Category: politics

• December 15, 2011

  What is civil society and why does this matter?

  I’m currently finishing a personal essay entitled “In Search of a Middle Style for a Convivial Civil Society.” In it, I’m trying to make sense of how civil society is changing and of how I’m able to make a decent living as a result. I’ve included a small part below on the concept of civil…
• December 14, 2011

  Brand naming: Thinking differently

  The inner circle of brand doyens at Lexicon (I almost wrote Lexipro, then almost quipped about Lexi-con) is exploring car names that could become impactful brands in a twenty-first century green economy. In “Famous Names: Does it Matter What a Product is Called?” (The New Yorker, October 3, 2011), the writer John Colapinto listens in:…
• December 13, 2011

  An Auerbachian theory of literary style and social change

  Can one deduce a theory of literary style and social change from Erich Auerbach’s book Mimesis? Yes, and not with too much straining. One could think of a new style as coming into being and becoming settled in four distinct moments. The First Moment: Doxa. The style (or suite of styles: I will use the singular…
• December 9, 2011

  The alien and the American discuss modern work life (P.S. It’s a joke)

  So the alien has scheduled an appointment with the American in order to compare notes about work life on their respective planets. This is what they said. Alien: On my planet, we have ‘companies’ that occupy physical spaces known as ‘office buildings.’ American: Yeah, we have those too. Alien: Also. On my planet, we have…
• December 8, 2011

  Oh, to hell with work/life balance

  Wouldn’t it be nice to get your work life back into balance? (This, my friends, is known as the hook. You read it on the subway, see it on the tele, hear it on the old time radio, and it gets ya.) Now that you’re grabbed: These days, oh these days, my friends, people just…