Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

More raillery, please

By

Scot Lehigh reviews Stephen Miller’s* book, “Conversation — A History of a Declining Art”:

The enticements of the virtual world and a cornucopia of personal-entertainment diversions have pushed discourse to the side.

Aided by the Internet, more and more people are joining what Miller calls ”anger communities,” like-minded individuals who empower each other’s pique and reinforce shared prejudices.

Meanwhile, in a polarized time, an inability to entertain opposing views civilly has made certain topics – politics, for example – treacherous terrain, and thus ground best avoided.

All right, well, what’s the alternative? Miller celebrates “raillery”, which he defines as “good-humored, intelligent wit and banter”:

Raillery … “is an agreeable gaiety of spirit, which makes conversation cheerful, and which binds the company when it is good-natured but which disturbs it when it is not.”

Let’s have some raillery.

*(Full disclosure: Stephen’s the dad of a friend.)

Please share widely!
fb-share-icon
Tweet
0

Comments

  2. …but raillery nonetheless:

    <

    p>
    In response to Ms. Healey timely proposal for pension reform, Mr. Patrick’s Campaign spokesmen noted that “Patrick has opposed moves to shift public workers’ from pension systems to 401(k) style plans.” [quote Globe]

    <

    p>
    Off record, he further added that Patrick thought the internet would never catch on; that indoor plumbing was overrated, and that buggy whips were once a thriving business which may yet return….

    <

    p>
    Seriously, how can one oppose a shift to 401(k) type plans.  Has the private sector been so wrong?

    • But, well, we already have “401(k)-style plans”. They’re called 401(k)s. And don’t forget about the IRAs and the SEP-IRAs and the Roth IRAs and…

      <

      p>
      Pension systems are like insurance, at it seems to me that arguing against them is kind of like saying, “Well, you ought to put aside $100 each month, so that way if you get into a car accident, that sum you’ve set aside will cover your expenses.”

      <

      p>
      It’s a good thought, and I’d argue that we all should be saving for that rainy day, but that absolutely does not obviate the need for insurance.

      <

      p>
      We need both types. We need pensions, and we need 401(k)s. And we have both. If we change it so everything is “401(k)-style”, we elevate the risk while not offering much more in return.

      <

      p>
      Ask yourself if you would have wanted to retire in the summer of 1929, and what you would have done six months later when your 401(k) lay in ashes.

      <

      p>
      We need both insurance (pensions) and rainy-day funds (401(k)s), and we have both. Why change this?

    • A raillery once bit my sister.

      <

      p>
      Mind you, raillery bites can be pretty nasty…

  4. Disclaimer: I majored in raillery in college.  I minored in ‘tude.  đŸ™‚ It’s what “I do.”  It’s a gift. 

    <

    p>
    I look forward to much raillery from kindred spirits. đŸ™‚

Archives