An Essay and a Poem You Should Read
This is the first of what may become a regular production of short posts – mostly about 500 words – which the average American should be able to read in about two minutes.
This essay and others are available for syndication.
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HL Mencken on the US Dollar and the Myth of America’s Currency
“The chief value of money lies in the fact that one lives in a world in which it is overestimated.”
– HL Mencken
– HL Mencken
If you’ve never studied economics – or have but rely on the NYT for your political, social, and/or economic opinions – you should read the essay I’ve linked to below.
It’s an entertaining explanation of what motivates almost everything our politicians promise, but fail, to do. It points out the fundamental reason why Trump is doing what he’s doing now – including waging war and collecting tariffs. It’s also the reason why AOC and Mamdani promised to “tax the rich,” and why some of NYC’s largest employers are leaving the city. And it’s a refreshing reminder of the discerning political and social insights of HL Mencken, who was perhaps the shrewdest critic of American values and habits since Mark Twain.
It was written by Garrett Baldwin, one of my favorites of Agora’s many economic and financial analysts, which makes the learning pleasing, if not downright fun.
In this essay, which challenged me to reconsider some of the political perches upon which I recently settled, Baldwin argues that the US (and pretty much the entire developed world) is barely surviving on – as he puts it – “the shared agreement that money means what we say it means.” And that is because, as Mencken said in Notes on Democracy(1926), “The average man does not want to be free. He simply wants to be safe.”
You can read it here.
Finally: Ordinary Poems That Ordinary People Can Understand
As a long-striving poet of mediocre verse, I read poetry regularly – every day, if I can – to improve my ear, if not my brain. For the last 15 or 20 years, however – and with a few notable exceptions – I’ve been disappointed with the quality of American verse. It often strikes me as calculated and self-conscious. More clever than true. Recently, however, I’ve been seeing a new style of poetry emerging – one that feels more honest and stronger. I haven’t a name for it yet, but it is more informed by Charles Bukowski than TS Eliot. (Not that there’s anything wrong with Eliot). I hope you can get a sense of what I mean with this poem by Hayden Carruth, which captures one of those rare moments when we know we are perfect.
Scrambled Eggs and Whiskey
By Hayden Carruth
Scrambled eggs and whiskey
in the false-dawn light. Chicago,
a sweet town, bleak, God knows,
but sweet. Sometimes. And
weren’t we fine tonight?
When Hank set up that limping
treble roll behind me
my horn just growled and I
thought my heart would burst.
And Brad M. pressing with the
soft stick, and Joe-Anne
singing low. Here we are now
in the White Tower, leaning
on one another, too tired
to go home. But don’t say a word,
don’t tell a soul, they wouldn’t
understand, they couldn’t, never
in a million years, how fine,
how magnificent we were
in that old club tonight.
Postscript: Something to Put a Smile on Your Face
This video is why I’m long on humanity.