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Yearly Archives: 2014

Brazil Comes of Age

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When Brazil scored the 2014 World Cup, due to start next week, it seemed like a perfect plan. The nation, famous for its futbol fever and great parties was due for a coming out festival to celebrate its arrival as the developing nation of the moment – newly booming and ready to show the world that the future had finally arrived. The decision in 2010 was a an easy one.

Sadly, it’s still Brazil after all. Promises have gone unrealized and the people have turned sour on it in a way that no one could have ever predicted. But even this is a major milestone for the nation as it lurches ahead to developed nation status. What exactly will come of it won’t be realized until after the crowds have gone home, but we can say that Brazil, while not as wealthy as it would like to be, has a new-found purpose that can’t be quenched with just another big show.

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Better News Ahead?

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It’s a new month, which is as good of a time as any to look around to see how the ongoing stories of the year are progressing. For an election year it’s been very dull, with Congress clearly running on their record of getting nothing done. As we slip into the daze of summer, there hasn’t been good news on the biggest stories running, the economy and Ukraine. But both stories have a chance of improving in the near future.  Here’s what to look for.

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Yes, All Women

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“I get it now. I don’t get it. I’ve been trying to say that I understand how you feel, but, I’ll never understand.”
Stan, South Park Episode 1101 “With Apologies to Jesse Jackson”

In many ways, it was inevitable. The shooting spree of Eliot Rodger was bound to happen some day to a young man surrounded by wealth and a sense of entitlement. The rambling screed he left behind made it clear that this was a flip-side to the ridiculous standards of beauty foisted onto women. Misogyny is a poison that affects everyone.

But the reaction to the shooting was not as inevitable – yet long overdue. The first wave of social media comments included some horrific cheers for the shooter, later met with cries that “Not all men” are like this. No, we aren’t, but that doesn’t matter. Somewhere, deep inside millions of women, a rage bubbled out because the point was being missed. All women have to deal with misogyny and fear that any man, any time, any where they are vulnerable might be a threat. Yes, all women.

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Changing Attitudes About Work

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As discussed here previously, the distribution of income has changed in the US since 1970, or about the time that income inequality started to grow. In that year about half of all income was earned from wages, the other half from income came from investments (routed through corporate profits). Since then it has fallen steadily by year to 42.6% overall by wages, a difference of about $11k per household per year.

That suggests that the basic social agreement about what “work” is has changed. In the postwar period, through the 1960s, a fair day’s labor was supposed to be rewarded by a fair day’s pay. How does that work now? It turns out that Gallup has been polling people about this since 2001, and the trend shows that there is little faith in this basic arrangement of our economic “golden era”. The social agreement has, in fact, broken down.

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Memorial Day at Oakland Cemetery

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The scraggly oak trees intertwine their branches in a tall ceiling that shades the entire drive. Here, the appropriate view of the eternal isn’t blue and bright, but sheltered and close to the ground.  The rows of marble and granite dazzled by bright flowers have their own quiet redemption as the slow speed limit and a gentle wave from each passerby gives the setting grace.

This is Oakland Cemetery, Saint Paul’s municipal cemetery, founded in 1853.

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