Author: Aaron Weber

Idiots… In… Power!

Changes in tax code should be revenue-neutral. Just like with the Massachusetts income-tax repeal, which has been described as “public policy arson”, we’ve got a similar situation at the national level. Congress, under pressure from the prez, is shooting itself in the foot. Yes, the AMT needs to be fixed. But it needs to be fixed in a revenue neutral manner, and instead Congress has just said it’s going to pile up some more damn debt.

I Am Not Optimistic

I found a real-estate blog focused on Charlottesville for a friend of mine who lives there, and sent it off to him without thinking. And then I looked at it again and it’s one of those ones done by a Realtor who thinks they’re smart because they understand that the National Association Of Realtors is sleazy. It’s not a terrible blog, but nothing special, really. (Update: The blogger saw this post and sent back a really polite comment and now I feel guilty for insulting him. I’m not going to deny doing it, but… two blogging-without-thinking moments today. Ouch.)

My friend wrote back: “Cville/Albemarle is owned lock/stock/barrel by the realtors. How come? Why is it that the stockbroker’s back was broken by the on-line brokers — saving consumers 90% or so on commissions — but Cville/Albemarle is still owned by the commission-heavy Realtors? … It’s a cartel. Some smart people have got to figure a way to break this system….”

I replied that, sadly, there are quite a few smart people dedicated to perpetuating it as well. But I suppose that could be said about more than just real estate markets. Sure, there’s potential for reform and transparency, but I’m not optimistic.

I’m not optimistic about the prospects for a lot of things. Mechanics and politicians and veterinarians are going to keep being sleazy bastards. Massport and the MBTA will never be reformed. It’s not so much The System as the fact that any system is only as good as human nature, and human nature just isn’t that good.

Maybe I’m particularly gloomy today because I’ve watched too much of A+E’s “Intervention,” a show I’d call the sleaziest reality show ever if I hadn’t already used that phrase to describe “A Shot At Love With Tila Tequila.” Every episode is the story of two different addicts and how their parents got them to go to rehab. It’s mostly white women, possibly to make the suburban audiences more comfortable, possibly because that’s who gets intervened on the most. I don’t know. It’s riveting, and although I know it’s shameful emotional pornography I can’t stop watching.

Then again, I could be permanently damaged by the video I saw today over at Ectomo. I won’t even describe it, but you should definitely watch it. With headphones. The screaming is the best part. Well, that and the fact that someone kept filming the whole thing. Can you say “older brother?”

Book Review: The Polemic Tradition In Nonfiction: Roberto Saviano’s “Gomorrah”

Roberto Saviano has a book out called “Gomorrah,” about the Camorra, the Neapolitan mob. I got an advance copy from Bookdwarf awhile ago. She knew when she saw it that it was exactly the sort of thing I love. It’s got crime, scandal, ecological disaster, and a heartfelt, personal touch. There’s an excerpt in the latest Granta, although it’s not online, just in print. You can also read about the author – now in hiding – in the Times from earlier this month.

He says his distaste for the criminal class in Naples is personal. That’s definitely true. In the US, getting worked up about a political issue is considered poor form these days. Critics who have point out that our president is a corrupt, criminal nincompoop are derided not for being incorrect but for being “shrill.”

Not so in Italy. In Italy, when you get furious, when you write poetry about the crimes of your fellow-citizens, they kill you. Saviano’s rage is intense. He’s got a polemic here, and I can only hope that US audiences don’t ignore it because of that. His choking rage at the destruction that criminal enterprise wreaks on his hometown should draw you in. It says: This man is serious. He’s got something important to say. Listen carefully.

You should read this book. You should buy it from the Harvard Book Store.

French Hip-Hop: Weird

Only the French would have a hip-hop track that’s about how cliche and irony are deadening to the soul. Well, I think that’s what it’s about. There’s also one featuring contrasts between the pastoral ideals of the French past and today’s urban wastelands, but it might be about vegetarianism, or just about how sausage is kind of icky. It definitely features rappers with wearing masks made out of pig’s faces holding up a butcher shop using antique hunting rifles.