I think people always operate in their own self-interest. Always.
And I think we rarely know what someone else sees as their own self-interest. Instead, we impose on them what we believe they should be interested in.
Category: Writing
The use and abuse of the English language, particularly by those who do this for a living.
Categories
Common But Not Normal
In the wake of the most recent mass shooting – this time, in a Florida school – many commentators are noting, sadly, that tragedies like this have become the “new normal.” I disagree – tragedies like this have become “all too common“, but I reject the notion that this is “normal“, whether new or old. […]
There it is again — this time, “serious people” are talking on TV about the mental health of Donald Trump. Is he unbalanced? Unstable? Psychopathic? How else can you explain his very bizarre behavior? And — not to be outdone (or, in the now-common “oh yeah? well, so’s your old man!” debating style) — Trump […]
Nothing should be more effective in stopping an argument than these words: I don’t care what you say… There are other variations — “no matter what you say”, “you can’t tell me”, “I know for a fact”. These are STOP signs in any conversation. The person who injects these phrases is telling you that any further […]
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Can We Talk?
I spend too much time watching “talking heads” commenting on the political and economic topics of the day. The most tiresome of these shows – the ones that lose my interest most quickly – are those which are dominated by biting remarks and clever, often caustic, wit.
Where is the editor? Couldn’t this confusing misuse of words and pronouns have been detected on first read and reconstructed for clarity? This is the New York Times, not some words scrawled into a reporter’s notebook.