Disgrace: On Marc Hauser Disgrace: On Marc Hauser
A case of scientific misconduct at Harvard.
Dec 21, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Charles Gross
Shelf Life Shelf Life
Andrew Tabler’s In the Lion's Den: An Eyewitness Account of Washington's Battle With Syria; Steven Cook’s The Struggle for Egypt: From Nasser to Tahrir Square.
Dec 21, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Frederick Deknatel
You Can’t Always Get What You Want: On Stephen King You Can’t Always Get What You Want: On Stephen King
In 11/22/63, Stephen King conveys the horrors of American exceptionalism.
Dec 21, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Charles Taylor
L’Élan Vital L’Élan Vital
It happened when a doctorate honoris causa was awarded to a certain Lamerdière of Freiburg— Switzerland or Breisgau, who cares? Garbed in rainbow gown, he mounted the dais and barfed his Objurgation. I revile the larva, he said, the grub from which, in due course, issues the angelic butterfly only to die in the flaring of a match. I despise the silent, the tenuous, the fading. The only god is Rhombus, not the mullet, but the everlasting anti- teleological, universal thunderclap. Not that susurrus which sophists call l’élan vital. If god is word, and word is sound, this almighty bombination, for which no beginning is, no end will ever be, is unique in being both itself and everything else. Jove dies, your Excellencies, the poet’s hymn does NOT last. At this point a Jumbo jet blasted my ears and I woke. Reprinted from The Collected Poems of Eugenio Montale, 1925–1977, translated by William Arrowsmith and edited by Rosanna Warren. Copyright © 2012 by Beth Arrowsmith, Nancy Arrowsmith and Rosanna Warren.
Dec 21, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Eugenio Montale
Occupy Atlanta: Life After Eviction Occupy Atlanta: Life After Eviction
With some of the highest foreclosure rates in the country, the Southern city is fertile ground for the growing Occupy movement.
Dec 21, 2011 / Jin Zhao
Rick Perry Compares Himself to Denver Broncos Quarterback Tim Tebow Rick Perry Compares Himself to Denver Broncos Quarterback Tim Tebow
So Perry is fond of debates now, He’s calling himself in these rumbles An Iowa caucuses Tebow— Except for how often he fumbles.
Dec 21, 2011 / Column / Calvin Trillin
Governor Cuomo Is Still Governor One Percent Governor Cuomo Is Still Governor One Percent
Contrary to the spin, New York’s new tax plan privileges millionaires at the expense of the 99 percent.
Dec 21, 2011 / Column / Eric Alterman
The Santa Claus Test The Santa Claus Test
Today, neither the press nor government has the authority to validate little Virginia's belief in miracles.
Dec 21, 2011 / Column / Melissa Harris-Perry
Do Americans Hate the Rich? Do Americans Hate the Rich?
Lately, whenever someone notes the chasm between the wealthy and everyone else, and argues for greater income redistribution to level the playing field, a member of the financial elite pipes up to complain about their maligned position in American life. The latest was Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co., who complained to investors about the unpopularity of bankers “Acting like everyone who’s been successful is bad and because you’re rich you’re bad, I don’t understand it,” the JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) CEO told an audience member who asked about hostility toward bankers. “Sometimes there’s a bad apple, yet we denigrate the whole.” Ignoring, for now, the fact that Dimon’s company received a massive bailout from the federal government—which belies the notion that he’s somehow been successful of his own accord—it’s not hard to understand why people are angry at bankers. Indeed, Joshua Brown, who himself was a banker, does a great job of explaining the dynamic at hand: No, Jamie, it is not that Americans hate successful people or the wealthy. In fact, it is just the opposite. We love the success stories in our midst and it is a distinctly American trait to believe that we can all follow in the footsteps of the elite, even though so few of us ever actually do. So, no, we don’t hate the rich. What we hate are the predators. What we hate are the people who we view as having found their success as a consequence of the damage their activities have done to our country. What we hate are those who take and give nothing back in the form of innovation, convenience, entertainment or scientific progress. We hate those who’ve exploited political relationships and stupidity to rake in even more of the nation’s wealth while simultaneously driving the potential for success further away from the grasp of everyone else. It’s hard to look at the wealth worshiping of American culture and conclude that Americans hate the rich. Rather, Americans hate people who become rich through rent-seeking, and then use their power and influence to pull up the ladder for everyone else. Financial elites crashed the economy, but rather than suffer any adverse consequences for their reckless behavior, they’ve prospered. Worse, they’ve yet to show any contrition for their actions, even as millions of Americans—who had no part in the sideshow—languish in a wounded economy. With that as the background, it’s no wonder that Americans want higher tax rates on the super-wealthy and other redistributive policies—it’s the only recourse they have for a situation that smacks of injustice.
Dec 21, 2011 / Jamelle Bouie
Jon Wiener’s Five Worst Political Books of 2011 Jon Wiener’s Five Worst Political Books of 2011
The Nation's Jon Wiener weighs in with a personal list of the year's worst political books.
Dec 21, 2011 / Photo Essay / The Nation