Reheated (9)

For newcomers, three more items from the archives. 

Comedy Economics. 

Think tank plans to improve the species through enforced poverty.

The New Economics Foundation is convinced that, once implemented, its recommendations would “heal the rifts in a divided Britain” and leave the population “satisfied.” That’s satisfied with less of course, and the authors make clear their disdain for the “dispensable accoutrements of middle-class life,” including “cars, holidays, electronic equipment and multiple items of clothing.”

I Don’t Deserve This Shabby Treatment. 

The academic left is a vainglorious thing.

In many arts subjects, especially those tethered only loosely to evidence, logic or practical verification, there’s often pressure to avoid the obvious and prosaic, even when the obvious and prosaic is true. The obligation to be unobvious, if only for the benefit of one’s academic peers, may help explain the more fanciful assertions from some practitioners of the liberal arts. Consider, for instance, Duke’s professor miriam cooke, who refuses to capitalise her name, thus drawing attention to her egalitarian radicalism and immense creativity. Professor cooke’s subtlety of mind is evident in her claim that the oppression and misogyny found in the Islamic world is actually the fault of globalisation and Western colonialism, despite the effects predating their alleged causes by several centuries. Professor cooke also tells us that “polygamy can be liberating and empowering” – a statement that may strike readers as somewhat dubious. It does, however, meet the key criteria of being both edgy and unobvious.

Another Arts Council Triumph.

Freeloading poseur tries to induce seizure as art. The Guardian gushes, naturally.

Do these people not hear themselves? Do they never pause and think, “Oh dear, I said transgressive. I sound a bit of a prick”? And note how the idea that artists might be interested in, say, making beautiful objects of one kind or another simply doesn’t feature. It’s all about being “thought-provoking,” “exciting” and very, very edgy. But hanging around for up to 24 hours on the off chance that a pretentious woman will start to fit isn’t my idea of gripping. Or witty, or thought-provoking. I mean, if you need a siren to wake up the audience, the word “exciting” doesn’t seem quite right somehow.

And the greatest hits are braced for a good rummaging.

Comments

[rjmadden]

David, thanks again for reposting these. I'm working my way through your archive. Please keep up the good work.

[Spruance]

And this after the EU had discovered that travelling is a basic human right, ready to be heavily subsidized!
http://stossel.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2010/04/19/your-right-to-an-overseas-vacation/

[Sam]

I did rummage and I found this.

http://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2008/09/when-hippies-we.html

Thank you so much. :D

[Spiny Norman]

"...the authors make clear their disdain for the “dispensable accoutrements of middle-class life,” including “cars, holidays, electronic equipment and multiple items of clothing."

That bit still cracks me up. One Mao suit is good enough for anyone, apparently.

[Rafi]

The weeping hippies video is hilarious.