Outer Bounds

A graph commonly used to show just how bad things still are.

        So this article isn't anything special in terms of writing style, but pretty soon this budget deal is going to be a big issue and this lays down the essentials. Give it a read, no need to comment though if you don't have time. I'm sure in the coming weeks there will be a longer more thoughtful piece on the same issue that I will want to show you. Also if you have time, and you aren't already feeling too enraged, read this. Republicans won't consider revenue, even coming from people who have seen their wealth skyrocket. It's just ludicrous.

Anyways, here's the article: Democrat's First Offer: Up to $3 Trillion for Debt

Asterios Polyp

So my parents just got me an absolutely dynamite piece of work.

      In 2009 David Mazzucchelli published his latest graphic novel Asterios Polyp. I have never heard of Mazzucchelli before (apparently he has been involved in the graphic novel industry since the early 80's and has built quite an esteem around his name) The book got a ton of hype since it was released and my sequential art (comic books) teacher talked it up in class so I was glad to get the opportunity to read it.

     I am about half way through right now and I will just say it straight up: this graphic novel is utterly delightful. The book deals primarily with personal perceptions (how we view the world, how others view it, how others view us and how we view others) This thing is nothing if not deep. Early on the dominant themes of the book are established and from there almost every panel is laden with visual (and written) representations of these themes. Its the kind of visual play that some of my favorite graphic novelists (Charles Burns, for one) try so hard to bring across. As you read the book the motifs become clear and when you look back at previous images you realize there were visual interpretations of these motifs running through the whole thing the entire time. The main critique I could see this book getting is that it is a little "smarmy" Mazzucchelli goes heavy with the references in this one (I find myself constantly on the internet as I read this thing wikipedia-ing philosophers and historical figures that keep getting alluded to) but while the characters in the book that make these references often come off as pretentious (as they were intended to) personally I never feel that the book becomes too full of itself.

     The reason being is that Mazzucchelli comes at the whole thing with a beautiful art style. There is a delightful simplicity in every panel he designs that never feels limited by Mazzucchelli's artistic restraints. Nothing is heavily rendered, backgrounds pop in and out and even perspective sometimes comes and goes as it pleases but none of this should bother the average reader even for a second because Mazzucchelli is thorough with establishing this style. Every panel, no matter how simple, plays along with certain "rules" set up by the artist and no two panels really contradict themselves so you never end up questioning the art style as a whole. There is a playfulness to everything that truly helps to limit the noise in the air writing style that comes with some of the characters. Characterization too, is something Mazzuchelli does quite well. Each character is believably written within themselves and they never seem to contradict their character at any one time. Also, each character is sculpted with specific, repeated design elements (line weight used in drawing them, typeface used for their speech bubbles and the speech bubbles themselves) that only go to reinforce their presence as a fully functioning character in your mind. From speech bubble one for each character I immediately hear a distinct voice in my head geared around how Mazzuccchelli designed them and it isn't hard for me to imagine the characters existing outside of the panels they are drawn in.

     If it isn't clear I highly recommend seeking this book out. I realize though that your library probably does not have a bountiful resource of graphic novels so take this post as more of a suggestion. Be on the lookout for this book and if you have an opportunity, at least give it a glimpse. As with most graphic novels the whole thing shouldn't take more than a day or two to complete.

The Constituency

If you haven't read this article in the Times, then you're missing a crucial look at the whole OWS movement. Krugman has posted about the article on his blog (and mentions it in today's column). Gawker has posted on it, and I think Reddit picked it up briefly.

This month's New Yorker cover.

Essentially the article, titled "In Private, Wall St. Bankers Dismiss Protesters as Unsophisticated," captures - in the bankers own words - so much of what is wrong with the political system today. The line that I found jolting comes about halfway down the first page:

[One longtime money manager] added that he was disappointed that members of Congress from New York, especially Senator Charles E. Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, had not come out swinging for an industry that donates heavily to their campaigns. “They need to understand who their constituency is,” he said.

Schumer and Gillibrand's constituency is the entire population of New York: representation shouldn't be weighted based on wealth or campaign donations. A piece like this supports the view that our economic problems stem from a deeply unrepresentative political system. It's why cases like Citizens United are so harmful and it's something I catch in interviews with protesters. Observers are saying the protesters should be working through the existing political system (and in a way I agree), and that they should be lobbying for more fair taxation etc. But there is a growing sense that the political system itself is deeply flawed, and any attempt to work through it will just be trying to push reform through an institution controlled by the very actors that need to be changed. 

Anyways, give it a read. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/15/business/in-private-conversation-wall-street-is-more-critical-of-protesters.html?scp=3&sq=private&st=cse

Coming Down

(Between full length albums, 5 page articles and double sized comments I realize our posts have been quite large as of late. I'm gonna scale it back for this one to stagger up our pace)
    
     There are times when you come across a song that just stops you in your tracks. One minute you are listening to music just to stave off boredom or sleep or responsibility and the next you are plunged head deep into a segment of music that embraces you so wholly you begin to see the outside world with all of its troubles and cares blot out of existence.

     Were it not for the 6:28 time stamp on The Dum Dum Girl's "Coming Down" I doubt I would ever bother to free myself from that embrace. Perhaps it is due to my negative mood as of late or a general musical starvation I have been feeling but this track has slain me. It is simultaneously forlorn and yet utterly hopeful. The atmosphere and lyrics of the song speak to some kind of sadness but in the whine of the guitars and the croon of the lead singer I can't help but perceive a relieving acceptance through out the whole thing. It is one thing for a band to embody a sadness that anyone can feel but on this track the Dum Dum Girls have captured that feeling of a weight being lifted from your chest not when you find an answer to your problems but when you breathe out and accept what is happening to you and the fact that maybe there is no "answer" In any event lemme know what you think.

Coming Down - The Dum Dum Girls

Broad View's Take

I'm pretty happy with the piece I have for you. It's by Peter Thiel. Gay, billionaire, libertarian. Pretty interesting figure in politics and in many ways the antithesis of Krugman. A friend linked me to it because of a piece I wrote about Thiel's argument for a bubble in spending on higher education.

Peter Thiel. Photo by David Orban.

What I like about this piece is that it's lengthy and has a broad scope. The standard newspaper length article starts feeling a little stale and thin after a period of regular reading.  And examining issues on the micro scale (should the tax rate on the wealthy be raised by x percent?) looks like a worthless exercise when you start to ask  yourself about what generates progress broadly.

Let me know what you think about Thiel's argument. In many ways, I agree with him. Has art stagnated of late? Are people going to look back and consider some of today's American authors equal to Hemingway and Fitzgerald? I thought you might have some thoughts on that.

A lot of Thiel's piece is about economics, but he doesn't ever get too technical (except for that bit about leverage). I think it's interesting to consider this view, because it really forms the essence of what appears to be a growing libertarian constituency. I don't agree with his ultimate opinion that there's little hope of economic progress without drastic change, but it's that dark thought that makes this piece so captivating.  

Enter the desert:

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/278758/end-future-peter-thiel?page=1

Note: I apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors. I didn't feel like I should worry about them, because I don't think you'd particularly care about them.