The Labor of Writing

Pencil_and_paper

Writing is cheap. It's been cheapened lately by the onslaught of quick, sloppy writing afforded by technology and the internet (and I understand the irony of blogging about this). Being Labor Day, there has been a lot of talk about work and labor today. Stories of first jobs, the plight of workers around the world, problems with the economy. John Grisham wrote a short op-ed in today's New York Times that highlights what many have forgotten about writing: it's hard work.

I had never worked so hard in my life, nor imagined that writing could be such an effort. It was more difficult than laying asphalt, and at times more frustrating than selling underwear.

 

What is It?

Google_baby

 

There was a thought provoking op-ed piece by William Gibson in the Times yesterday about Google. In light of all the product announcement hysteria that went on yesterday, the measured wonderment of what Google is and what it might be offered a stark contrast to consumerism cult of Apple. Apple is making more stuff for us to buy. Google is changing how we fundamentally interact with information and the rest of the world. 

Lately it seems that every article is pronouncing the death of something old or traditional. The death of the book, the death of television, even the death of the internet. These are the easy pronouncements. Decrying big change that you'll never be called to prove or illustrate moving forward is easy. I've grown weary of the hype machine that seems to be flipping stories and ideas as quickly as pancakes. The idea that everything new is good and exciting. Everything old unnecessary and bad. The bravado that comes with creating the fiction of the future with clumsy fingers.

Gibson, however, deftly writes with uncertainty. Gibson's most powerful line is shrouded in ambiguity:

We have yet to take Google's measure.

Maybe that's what we could all use for now.  A little uncertainty. A little more consideration over time. A pace that allows for the true measure of ideas to unfold and our brains the time and luxury of reacting in a meaningful way.

Trends in the Tea Party

Faces_of_the_tea_party

So the Tea Party has been making noise for a while but up until now, no one has studied them or tried to figure out who they were. It turns out that my suspicions are more correct than I thought. The Tea Party is full of older white Americans who are angry about their level of influence waning. They see America changing and feel that it's their way or the highway.

The New York Times has some great stuff from a recent poll and some video blogging that highlights this. For those of you who don't like or trust statistics, I think the poll was conducted fairly well (I do this stuff professionally). What's more jarring is that when you look at the faces, not one of them is different. They're all older and white. Even their haircuts (across gender too) are similar!

When I read the poll article I'm more convinced that this is a group that dislikes the idea of helping anyone. I'm more convinced that there is some latent racism present. It's old thinking that deserves to go away. It's fear that tries to hide behind the Constitution (which they clearly don't understand) and name calling. It's sad really. 

After eight years in power we've all seen that the ideas the Right tried out didn't work. Their foreign policy, their economic policy, their environmental policy are all failures. They're responsible for the economic crisis we're in. It's time for a change. Even if you don't like Obama's policies, we need to do something else. The recent past was a disaster.