Literature is important to a culture. Before something becomes literature, however, it has to be published. That means it’s subject to all the constraints of the publishing industry, which is… (wait for it) an industry. It has to make money. Fine arts rarely make money, at least in the short term, meaning that the industry always has something else to focus on. That’s been accentuated lately by a general decline in publishing profitability. This is not a good time for literature.
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The musings of someone who picked it up on the streets.
More Perfect Union: Literature
They were walking down Flagler Street in Miami like they might any other day, nothing more than two men that appeared to be strangers. The fact that one was Black and one was Latino would give them little reason to acknowledge each other at all, unless one wanted to start a fight. This was just 5 years after the bitter McDuffie Riot that filled the city with acrid, chocking smoke for three days. But on this day, they shared a quick high-five as they walked past each other, an audible smack of comradeship that split the tension of a big city day. The reason for this was simple: the Miami Dolphins were in the playoffs, and both men were proudly wearing their white, aqua and orange shirts with Dan Marino’s 13 on the back.
More Perfect Union
Two generations ago, the USofA found itself in something like a Baroque Era. There was unprecedented wealth distributed widely through manufacturing jobs, and many families found they could opt for “stay at home mothers” for the first time. In this world of chrome and fins, one thing was clear: outside of the ongoing scare from the Russkies, America was on top of the world.
Something From Nothing
Many years ago, in a faraway land, a small band of us became friends in the financial chatboards devoted to amazon.com. Those of us who got together were of many minds, some perma-bears and a few devoted technical stock analysis mavens. But the majority of us were only there to see if this “New Economy” thang was somehow real. We parted ways once it became clear that the Tech Bubble was bursting and we were right to be at least suspicious. But how should we commemorate this event that rolled over the stock market and all of the US? The only thing I could come up with was: a musical.
Say What?
Imagine a time traveler from just 10 years ago. An ordinary person from the go-go 90s shows up at your doorstep a bit confused, and you naturally want to bring them up to date. You tell them how the Tech Bubble burst, how the election in 2000 went in Florida, and how we all watched the World Trade Center fall on live teevee. You go on to describe the war that has cost us $600 billion and counting despite being a humiliating failure, and let them know that we’re having massive failures of financial institutions that have everyone thinking about a Depression. You can tell them that New Orleans was nearly wiped out in a hurricane, and Detroit is gradually becoming a ghost town as GM teeters on bankruptcy.
Barataria - The work of Erik Hare 