qotd, antipsychotics and chickens edition
April 30, 2010
"Charlie Ledley and Ben Hockett returned from Las Vegas on January 30, 2007, convinced that the entire financial system had lost its mind. 'I said to my mother, "I think we might be facing something like the end of democratic capitalism,"' said Charlie. 'She just said, "Oh, Charlie," and seriously suggested I go on lithium.'"
-- Michael Lewis, The Big Short, which you should all go read even if you don't know squat about the whole sub-prime mortgage debacle. It is a remarkable book, both in its depth and simplicity.
... and since I saw this this morning and couldn't resist...
"I don’t think it’s silly. It sounds like fun. But for a woman in the prime of life to stay home to do it? To be dependent on a man so you can grow your own vegetables? I don’t think that’s a wise life plan for women. And the way it is moralized bothers me too. Like, if a woman said “I’m going to stay home so I can play cards with my girlfriends” that would sound really frivolous, but if she’s growing organic salad for her family that’s a challenge to the capitalist system. It’s not. It is incredibly difficult to opt out of the system. That’s what makes it a system."
-- Katha Pollitt on Peggy Orenstein's NYT's piece about wealthy women who leave the workforce to raise chickens.