to all three Semitic religions (Christianity, Islam and Judaism): The only way to actually know how religious communities with a text (the Bible, the Koran, the Torah) actually live out their religion, struggle with it and understand it is by actually getting to know members of that religious community. Religions are not abstractions and texts are embedded in communities.
In other words, the interpretation of religious texts, such as the Bible, the Koran and the Torah, cannot be done apart from the traditions of the religious community the text arose out of. As the commentator said, we cannot just read these texts and take them at face value. Even within our religious communities, we struggle with the texts' meaning and we struggle with what it means to live out the revelation that we find within the text and within the traditions of our faith.
Religion is an experiential matter. It is something that is struggled with, lived and experienced -- especially by members of faith communities.
Interpretation of the text is constantly being done in the process of living the text. This is where religious fundamentalists and literalists of all types get confused. A sacred text is not like a scientific textbook. It is not written, nor is it to be interpreted, in cold, objective scientific or technical language, quite apart from the day-to-day experiences of the faithful.
This is also why outsiders, such as Islamophobes, with regard to Islam, confuse the Koran's call for spiritual struggle with a call to violently impose the Islamic faith on non-believers. They are reading the text as an outsider, without the same frame-of-reference or historical background as a person in an Islamic community reads the text.
Richard Greene gives a TED Talk on the seven "secrets" to effective speaking. His seven principles apply to all forms of delivering content.
The first four of Greene's secrets are:
Words -- the content of your speech.
Voice Tone -- how you use your voice; how it sounds.
Body Language -- your motions; how you use your body when speaking.
Focus -- this is very important; it is to know what your main point is and return to it again and again
Great speakers don't give a speech; they don't think of what they are doing as giving a performance; instead they are having a conversation with their audience.
Along with this is speaking about your passion. Greene says that you have to speak from your heart about the things of which you are passionate. Share your passions with your audience. What is it that you absolutely must share with the world? Why is it important for your audience to hear this?
Greene defines visual language as being the language of energy; he sees Robin Williams as being exemplary of this language
The audio language Greene defines as the ability to take the details one is talking about and turn them into a story, a narrative. He says that Ronald Reagan is exemplary of this language.
The language of the audio-visual is the analytical and statistical language according to Greene. It is the language that gives one credibility because of one's logic and reason.
Kinesthetic language, according to Greene is the language of suave and deep vocal inflection, as exemplified by James Earl Jones or Barry White.
Most important of all, however, according to Greene, is to speak from one's authentic passion. Effective speaking depends upon a deep level of detail and authentic passion.
Greene's advice, then, is:
Have a clear sense of focus; a main point that you want to express. Be clear about this.
Share your passion with your audience; share your passions with the world.
Harness the details in your talk and organize them into a story that keeps us wanting to know what happens next.
Have a conversation with your audience instead of performing in front of them.
In a recent interview Will Smith discusses the importance of failure:
"When you lose the ability to lose you lose the ability to create. Fear is the killer of creativity. There is a misconception about failing. [Actually], you have to fail a lot; you have to fail early; you have to fail often and you have to fail forward."
Author Ta Nehisi Coates discussed the process of writing in a recent interview for the Atlantic Monthly:
"I have always considered the entire [writing] process [as being] about failure."
"Breakthroughs [in writing] come from putting an inordinate amount of pressure on yourself and seeing what you can take, hoping that you grow some new 'muscles' [in the process]."
The writing process "is not really all that mystical. It is repeated practice over and over again, and suddenly you become something that you had no idea you could [ever] really be."
"I strongly believe that writing is practically an act of physical courage. You get up and you have this great idea ... and you sit down to write it. Almost always what was brilliant before is somehow not so brilliant when you sit down to write it. It's as though you have music in your head," but when you try to get it out on the page it "is absolute hell. You fail."
"If you are doing [the process of writing] correctly, the translation of what you hear in your head will almost always come out badly on the page," during the first draft. "You have to give yourself a day, go back and revise over and over and over again until you get to something that is at least 70% of what you [originally] wanted. You try to go from really, really bad, to okay, to acceptable, and then you know that you've done your job. I never get to that perfect thing that was [originally] in my head. I always considered the entire process [to be] about failure."
In terms of writing as a profession, which is not for everyone, Coates said that there are limited slots and that it is hard to make a breakthrough but it is important for the aspiring writer to keep going. He said that the longer one sticks with the craft the more one's initial competition thins out. In the meantime, he said, one develops a "skill set" that other people won't have if they are new to the profession. It all boils down, he said, to perseverance.
