TOW #13 - The Whatchamacallit Economy

Despite its innumerable shortcomings, 2016 has opened the door to many new innovations. One of these innovations has been the usage and creation of a new economic platform known as the “sharing economy”. In a New York Times article titled The Whatchamacallit Economy, author Steven Greenhouse describes this new economy and how the adoption of its name is rather incorrect.

This “sharing economy” is based on the creation of services such as Lyft, Uber, and AirBNB. Soon after defining this economic force in the beginning of the article, Greenhouse employs the words of Rochelle LaPlante, a worker for an online platform known as Mechanical Turk that displays job info. In regards to these sharing services, LaPlante stated that “There’s an exchange of money. It’s not really sharing if a person’s paying for it.” (Greenhouse 4). Through the providing of expert testimony, Greenhouse is able to logically and effectively expose the flaws that exist in the naming scheme of these services. His logic is based around the idea that sharing means that neither side would be financially gaining in the situation, however this is just not the case with the use of these services as one party is being directly paid for their services.

Greenhouse continues with this idea of the sharing economy not really being based on sharing when he writes “If you’re living in San Francisco and you want to drive to Palo Alto and take a friend with you, that’s ride sharing. But if you take an Uber to get to Palo Alto, that seems more like a taxi ride.” (Greenhouse 5). This sort of logical processing of the naming behind these services is significant as it is why these services seem to face so much scrutiny. This becomes much more clear through the use of comparisons like those used by Greenhouse.

Overall, I do believe that Greenhouse was able to effectively show the flaws in the naming of this “sharing economy” and he even proposes a new name such as “crowd-based capitalism”. This is not to say that I do not value the existence of these services, because I do. I only believe that their naming seems to be too misleading and unfortunately this is a point that Greenhouse did not seem to touch on effectively.

TOW #12 - The Gilded Razor (Sam Lansky)

In his memoir, The Gilded Razor, Sam Lansky speaks truthfully about his life experience with drug addiction and the great impacts that it had on both himself and those around him. A writer for The Atlantic, Out, Esquire and also the New York magazine, and an editor for Time, Lansky has been writing for much of his life. In the opening pages of the book, Lansky vividly recalls the way he often feels when looking back at his life and what he would do differently. He writes, “I would flash back momentarily to a long-forgotten winter night years earlier and see myself, seventeen years old and spectral in the lamplight, stumbling out of a brownstone with a runny nose and my fly unzipped. My hair would have been too long, probably, from always taking the money my father gave me for a haircut and using it to buy drugs.” (Lansky 1). By so descriptively speaking of himself, the author is able to offer the reader the chance to see how he was directly affected by his various addictions. It is quite clear that his repeated use lead to various physical differences like his disheveled appearance. He also reveals how he had hurt those close to him. His addiction drove him to obtain drugs in anyway possible, in this case by lying about the way he spent money given to him. This would destroy his connections.

Later, towards the middle of the memoir, Lansky speaks of writing and makes an analogy to explain how it connected to his life experiences stating, “The was one difference between writing and drugs: with cocaine, after the first line, other lines followed whether I wanted them or not. When I wrote, I could control exactly how many lines there were, and when it all stopped.” (Lansky 62). By comparing his writing to his drug use, Lansky was able to display how little control he felt during this point in his life. By stating these differences, he reveals that he essentially had no way of bouncing back from his addiction because he had virtually no sense of control over his usage. This, as is unfortunately expected, would lead Lansky down a dark path of addiction, unbreakable for many years to come, affecting him both physically and mentally.

Overall, I do believe that in the first half of his memoir, Sam Lansky was effectively able to display the devastating effects that drug addiction has in hopes of dissuading others from using as well. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone looking for something truly gripping to read. I cannot wait to continue with Lansky’s story!

TOW #11 - Rhetorical Presentation (Thomas Paine, The American Crisis)

In the late months of 1776, a new nation was struggling and fighting to survive. Having dealt with oppressive rule from the British mother country since the colonization of these new lands, the people of America had enough. In July of the same year, they peacefully, yet boldly, asserted their independence from British reign, however it was revealed that it would not be that simple. The country faced great opposition from both Britain and those at home that supported Britain. In response, editor for the Pennsylvania Magazine, Thomas Paine, wrote a series of articles in which he attempted to show that independence was a move of Common Sense. On December 23rd, the first installment was written and it aimed to unite the American people under the cause for independence through Paine’s emotional connection to the reader.

Throughout Paine’s writing, the most obvious detail to consider is not necessarily what he says, but how he says it. Compared to other pieces of colonial era-writing, Paine’s writings refrained from the use of overly complex diction as a great number of the population remained uneducated at this point. With the uneducated class having the ability to read and understand Paine’s information, they would likely have a sense of belonging that they were not able to find elsewhere. Humans naturally desire companionship and this sense of a belonging would aid in the push needed to drive the neutral and still-loyal American people to follow the American cause.

Paine also was able to connect to his readers on an emotional level through his recognition of the religiousness and appeals to these beliefs by making references to it. In regard to British rule in the opening of the text, Paine states “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” (Paine Par. 1). The religious population of America, no matter what side they fell on at this time, knew that the idea of hell was one of torment, and by comparing the British rule to this idea, Paine is able to show the intensity of the struggle that it creates. He continues by telling the people that they have the ability to overcome it, just as those that believe in a hell have the ability to avoid it. This would instill a sense of strength in the religious population of America and they would likely desire to help in the conquering of the British hell.

Overall, I do believe that Thomas Paine was able to effectively achieve his purpose in writing these documents as after-all, America did succeed in their battle for independence. On top of that, despite not necessarily believing in the ideas that Paine was able to play off of at that time, reading the text did create a sense of patriotism within me.