tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post6255080847309850495..comments2024-01-13T08:49:14.041-08:00Comments on Myrhaf: Other PeopleMyrhafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16340507405537605164noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-49680763771148870312007-06-28T03:48:00.000-07:002007-06-28T03:48:00.000-07:00Great post, Myrhaf! I'm working on a follow up.Great post, Myrhaf! I'm working on a follow up.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-32320485968769564672007-06-27T17:20:00.000-07:002007-06-27T17:20:00.000-07:00When I lived in New York I knew an actor who was p...When I lived in New York I knew an actor who was paid $40,000 to move out of a building that was supposed to be demolished or something. He said he invested the money in his career, which I take to mean he lounged around for a few years without a job.<BR/><BR/>I knew another case in which a woman let a starving artist live in a room in apartment. After awhile she told the guy to leave. She was contacted by his lawyer, who said she would have to pay him $50,000 to leave. She learned not to be nice to starving artists, at least not in New York City.Myrhafhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16340507405537605164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-19184217664575266252007-06-27T07:38:00.000-07:002007-06-27T07:38:00.000-07:00No relationship is more contentious than that betw...No relationship is more contentious than that between landlord and tenant in New York City. New York is the city of rent control, the system that expropriates the property of landlords. They cannot evict their tenants who have lifetime tenancy rights, which they can pass down to their heirs in perpetuity. Legal rent increases lag inflation or the increase in the value of real property. As a result, thousands of buildings have been abandoned by landlords, and have fallen into rubble mounds because the landlords cannot make money.<BR/><BR/>Do you think that makes landlords a little bit grumpy?<BR/><BR/>In fact, they end up becoming enemies of tenants, finding any excuse to boot them out of their apartments so they can legally raise their rents.<BR/><BR/>Capitalism creates good will because both parties to a trade voluntarily engage in it to mutual benefit. Undercut that relationship through any form of regulation such as price controls, and that good will becomes mutual hatred.Galileo Blogshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02592692929747610846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-30722065783224516402007-06-27T05:05:00.000-07:002007-06-27T05:05:00.000-07:00I heard that remark from Ayn Rand on a taped inter...I heard that remark from Ayn Rand on a taped interview, I believe at Columbia University's radio station, in the early 1960's. I hope I have remembered it accurately. I suspect her opinion was more widely held early in the century.<BR/><BR/>I can see the organ grinder music comparison in a few of Wagner's more repetitive pieces, but certainly not in everything. The overture of "Tristan und Isolde" is nothing like an organ grinder.Myrhafhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16340507405537605164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-33998112035178468122007-06-26T20:08:00.000-07:002007-06-26T20:08:00.000-07:00That was an enjoyable and, I think, a very fine an...That was an enjoyable and, I think, a very fine and benevolent bit of advice for dealing with people generally.<BR/><BR/>I do have one bone to pick, however. You wrote:<BR/><BR/>(Another example of being intimidated by people who were around when America and the west were better places: When I heard on tape Ayn Rand dismiss Wagner as organ grinder music, I thought, “Whoa! I’m a guy who is happy with the Beatles and Black Sabbath and she’s looking down on Wagner?”)<BR/><BR/>I wonder if you have a reference for Miss Rand's remark. Specifically, I wonder whether she was referring to Wagner or to Verdi (the latter's music frequently referred to as "organ-grinder music" by some). Whatever the case . . . and I write this with all due respect to Miss Rand . . . she was wrong. Wrong in every possible respect, whether she was referring to Wagner or to Verdi. Such a remark is a sign of profound musical ignorance.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-45817531086404808212007-06-26T12:55:00.000-07:002007-06-26T12:55:00.000-07:00Heh, I remember when "Paper or plastic?" meant cas...Heh, I remember when "Paper or plastic?" meant cash or credit...<BR/><BR/>Regarding Galileo's point about nasty successful people who are so because they believe that capitalism is "lawless", I've seen a lot of that kind of thing; it often explains the kind of person often held up as "the essential capitalist" by the Left. I find that it happens more often among certain groups that are widely held in contempt and/or are mistreated by the law; landlords, for example. I just moved last month, and both my own landlord and my girlfriend's are trying to screw us out of our security deposits. :PAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-2489059278652160292007-06-24T07:09:00.000-07:002007-06-24T07:09:00.000-07:00I agree. In essence, you are saying that context m...I agree. In essence, you are saying that context matters when dealing with people. Not everyone has read Ayn Rand. Furthermore, most social interactions, such as the "paper or plastic" example, have nothing to do with explicit philosophy.<BR/><BR/>As for the connection between rudeness and socialism, one can observe it here in New York. I find that the rudest people are the non-working poor, i.e., the welfare recipients and residents of public housing. You can spot them in grocery stories paying for food with their plastic debit welfare cards. You can also see them hanging out at "bodegas" (convenience stores) in neighborhoods where there are an abundance of public housing projects. These people rarely smile, they almost never say thank you. When they want something from a store clerk, they say, "Gimme that."<BR/><BR/>I know I am generalizing. Undoubtedly, there are some polite welfare recipients, but I doubt there are many.<BR/><BR/>I contrast the non-working poor with the working poor. Recently, I bought something from Craigslist. I traveled to a poor Hispanic neighborhood in New York where there was not a public housing project in sight to pick it up. Most of the residences were attached homes or small apartment buildings. Everything was neat and maintained with pride. When I went to the door to pick up the item I was buying, I was invited in and offered something to drink while I waited for a car to pick me up. The house, although inexpensive, was cheerfully painted and clean as a hospital ward.<BR/><BR/>Of course, I am generalizing based on this one example, but I have other experience to support my point. In my career, I have had numerous interactions with senior executives of corporations. My experience has been that the more successful people are -- in terms of money and career achievement -- the more pleasant they are to deal with. Of course, there are strong exceptions. Sometimes, a successful person can be nasty. I suspect that in those cases, such people operate under their own mistaken malevolent universe premise. They have adopted the view that capitalism is lawless, so they might as well be nasty "takers." However, this is the exception, based on my experience. Generally, the nicest people I have found are the most successful people.<BR/><BR/>In sum, my experience with people confirms a Benevolent People Premise. People who are more successful tend to be more benevolent in their outlook toward their fellow man and the world. The opposite is true for those who have chosen a life of non-achievement.Galileo Blogshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02592692929747610846noreply@blogger.com