Quote Of The Day
I know, I know, I’m overloading you.
And to think of the article I didn’t write a few hours ago, after listening to Howard Stern rail about getting no respect in his contract renegotiations with Sirius! Do you realize that with new technology Howard Stern can build his own radio empire? It might not be beamed via towers or satellites, but America’s number one broadcaster could create a multi-channel feed, one with not only talk, but music, that would be instantly successful, that’s how dedicated his flock is. Howard built Sirius. You think he can’t build Howard Radio? This is Seth Godin’s tribes theory in action. I can’t predict the future, but this is certainly the now. Engendering blind loyalty in fans who believe you’re so great they’ll follow you anywhere. Don’t you get it? This is what’s wrong with being a Top Forty radio star, you’ve got a hit, but no fans! And the options and the money are in the fans! If Sirius pays Howard enough, he should stay, and I think he will, but he doesn’t have to!
But this has got nothing to do with Howard Stern.
I spent the last few hours catching up on my reading. Today’s "Wall Street Journal", "New York", the incredibly vapid "Rolling Stone". Then I decided to finish "Vanity Fair". I read a long boring story about the battle between Murdoch’s "Wall Street Journal" and Sulzberger’s "New York Times", then I settled into Michael Lewis’s tome about the Greek financial crisis which somehow seemed to be framed by a story involving monks?
I began to skim. I just didn’t care that much. But I couldn’t figure out the angle, what exactly did the monks do?
Turning back, I discovered it involved a land swap.
But screw that. No one pays taxes in Greece unless they work for a corporation and the country’s economy is even worse than that of the United States, but in searching for the heinous monk behavior I came across this passage, wherein Father Arsenios explains it:
"He (Father Arsenios) points to a sign he has tacked up on one of his cabinets, and translates it from the Greek:THE SMART PERSON ACCEPTS. THE IDIOT INSISTS.
He got it, he says, on one of his business trips to the Ministry of Tourism. ‘This is the secret of success for anywhere in the world, not just the monastery,’ he says, and then goes on to describe pretty much word for word the first rule of improvisational comedy, or for that matter any successful collaborative enterprise. Take whatever is thrown at you and build upon it. ‘Yes…and’ rather than ‘No…but.’ ‘The idiot is bound by his pride,’ he says. ‘It always has to be his way. This is also true of the person who is deceptive or doing things wrong: he always tries to justify himself. A person who is bright in regard to his spiritual life is humble. He accepts what others tell him – criticism, ideas – and he works with them.’"
Eureka! That’s it! This explains the behavior of so many people I know, who when confronted with their b.s. become indignant, start explaining their position, justifying their acts. THEY’RE IDIOTS! I’m always scratching my head, wondering if they know how they’re coming across. Do they realize they’re taking themselves out of the equation? That they’re distancing themselves when they should be leaning in? That only the truly weak can be browbeaten into submission?
I’ve had this exact situation crop up twice in the past month. Truth was stated and the person on the other side of the equation threw a hissy fit. If only they knew me and my loved ones wanted to settle! We didn’t want discord, but peace! If only they’d read the room, accepted feedback, maybe without even digesting it, harmony would have ensued and everybody would have moved forward.
Instead these two people are licking their wounds alone. Tortured. Disconnected. Standing on ceremony. Unable to sleep because to accept that they might be less than perfect, actually human, is too hard to swallow.
I’m excited about life. I’m excited that so many educated people are sharing their intelligence in media accessible to all. You used to have to know the secret handshake to be the beneficiary of such insight. Now anybody with wherewithal can learn and become an expert. Isn’t this the story of Michael Lewis’s "The Big Short"?
It’s almost three a.m. I know if I sent fewer missives my audience would grow faster. But I can’t worry about satiating the casual reader, playing to he who tolerates me at best. I’m playing to you. Who is also foraging for information and insight in this most exciting of times. I just couldn’t resist firing up my computer and sharing my eureka moment.
Original "Vanity Fair" article here, but you’re on your own, I didn’t read every word and I wouldn’t expect you to either:
