MetaFilter posts tagged with sharing

Incommensurable values

kliuless — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 20:42:30 -0800

Economists and the theory of politics - "why unions were often well worth any deadweight cost" abstract:

The standard approach to policymaking and advice in economics implicitly or explicitly ignores politics and political economy, and maintains that if possible, any market failure should be rapidly removed. This essay explains why this conclusion may be incorrect; because it ignores politics, this approach is oblivious to the impact of the removal of market failures on future political equilibria and economic efficiency, which can be deleterious. We outline a simple framework for the study of the impact of current economic policies on future political equilibria — and indirectly on future economic outcomes. We then illustrate the mechanisms through which such impacts might operate using a series of examples. The main message is that sound economic policy should be based on a careful analysis of political economy and should factor in its influence on future political equilibria.

viz. What kind of mass movement with truly powerful institutional support can take the place of unions? - "I agree with just about everything they say about the value of unions, but I also feel forced to acknowledge that it doesn't matter. As a truly powerful mass movement, unions are dead and they aren't coming back. This has left a gaping hole in American politics: Corporations and the rich continue to have enormous institutional power, while the working and middle classes have almost no one to speak for them. I figure that filling this hole is the most important problem the left has to address over the next decade or so. Unfortunately, I don't know how." cf. The Tyranny of Political Economy - "In reality, our contemporary frameworks for political economy are replete with unstated assumptions about the system of ideas underlying the operation of political systems. Make those assumptions explicit, and the decisive role of vested interests evaporates. Policy design, political leadership, and human agency come back to life... Expand the range of feasible strategies (which is what good policy design and leadership do), and you radically change behavior and outcomes." also btw...

Markets in almost nothing - "One of the first things I noticed when I started studying economics was that goods that can't be bought and sold are basically ignored."
Wealth and Motivations for Saving - "teach the public more about how wealth builds over time"
The Supply and Demand for Safe Assets - "Where do safe assets come from? Empirical evidence suggests that the private sector creates more near riskless assets when the supply of government debt is low and reduces privately-created near riskless assets when the supply of government debt is high."
The safe asset shortage - "Safe debts – or what is often called information insensitive assets, as they do not suffer from the types of financial frictions that are characteristic to other financial assets – play a major role in facilitating transactions for institutional investors. And, as we have learned in the recent years, they also play a major role in triggering financial crises when they lose their safety status and turn into information sensitive assets."
GDP, welfare and the rise of data-driven activities - "The worry today is not that investment in technology might not be as productive as we thought (the so-called computer paradox), but the fact that the economic value of the fast growing consumption and production of online data may not be adequately captured in official statistics."
Uncle Sam, venture capitalist - "AMERICA, like much of the world, is facing a crisis of innovation. Its roots rest in several significant challenges: an awareness that rapid technological progress and growth will be crucial in weathering demographic headwinds and the threat of climate change among them. But there is very little consensus in Washington on just what the government ought to be doing to help."
What Google Reader tells us about banking and nationalisation - "Which is why the government taking charge of a service like RSS for the benefit of the public good — or for that matter providing the country with universal internet or high quality media — should not necessarily be treated with suspicion or mistrust. In the civilized world there is a perfectly reasonable way to ensure arm's length detachment and to protect such institutions from the political meddling of government."
If You Can't Fix It, You Don't Own It - "Who owns our stuff? The answer used to be obvious. Now, with electronics integrated into just about everything we buy, the answer has changed. We live in a digital age, and even the physical goods we buy are complex. Copyright is impacting more people than ever before because the line between hardware and software, physical and digital has blurred. The issue goes beyond cellphone unlocking, because once we buy an object — any object — we should own it. We should be able to lift the hood, unlock it, modify it, repair it... without asking for permission from the manufacturer. But we really don't own our stuff anymore (at least not fully); the manufacturers do. Because modifying modern objects requires access to information: code, service manuals, error codes, and diagnostic tools."

like think about sovereign debt -- that is safe assets -- more as a national equity: [1,2,3,4,5]

The US national debt is in truth - like all national debts - a complete and surreal fiction: it is a national equity, the greater part of which is interest-bearing either as claims over public or private revenues. At least two-thirds of the quasi tax credits created by banks came into existence as mortgage loans, and are therefore backed by claims over the productive value of the US land and buildings which they fund. Much of the rest consists of claims over the value of US assets which fund the productive capacity of US corporations. The remainder - which provides the credit necessary to finance the circulation of goods and services in the US - is based upon the magnificent productive capacity of the US people. Only by liquidating US Incorporated could this National Equity ever be redeemed... There is no shortage of dollars because every dollar's worth of productive capacity - public or private; productive people or productive assets - in the US is the capacity to issue a dollar credit, which reflects the increase in the US national wealth which underpins the US national equity. President Barack Obama and his government should get busy creating national equity by instructing the Fed to create and issue the necessary finance for the creation of a new generation of US infrastructure; the transition to a low carbon future which the US can, and should, be leading; and in increasing the capacity of the US people to do so.

(or how the government budget constraint is different than a household's or corporation's -- namely that they can tax and can't be liquidated, unless extraordinarily mismanaged or conquered, I guess...)

Sharing is caring ... and cashing in?

the man of twists and turns — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 12:58:57 -0800

AirBnB And The Unstoppable Rise Of The Share Economy

“We’re going to have to invent new economics to capture the impact of the sharing economy,” says Arun Sundararajan, a professor at the Stern School of Business at NYU who studies this phenomenon. The largest question for academics is whether this all creates new value or just replaces existing businesses. The answer is surely both. It’s classic creative destruction.

Rent Or Own? The New Sharing economy Values Access Over Ownership. Whether it's called "the sharing economy" or "collaborative consumption", an increasingly networked world "allows an unprecedented degree of collaboration within communities." There is even a World Sharing Day. It's easy to oversell the impact of how global communication networks enable the "sharing economy" or "trust economy," and there are growing pains as attempts to monetize living space, possessions and talents run into local laws: Airbnb’s growing pains mirrored in New York City, where half its listings are illegal rentals

a basic search on Airbnb.com for New York City lodging demonstrates that more than half of the available bookings on the popular vacation rental website are likely illegal according to New York State law. Hosts of these units are subject to fines ranging from $1,000 for a first offense to $20,000 for repeated violations, according to a New York City Council bill passed in October.

A Policy Agenda for the Sharing Economy

For urbanists, the rise of the sharing economy is gratifying. These sharing services are extensions of our community. They require a belief in the commons (i.e., public space, public education, health and the infrastructure that allows our society to function), which cities foster, and they are amplified by the kind of physical proximity that only exists in cities. Metrics increasingly reveal that sharing economy businesses tend to generate greater economic benefits and reinvestment in the community. Studies have shown, for example, that for every reduction of 15,000 owned cars, a city keeps $127 million in the local economy as people are able to get what they need within a smaller geographic area.

Something there is that doesn't love a wall, that wants it down

oulipian — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 13:13:36 -0800

"To the credit of today's social networks, they've brought in hundreds of millions of new participants [...] but they haven't shown the web itself the respect and care it deserves, as a medium which has enabled them to succeed. And they've now narrowed the possibilites of the web for an entire generation of users who don't realize how much more innovative and meaningful their experience could be." Anil Dash laments The Web We Lost, and offers some suggestions for moving forward.

Coronet Instructional Films

Blasdelb — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 12:32:58 -0800

From the mid 40s to the mid 50s Coronet Instructional Films were always ready to provide social guidance for teenagers on subjects as diverse as dating, popularity, preparing for being drafted, and shyness, as well as to children on following the law, the value of quietness in school, and appreciating our parents. They also provided education on topics such as the connection between attitudes and health, what kind of people live in America, how to keep a job, supervising women workers, the nature of capitalism, and the plantation System in Southern life. Inside is an annotated collection of all 86 of the complete Coronet films in the Prelinger Archives as well as a few more. Its not like you had work to do or anything right? Dating

Dating: Do's and Don'ts (12:26) -1949 Shows the progress of the date, from choosing the right girl and asking her through the last "good night." This social guidance "how-to" film has received more camp accolades than any other, and deserves it. Alan Woodruff ("Woody") receives a ticket to admit one couple to the upcoming Hi-Teen Carnival. "One couple," Woody reflects. "That means a date! Not like just going around with the crowd!" Woody decides to ask Ann Davis, who, the narrator points out, "knows how to have a good time." With her perpetual squint and chipmunk cheeks, Ann (pronounced "Ay-yun" by the actors in this film) is the perfect companion for super-nerd Woody. At crucial moments in the date, the narrator stops the action and presents Woody with several possible options for his actions. Happily, Woody makes all the correct decisions and ends up walking home from Ann's doorstep whistling with satisfaction at a job well done. "Thanks so much," says Ann with a toothy grin. "I had LOADS of fun." Rare (but incomplete) Kodachrome version. Going Steady? (10:37) -1951 Attempts to provoke teens into discussion on the complex issue of going steady. Provides little support for the practice. How Do You Know It's Love? (12:58) -1950 Gives students a basis for thinking clearly about real love and shows that mere conviction of love is not enough to insure lasting happiness. A drama. Young "Nora" (star of Writing Better Social Letters and future star of How To Say No) thinks she's in love with equally young Jack. Mom gives Nora some general advice (borrowed almost word for word from Are You Ready For Marriage?), and Nora and Jack have dinner with Bob (Jack's older brother) and Jean (Jack's fiance). Nora spends her time thinking about her mother's advice and comparing her relationship to Jack and Jean's. Common sense triumphs, Nora realizes she isn't really in love, and everybody is happy in the end. One of the few Coronet productions to use background music (the "wistful" theme) within the film as a narrative bridge -- to good effect. How Much Affection? (19:59) -1957 How far can young people go in petting and still stay within the bounds of personal standards and social mores? How to Be Well Groomed (10:41) -1949 This film details the grooming rituals of brother Don and sister Sue. Both are incredibly neat; in fact, grooming seems to occupy their entire day, while their evenings are spent ironing outfits and polishing shoes. The work load is so heavy it requires two narrators! Features some excellent voice over lines, including: "Sue avoids red nail polish since it would call attention to her stubby hands." "Mother too keeps up a good appearance even around the house, for that keeps up her spirits." "Their good grooming habits help them in friendships and business. For your success depends a great deal on how you look." What to Do on a Date (10:46) -1950 A high school senior learns how and where to ask a girl for a date, where to take her for a good time, and how to avoid spending too much money or being bored by commercialized amusements. One of the most entertaining films in the social guidance genre, principally because of the bad acting of goony "Nick Baxter." Nick wants to go out on a date with Kay, but he's afraid she'll say no. He finally works up the courage to ask her to the movies (to see Wagon Train), but since she's already seen it, they decide to go to the high school scavenger sale instead. And, boy, do they ever have fun! Nick discovers that Kay likes the same things he does (miniature golf, taffy pulls and weenie roasts) and these two social oddballs are well on their way to a meaningful relationship. Are You Ready for Marriage? (16:04) -1950 Two teenagers, wishing to marry early, visit their minister for advice and receive counseling, some of it quite pragmatic, the rest a little strange. Larry and Sue, a couple of fresh-scrubbed teens, want to get hitched -- but Sue's parents disapprove. The two lovebirds decide their only recourse is to visit "Mr. Hall," a marriage counselor with incredibly wide lapels on his suit jacket. He shows them some very scientific looking graphs and a "psychological distance board" complete with tiny wooden dolls tied together with piano wire and shoelaces and -- somehow -- this helps them understand that they should wait until they're older. Educational Screen remarked; "The producers are to be complimented on creating an atmosphere of life-like situations." Good stuff, and the cast is a veritable Who's Who of classroom films: "Sue" starred in How To Be Well Groomed, her "dad" had the feature role in Build Your Vocabulary, Mr. Hall played "Treadway" in The Middletons At The World's Fair, and "Larry" went on to play a heroin junkie in Drug Addiction. Marriage Is a Partnership (16:21) -1951 Flashback on the problems, adjustments and transformations occurring in the first year of a couple's married life. Pretty surprising film coming from Coronet about the "honeymoon is over" drama that newlyweds face. The marriage between Dotty and Pete is pretty traditional--Dotty quits her job to be a homemaker once they are married--but some more modernistic ideas come out, such as the idea that the two newlyweds decide together how the money that Pete earns will be spent, and the small mentions of sex. (!!) The "educational collaborator" listed at the beginning, Lemo Rockwood, was a professor at Cornell University, and her marriage course advocated sexual frankness and pre-marital experimentation, so it's easy to see her stamp on this film.

Social Guidance for Teenagers

Are You Popular? (9:53) -1947 Dramatizes behavior of two teen-agers to illustrate characteristics of personality which lead to popularity & success in dating. Contrasts carolyn, attractive newcomer in high school, with ginny, who is willing to date all the boys but is unpopular with both boys & girls. Shows how carolyn & wally are careful of their appearance, polite, considerate in arranging dates, etc. One of the best examples of post-World War II social guidance films, with examples of "good" and "bad" girls, proper and improper dating etiquette, courtesy to parents, and an analysis of what makes some people popular and others not. A scream and a sobering document of postwar conformity. Mind-boggling double-standard for the "bad" boy and the "bad" girl. Classic Coronet. "Caroline and her mother had found one way a girl can repay a boy for entertaining her [...] perhaps they could bring another couple home with them. That would be fun." How to Say No: Moral Maturity (10:31) -1951 How to say no to unwanted smoking, drinking and petting, and still keep your friends. "How can you say no and still keep your friends?" A discussion group of earnest, clean-cut teens talk directly to the camera as they (and we) flash back to situations where they had to say no: Drinking beer after football practice, smoking cigarettes at a pajama party, and the ever-popular "petting." Control Your Emotions (13:18) -1950 Well-balanced emotions help to create a well-rounded personality, especially in teenagers. This bizarre film is hosted by an unnamed "psychologist." While spouting Pavlovian claptrap such as "Fear is triggered by loud noises" and "Your emotions can be your own greatest enemy," he repeatedly interrupts the story of "Jeff," the film's protagonist. Jeff -- who looks like a heroin addict -- has a lot of trouble controlling his emotions, and the psychologist is always ready to pop in with statements such as "If this kind of behavior is repeated often, it might lead to a permanently warped personality."Control Your Emotions doubles as a lesson in behaviorist psychology and an admonition to postwar American children. "Before man learned how to control fire and put it to work, it was man's greatest enemy. In much the same way, your emotions can be your own greatest enemy." Similar messages percolate throughout the social guidance films of the 1940s and 1950s (see, for example, A Date With Your Family, where the narrator intones, "Pleasant, unemotional conversation helps the digestion"). The links between the effort to manage and regulate outbursts of feeling and the national offensive to smooth out adolescent behavioral excesses often seem obscure. There is no doubt, however, that the architects of Fifties consensus (psychologists, educators, the judiciary, sociologists and advertisers) wished to discourage "unproductive" and negativistic behavior. "Severe emotional stress," says the narrator of this film, "often decreases efficiency." What seems clearest is that for Americans, recovery from wartime damage was more about drawing away emotionally from war's stresses and strains than digging graves and sweeping up rubble. After twelve years of economic depression and almost four years of world war, parents (and the authorities on child development that stood behind them) wanted a peaceful and disruption-free world for their kids, and they don't seem to have distinguished between internal and external turmoils. All were undesirable. Responsive both to the demands of the era and the process of individual maturation, Control Your Emotions ultimately promoted social adaptation over self-expression. It assumed that kids' behavior was a vehicle for emotions that were essentially uncomplicated, individual rather than social. In its scheme, teenagers' emotions weren't linked with any cultural or social contradictions, but simply combinations of the three basic emotions: rage, fear and love. So while other Coronet films like Shy Guy hinted at the existence of a youth culture with its own rewards and pressures, Control Your Emotions saw teens more as creatures of their hormones than of their times. Law and Social Controls (9:40) -1949 Uses the story of teens trying to extend the hours of their "Teen Canteen" as a vehicle for explaining customs, moral codes, and laws. The gang at the "Teen Canteen" can't decide if they should close their establishment at ten thirty or eleven. Adult advisers guide them to the correct decision (ten thirty). Coronet obviously felt it plausible that resolving an issue such as this would require the efforts of both teens and adults -- though it's doubtful anyone else would. Some narration and crude animation. "Jane" also appears in Going Steady and you might recognize "Edward" from Dating Do's and Don'ts. This one grows on you. Act Your Age (13:22) -1949 Jim, an emotionally immature teen, learns to evaluate his personality and to better work out his problems. Mind boggling expose of a delinquent (?) teen who gets frustrated with school and starts vandalizing his desk, only to be sent to the principal to discuss "infantile reactions." Even the wise old janitor gets in on the action. Classic film about using logic to guide your complex, multi-faceted emotions. Fun of Being Thoughtful, The (10:09) -1950 Social guidance film for teenagers encouraging insight into the motives, tastes and desires of others. "Everywhere you go, people talk about thoughtfulness." With this premise in mind, we are wisked into the life of "Jane Proctor," a happy teen who is slavishly devoted to her "fine, thoughtful family." While uttering lines such as "It'd be the thoughtful thing to do," and "That's what makes thoughtfulness worthwhile!" Jane tidies her room, fixes dinner for the family, and fixes her geeky brother Eddie up with a date. In the end, Jane's thoughtfulness pays off ("A new dress!!!") and we leave the Proctor family basking in the sunshine of family togetherness. The script for this film flies in several directions at once, which makes it fun but a little hard to follow. Everyday Courtesy (8:56) -1948 Courtesy in connection with invitations, telephone conversations, introductions and entertaining guests. Possibly the first feature to star John Lindsay, who later achieved immortality as "Woody" in Dating Do's And Don'ts. In this film he plays "Bill Anderson," a young fellow who proudly shows his mother around the "courtesy" displays in his classroom at Sunnyside School. This scenario allows the narrator to teach us the time-worn fundamentals of social courtesy, but the only thing you'll remember from this film is Woody, who is a much better actor here than he was later in life. A film with lots of potential, but no payoff. Better Use of Leisure Time (10:33) -1950 How to make the most of your free time. "Ken" has nothing to do, but the helpful interactive narrator soon puts a stop to that. Sensible leisure activities (bird watching and reading, for example) help Ken "prepare himself for better living" and "use his time well." This film is more imaginative than most when it comes to visual gimmickry. Ken later starred as Chuck-of-the-future in Good Table Manners. Keeping the world safe from beatniks, juvenile delinquents, and riff raff one 72 hour work week at a time. Mind Your Manners (10:42) -1953 How teenagers can cultivate good manners by manifesting a real desire to get along with others. This classic stars "Woody" from Dating Dos and Don'ts -- a few years older, but just as out of touch with reality. As "Jack," he goes through this entire film being unbelievably polite, but the weird leer on his face makes you wonder what he's really thinking. Don't miss the soda shop populated by waitresses in Hans Brinker costumes(!), or the montage of adults thinking approvingly of Jack's behavior. Overcoming Fear (12:39) -1950 How Bill overcomes his fear of the water through understanding its sources. Right or Wrong? (Making Moral Decisions) (10:53) -1951 Assessing the behavior of a juvenile delinquent who refuses to rat on his companions. A gang of "toughs" breaks some warehouse windows, and the night watchman recognizes one of the punks as youthful Harry Green. He's hauled into the police station and he has to decide which is worse -- "squealing" on his friends, or "hiding lawbreakers." This dark film takes place entirely in one night, and as we encounter each character we hear them agonizing to themselves in VOs as they make moral decisions. Sgt. Kelly ("It'll be much easier for you if you help us") played Dick York's weird dad in Shy Guy. Shy Guy (13:36) -1947 Phil (Dick York), new in his high school, follows his father's suggestion and observes the most popular students to determine what makes them popular. By offering to help others he becomes popular himself and sheds his shyness. Phil (played by Dick York) is the son of an apparently single father who seems recently to have undergone corporate relocation, and things are very different for Phil. He has a problem "fitting in." Everything from the nature of the kids in the new town ("different") to what they wear ("not jackets like me, but a regular sweater") sets Phil apart. Armed only with confusing advice from his father, Phil has to reorganize his behavior and make a new home for himself. Shy Guy marks a kind of turning point in postwar history. When Mr. Norton advises Phil to "look around him" and see what the other kids are wearing and how they behave, he's conceding parental authority to the "gang" and, ultimately, helping to legitimize the formation of a distinct youth culture that rests on group identity and validation rather than the authority of elders. Such a youth culture probably has its roots in the wartime autonomy that teens experienced, but here the adults are okaying it. This change, of course, is one of the key social currents in postwar America. This is Dick York at his dorkiest. Dick's father is especially strange in this classic. Shy Guy is the film that established Coronet as THE social guidance filmmaker. Required viewing. Self-Conscious Guy (10:22) -1951 Shows how feelings of self-consciousness keep a high school boy from doing his classwork well or making friends easily. Shows how the feelings of self-consciousness keep a high school boy from doing his class work well or making friends easily. The boy discovers many of his classmates suffer from similar feelings, but that several of them have overcome these feelings and developed poise and self-assurance. If you watch this bland film expecting to see another Shy Guy you'll be disappointed. It follows the tribulations of "Marty," who wants a part in the school play but whose self-consciousness dooms him to the inferior role of stage hand. He feels, he explains, "as if there was a spotlight on me," and the inferior stage hands at Coronet help us understand this by shining a spot on Marty whenever he has a nervous moment. Cheap, but effective. Happily, Marty's life turns around when he discovers that he's more confident than leading man "Jack" when it comes to ping pong. Marty, who also starred in How To Say No, has a swath of shaved skin around his ears so wide you could park a truck on it. How Honest Are You? (13:50) -1950 For teenagers, honesty can come easy or hard, depending on the stakes. Did basketball star Bob really steal money out of Ben's locker? Since this is a Coronet film he probably didn't, but the characters in this production have to flesh out the truth for themselves. Lots of deep self-examination of motives and what was and wasn't seen, lots of interplay with the camera, and acting that's actually pretty good. There's even a plot twist, when "Rose" confesses her real reason for ratting to the coach about Bob. "I can just see it," she says, as the camera dollies in for a CU of her glazed eyes. "You'll get Bob off the team and Terry will become the regular center. MY Terry. He'll be the star of the team. And I'll be sitting on top of the world!" Whew, pretty heady stuff for Coronet. Snap Out of It! (Emotional Balance) (12:06) -1951 Discusses why an achievement-conscious boy becomes emotionally upset when he fails to get an expected 'A' in a history course. This film follows the frustrations of confused teen Howard Patterson, who won't show his report card to his parents because he "should've gotten" an A in social studies. "Sometimes we expect great things," Mr. Edmunds reflects, leaning back in his chair as Howard looks on. "And when we're severely disappointed, we become emotionally upset." Mr. Edmunds counsels Howard against "expecting too much" and tells him to keep his emotions "in balance." "If your emotions are in balance, you channel your emotional energy into a direct attack on your problem!" Howard promises to lower his expectations and be more balanced, and another member of the Silent Generation leaves a Coronet film to paint the world gray. Benefits of Looking Ahead, The (10:30) -1950 Nick cannot plan ahead, but is convinced to do so after imagining himself as a drifter or a bum. "Nick Baxter" is a sloppy teen with greasy hair and a poorly-knotted necktie. His clean-cut friend, "Don," tells him that he'll end up on skid row if he doesn't come up with some detailed plans for his future. Nick's hammy acting make this a fun film. The fantasy sequences -- where Nick imagines himself as a bum and then a successful businessman -- are high points. "Who are the people most likely to succeed?" asks the narrator. Well, not Nick Baxter, a senior in high school and slacker in the making, who can't plan ahead. Whether it's building a table in shop class or planning his life's future, he's clueless and, unless he gets his act together, destined to be a bum. Let's assume for just a moment that Nick is a real person. Since this 1950 film shows him at age 17 or 18, he would have been born in 1932 or 1933--the two hardest years of the Great Depression. This makes him one of the left-behinds--one of the Depression children who didn't get to fight in the war, a sort of middle child between two groups of people who underwent profound experiences completely beyond their control. Is it any wonder that, for Nick, reality bites? Of course, the other, perhaps more valid, argument is that Nick just doesn't understand what it takes to make it in the fabulous Fifties. Don: "To succeed in something, you have to have a purpose, and make plans for reaching it, and work at it all the time." Nick: "Sounds crazy to me." But Nick's friends get the message, and even Nick sees their futures are pretty much assured already. When Don blithely tells Nick that he's "least likely to succeed," and well on the way to becoming a drifter or a bum, this is the kick in the pants Nick has been waiting for. "That could be me...nothing but a bum." Nick finds a worthy metaphor for all of his unfinished business in the school shop. Realizing that drawing up a plan is necessary to building a table that can stand on its four legs, he decides to draw up a plan for his own life. "Plans...sketches...measurements...that's what I have to do with my own future...I've got to look ahead and imagine...what I want it to be like...". He is shortly back on course and in command of his future, and fantasizes himself telling his father that he's been elected chairman of the "Community Club." "Yes, I want a future that's something like that. I want to be happy. Be somebody. Have a good job. Friends. A home. A wife and kids. But how do I get there? If that's my purpose, how do I reach it. How? A detailed plan. How to achieve my purpose. And I'd better be getting at it right now." Although Nick does lack a detailed plan, he's already got something much more important--a sense of middle-class entitlement peculiar to that postwar period. This is the feeling that the world is made to help him achieve his goals, that it can offer him what he needs if he can only figure out how to take it. I'm not so sure Nick (or even Don) would feel the same way in the 1990s. What's going to take the place of a "future that's something like that?" This film represents a whole culture of vocational guidance, a panorama of alternative futures for the young that has given life to thousands of books, films and training aids. In this visually minded century, these publications have focused on visual means of expressing abstract ideas like planning ahead, avoiding vocational deadends, and measuring progress towards concrete objectives. But whether it's little cartoons about the "steps to success" or parables taking place in the carpentry shop, the prejudices and kitschiness of this culture have hardly been explored and urgently await the attention of historians. Understand Your Emotions 2 (12:54) -1950 Biology teacher explains emotions, voluntary and involuntary behavior. Friendship Begins At Home (15:40) -1949 How a strong family group helps teenagers learn to form strong friendships. Barry is a teenager who doesn't appreciate his family. "Everybody's always picking on me," he whines. "I declare, Barry," replies mom. "I do wish you'd show as much consideration for the members of your own family as you do for your outside friends!" "Maybe I would," he snorts, "if my family'd show me as much consideration as my friends do!" Barry decides to be a brat and not accompany his family on their annual two-week fishing trip. "I'd rather stay here with my friends," he mutters, sulking. "Don't you consider your FAMILY your friends?" asks kid sister Diana. "How can a guy be friends with his family?" Barry snaps back. But dad is agreeable; Barry is left money for food and the family departs. "We're going away to have FUN," dad declares. Barry's first few hours of freedom are glorious, but he quickly discovers that his "friends" aren't as dependable as his family. George won't invite him over for dinner (Barry eats canned beans and soup for two weeks). Heartthrob Lorraine gets sick and cancels her party. The rest of Barry's friends are either away, working, or on vacation (with THEIR families, no doubt). This mid-section of the film is a thespian tour-de-force for Barry, as his non-stop internal sentence fragment monologue takes the place of a narration, saying things that no outside voice over could get away with. The Coronet "wistful" theme builds as the camera dollies in for close ups of Barry at critical points; he affects these moments of deep thought by suddenly raising his head, narrowing his eyes, and looking up and off-camera at a 45 degree angle. "Why haven't any of my friends called me?" he muses. "Not much fun spending the day alone." (NOTE: No TV in Barry's home) "Nobody to do things with. What are friends FOR, anyway?" Though Barry is a "free man," his friends can't match the "thoughtfulness" of his family. "I never before listened to an -- empty house," he reflects. And now he's visited by ghosts! -- double-exposure images of his family doing thoughtful things that Barry had, until now, not appreciated. Barry realizes that he probably took away some of his dad's "fun" by staying home. "That's a selfish thing to do," he concludes. Mom offers ice cream, Diana offers to get his suit pressed, and kid brother Dick plaintively asks to play checkers. "Boy," Barry cries, "how I'd like to play checkers with you right now!" "They're swell people!" Barry declares, scales falling from his eyes. "ALL of them! They do the kinds of things you expect of your friends! FRIENDS! That's it!!!" Now Barry is a changed young man. His family returns to find him scrubbing the kitchen floor ("You know, mother, you never really appreciate your family until they're not around"), he's bought Dick a new tennis racket ("Gee, Barry, you're swell!"), and he takes his kid sister to a dance when her date backs out ("Wow! Is that my sister? Well -- no WONDER all those fellows telephoned while you were away!"). The gulf between the America that applauded this production and the America that cheered Tom Cruise in Risky Business is what the study of these films is all about. Understanding Your Ideals (13:37) -1950 A high school boy primarily concerned with automobiles, dates, and parties learns from his father's example that ideals are really based on honesty, sincerity, and good sportsmanship. What About Juvenile Delinquency? (11:27) -1955 Jim leaves the gang after it attacks his father, and joins other teenagers at City Hall to argue against the imposition of a curfew. Drama filmed in Lawrence, Kansas. What Makes A Good Party? (10:33) -1950 Shows teenagers how to plan and attend a party, suggesting games to play and songs to sing ("Jimmy Crack Corn"). This film creates a world so innocent that it's embarrassing. Jean, Nora and Eileen are high school girls who want to throw a "coming out" party to introduce college boy "Steve" to the rest of the gang. But whoa, let's not be impulsive, the narrator cautions, for "a successful party needs planning and skill." Accordingly, every detail of the get-together is mapped out beforehand, from the refreshments (hot chocolate and sandwiches) to the "well-chosen games" (a hat-making contest and Charades). "Everyone's out to have fun and to help OTHERS have fun," the narrator emphasizes. This need to do everything collectively, to allow no room for individual interests, to "help keep the party fun for all," is shown when Nora attempts pull Steve aside for some conversation. Nuh-uh! Who knows where that behavior would lead! Jean drags the two rebels back into the group, and the gang soon has a grand time singing Jimmy Crack Corn around the piano. The narrator offers one last nugget of wisdom -- "Part of a good party is knowing when to go home" -- and the kids do just that. The disapproval of anything impulsive or individual in this film shows a really warped sense of "democracy," and more closely resembles socialism, if you think about it. According to Ted Peshak, "This whole part of the north Chicago area has changed because of that film." Writing Better Social Letters (10:31) -1950 While a teenage brother and sister write a thank-you note to their grandmother after visiting her on vacation, we learn the five parts of a friendly letter and more about why and how to write one.

Social Guidance for Children

Developing Responsibility (10:06) -1949 Tells story of how frank assumes his everyday responsibilities at home, at school, & on his paper route, & is rewarded by being given a pedigreed dog by a man on his paper route who has observed his acceptance of responsibility. Why We Respect The Law (12:54) -1950 Ken and three friends steal boards to make backstop for baseball field. Ken suffers from guilt & sees family lawyer who helps him develop respect for laws. Ken then helps other boys settle accounts with the construction company. Explains the importance of law in keeping order in a society. Shows that respect for the law is developed by a realization that law represents accumulated wisdom, that it is in harmony with laws of nature and that it is necessary to prevent trouble In the most jaw-droppingly awful defense of the law ever put to film, the lawyer steals Ken's shoes, imagines a world where hillbillies attack homes at random, and makes the following deductions: - The universe has physical laws, therefore laws are a part of nature. - A child who starts out stealing pennies from his mother's change will end up an armed felon. He actually says, "Peace and happiness are impossible unless our individual possessions are secure." So remember kids, things = happiness. Joan Avoids a Cold (10:26) -1947 How young children must behave to avoid transmitting germs to one another. Ways to Settle Disputes (10:07) -1950 Everyday incidents at school and at play teach Alice, Jerry and Eddie to resolve conflicts by compromise, by obeying rules, by finding facts, or finding opinions. Fun of Making Friends, The (9:19) -1950 Discusses the values of friendships and how to make and keep friends. Beginning Responsibility: Taking Care of Things (9:20) -1951 Instructs children how to care for toys, clothing and other property; to have a definite place to keep belongings, and how to store and handle possessions properly. Young Andy learns that "cleaning up after yourself is a grown-up way to behave." The narrator helps us become motivated by reminding us that as long as we're messy, we'll be shunned (loners were always given a wide berth in the fifties). The best moment occurs when Andy comes home from school to his messy room: Narrator: "And here are Andy's tadpoles." CU of bowl. "Aw. They're dead." How to Study (8:50) -1946 Jim prepares a civics report on labor unions. He uses four different types of reading: scanning, rapid reading, careful slow reading & re-reading. He organizes his information, collects further data, writes his report. Good Sportsmanship (9:30) -1950 How sportsmanship enriches daily living: a lesson for teens. This film for pre-teens teaches youngsters to "think of what's best for the group." Even if things don't work out the way you'd like, the narrator explains, "it's more pleasant just to take what happens." And if you don't put up a fuss, "everyone will like you better." 1950 must have been a strange year to be a kid. Build Your Vocabulary (10:37) -1947 Dramatizes the story of a father, who, after finding himself at a loss for words at a public meeting, follows his son's lead and starts a campaign of vocabulary improvement. The film opens at a "civic association" meeting, probably a familiar setting for its late forties audience. "Mr. Willis" wants to speak his mind, but he lacks the vocabulary he needs to articulate his thoughts properly. Afterward, as he sulks at home, dutiful son Pete asks him to read his term paper before he hands it in -- a paper about the need to turn public parks into "playgrounds for the direction of youthful energy into character-building channels." Mr. Willis is impressed with Pete's "explicitness," and Pete encourages him to keep a "vocabulary notebook" in "a business-like way." "People can be interested in new ideas," the narrator explains, but apparently only if they're articulated correctly. Mr. Willis doesn't find building his vocabulary easy ("Nobody can learn all these words!" he yells at one point, "I'm going to bed!"), but in the end it pays and he becomes the star of the next civic association meeting. Who says the young can't teach the old? All interiors. Some nice low-light photography as dad struggles at his desk at night. Some actual intended humor as dad's secretary flees from his silent scowling. Nice use of layered voices echoing inside dad's head as he wrestles with his conscience. The camera actually dollies in for reaction shots; unusual, tricky and effective. Let's Play Fair (8:43) -1949 Sharing, taking turns and obeying rules are the basic elements of fair play. If Coronet would ever make a German Expressionistic film, it would certainly look like this. Let's Share With Others (10:27) -1950 A kid-centered pitch for fair play and thoughtfulness. This film is an excellent window on the weird fifties concept of profit through communal living. Young "Jimmy Blake" has a lemonade stand that he wants to run all by himself, even though the narrator warns us that "when we share things there is often more for everybody." Sure enough, Jimmy's off-the-job responsibilities start cutting into his lemonade sales and he quickly realizes that the way to success is through shared effort. Jimmy calls in his friends to help and soon "EVERYONE is having fun. Sharing with others certainly is a good idea, isn't it?" This may not be a very exciting film to watch, but its equating of "fun" with profit, "sharing" with a business, and group action with popularity make it worth viewing. "Learn to share with others. You'll like it. Your friends will like you, too!" Developing Self-Reliance (10:20) -1951 Social guidance film showing how necessary self-reliance is to all successful endeavors and happiness. The narrator explains that some people like "being dependent," but that those who do "never do any more than just 'get by'." Alan understands this, and after being chided by his dad ("Haven't you read Emerson's Essay On Self-Reliance?") Alan develops leadership qualities and becomes "a happier and better person." As he becomes more and more confident, he starts wearing ties on dates (Does he bring flowers, if it's a ritzy affair?.. oops, wrong movie) and settling school issues on his council. Am I Trustworthy? (10:22) -1950 How a child learns to return borrowed items, keep promises and fulfill assignments. his film follows young "Eddie" as he learns to become trustworthy. Actually, "trustworthiness" in this film is pretty loosely defined -- it seems to be synonymous with "obedience" and "conformity." Eddie, at the prodding of his dad and the narrator, quickly and eagerly sees the value of trust (he even makes his own Trustworthiness Chart), and we leave the film knowing that Eddie is well on his way to normalcy. "People have to show they can be trusted with little things if they want to be trusted with big things." Family Life (9:48) -1949 Impossible drama proving that proper management of schedules, responsibilities, privileges and finances leads to a happier home. Another winner from Coronet Instructional Films! Get a little organized and you too will be able to afford those major medical expenses and finally get your hair under control! Sharing Work At Home (10:21) -1949 A family cooperates to an unbelievable degree. The Taylor family -- Mom, Dad, Howard and Martha -- live in a messy house and, what's worse, they don't seem to care. But Martha has culled some modern ideas from her home economics textbook and the Taylor renaissance is about to begin. "General housekeeping is made much easier if each person picks up after himself," Martha reads to Howard; he thinks for a moment and responds, "Hey, sis...maybe we should get organized!" As anyone familiar with postwar Coronet films knows, "get organized" is an unresistable rallying cry. Soon, the Taylors are making neat, handwritten lists for everything, and smiling so broadly that it must hurt. "Here! It's all organized!" cries Howard as he holds aloft yet another list. "That's the idea! Each of us picks up after himself!" echoes Dad. In less time than it takes to pull a tally sheet out of the Job Jar, the Taylors have become "a far happier and better family." "This is more than just a story of wallpaper and slipcovers," the narrator proclaims. "It's a story of improvement in the Taylors themselves!" Your Thrift Habits (10:35) -1948 Modern-day moral tale resembling Ben Franklin's autobiography. Irresponsible "Jack" is envious of the camera that sensible "Ralph" has just purchased. How can Jack possibly save the money he needs to buy one for himself? "Are budgets just for parents?" the narrator asks, mockingly. "If he'd do without extravagances he could save every week!" Jack concedes that he should learn to budget his income, so he devises a "cameragraph" and attempts to follow it. This isn't always easy, but the narrator is always on hand to humiliate Jack whenever greed and gluttony surface. "Too many movies! Too much candy!" he chides. "You can't have EVERYTHING you want!" Needless to say, Jack does finally save enough money to buy his camera -- and probably had a good laugh at this film once the unthrifty fifties got rolling. Your Family (7:37) -1947 Family values in action bring happiness and concord. "Your Family" details a happy go-lucky family willing to jump through hoops to do family chores so they could get dinner over with so they can watch their home movies of them shoveling snow. All the family has duties, Mom takes care of the house, Tony takes care of the unfortunately-named terrier Fluffy, Nancy sets the table, and Dad, well, he doesn't deserve to do anything, as he's of course had a hard day at the office. How Quiet Helps at School (10:28) -1953 Social guidance film for young children suggesting that they take their noise out to the playground. This film starts off dull, but then it gets pretty strange. First, we're taken on a tour of a typical, boisterous grade school classroom ("You couldn't be proud to be part of such a noisy room, could you?" asks the narrator), and then we're taken into the classroom of "Miss Bradley" -- a place where all sound has apparently been banished. Miss Bradley tells us that keeping a classroom this quiet is good because it's "like an office," and that "knowing when to be quiet is a part of growing up." A cheerful geek named "Bobby" then gives several demonstrations of quiet behavior, and the narrator ends the film by asking, "This is a good room, isn't it?" Pretty weird stuff; lots of dead air. Watch for the scenes displaying the strange, tabletop "model farm." Good Table Manners (10:20) -1951 A bad-mannered 14-year-old meets himself as a young man of 21, and learns the fundamentals of good table manners. The best of the table manners films. "Chuck" has terrible table manners. But then he's visited by himself, several years older (and with even less acting ability), and Chuck-from-the-future teaches Chuck-of-the-present how to "park your fork" and countless other details of table etiquette. "People judge many things about you just by the way you eat!" School Rules: How They Help Us (10:13) -1953 Shows everyday scenes in which rules influence our behavior. Shows ways new student can learn rules, why exceptions can't be granted. Discusses rules and stresses the point that rules are ways of making life more pleasant, smooth and safe. Rules are good for you. Obey. Obey. Social Courtesy (10:17) -1951 Dramatic film offering instruction in basic social graces. Sour-puss "Bill" is invited to a "hard times" party with his girlfriend Carol, but he believes that social courtesy is "old fashioned." Whoa, just a minute there, says the feisty interactive narrator, who soon sets Bill on a proper course. Bill takes the narrator in stride, as he does being teleported through space and backward in time (repeatedly) in this very bizarre Coronet production. "Let's take a picture of this situation," the narrator says as a strobe flashes from behind the camera and the scene we just saw is transformed into a photo on a wall in the next scene. "You'd better back up and start all over again. Maybe you'd better try to be more FRIENDLY this time." Bill beckons the invisible narrator closer so that he can discuss things in private, and the camera obligingly dollies in while the other teens at the party remain utterly oblivious. "You discourage others when they want to be friendly," the narrator scolds. "You're supposed to rise when an adult speaks to you; everybody knows that." "Come on, Bill. Sit up! That's a chair, not a bed." You have to wonder why Bill, who is so rude to his friends, puts up with this invisible nagging narrator (you also have to wonder why he has any friends, period). Even the party is surreal. Signs such as "hobo jungle" and "bum's rest" (over the couch) hang on the wall, which is spotted with weird, unexplained stains. One of the girls, suddenly aware that Bill is having a solo conversation, asks "Are you talking to yourself?" which, in the early fifties, was much worse than talking to an invisible narrator. "Learn from watching others," the narrator concludes. "You can even get a book on courtesy from the library. Be friendly. Thoughtful. YOU'LL get along!" It works; the mom chaperon exclaims "Isn't that the boy who used to be so rude?" and Bill is accorded the ultimate symbol of fifties' conformist success; he's invited to another party. "Those changes made a big difference, didn't they!" he exclaims in wonder. "Social courtesy DOES pay! Thanks!!!" Certainly one of the most inventive Coronet films ever made. Good camera work by Bruce Colling. Appreciating Our Parents (10:00) -1950 Shows Tommy's development into responsible family member after he is brought to realize depth of parent's affection for him and their sacrifices. He tries to help family by saving money, putting things away, drying dishes and repairing broken furniture.

Science & Health

Nature of Light, The (8:28) -1948 Demonstrates light as a form of radiant energy. Explains the principles of reflection & refraction & shows how these principles apply to the science of optics. Shows how 2 boys on early a.m. Fishing trip discover principles of reflection and refraction of light through simple experimentation. Diagrams explain the operation of camera & human eye. Nature of Sound, The (10:45) -1948 Boy uses his radio equipment to demonstrate how sound is produced and transmitted. Attitudes and Health (9:56) -1949 Demonstrates how self-confidence and right attitudes are necessary to good health. This film tells the story of "Marvin Baker" -- "an average fellow from an average home in an average town" -- who learns that having an "attitude" can make him sick and a failure in life. Happily, by the end of the film, Marv has adopted a "better perspective" and makes the first team in basketball. Watch for the montage of people with bad attitudes, including a woman with giant shoulders and scary eyebrows, and a fat-faced man with a "tick." Exercise and Health (9:51) -1949 How exercise will make you healthy and popular. Ernie, Jean, and Hal are three teens who have problems: Ernie is in "a run down condition," Jean is "shy and withdrawn," and Hal is "tense and irritable." But then all three join the Acrobatics Club at school and get into shape. Now Ernie, Jean and Hal "make friends easier" and have "outlets for their emotional tensions." But they're still painfully dull. Good Eating Habits (9:46) - 1951 Drama focusing on gluttony and "hidden hunger," where well-nourished people eat poorly and malnourish themselves. Rest and Health (10:36) -1949 Dick York plays a high-school track star whose running lags because of his lack of sleep.

Geography

Alaska: A Modern Frontier (Revised edition) (10:20) -1948 Views of the Territory of Alaska. Life in the Central Valley of California (10:23) -1949 Shows the agriculture, trade and infrastructure of California's Central Valley, all made possible by irrigation. Mighty Columbia River, The (9:59) -1947 Hydroelectric power, shipping, irrigation and salmon fishing. Rivers of the Pacific Slope (10:39) -1947 The Columbia, Sacramento, San Joaquin and Colorado river systems. Who Are the People of America? (10:07) -1953 Explains how the United States came to be a diversely populated nation. Not a very exciting film, but one with an interesting, transitional attitude -- forties' One-Worldism diluted by fifties' "sharing." The narrator tells us that Americans are "a mixture of the people of the world" and that "much of that which is American is of the world." We're shown a montage that includes spaghetti, baseball, a jukebox, and hot dogs, and the narrator explains that "these are some of the things we share as Americans. For we have become Americans through the process of sharing." Lots of stock shots from previous Coronet films litter this production (along with the obligatory cheap animated lines and arrows converging on a map of the U.S.), but it's all incidental eye candy to hold our attention while the narrator delivers his social utopian blarney. "Playing together, growing together, learning together," he declares. "America is a land whose people shared what they knew." This film is one of Mel Waskin's favorites; he claims he wrote the script and then assembled the film "rhythmically" at home using footage from the Coronet stock library. According to Mel, this film brought tears to Jack Abraham's eyes when he first viewed it.

Work

Work of the Stock Exchange (15:40) -1941 Examines each step of incorporation and listing of stock. Illustrates the details of buying and selling operations on the exchange floor and in the broker's office, showing how these operations bring to land, labor and management the necessary capital for production. Corporations: "What Is A Corporation" (10:26) -1949 Discusses the principal forms of business ownership-single proprietorship, partnership and corporation-and explains the advantages and disadvantages of each. Selling as a Career (10:34) -1953 Typical Day Of Work Of Art Williams, Salesman Of Sporting Goods. Preparations At Home For Next Day's Work, Fills Out Reports, Estimates Sales Prospects, Schedules Calls. Focuses On Procedures & Personal Characteristics. How to Keep a Job (11:23) -1949 What you need to do to stay employed: choose the right job, get along with colleagues, maintain positive attitude, etc. "Ed" is a teen seeking employment at the "Star Products Company." His interviewer, Mr. Wiley, is a little leery of Ed, since the brash teen had the audacity to quit his prior job. "Nobody thinks very much of a man who talks against the company he works for," Mr. Wiley explains. However, Ed "might really amount to something," so Mr. Wiley tells him the story of identical twins Bob and Walter Anderson, who worked in the Star Products shipping room. Through the miracle of split screen photography (pretty daring for Coronet), we see that teen actor Bob is presentable and conscientious (he gets a promotion) while identical teen actor Walter is sloppy and ungrateful (he gets the boot). "Wouldn't you like to have Bob working for you?" asks Mr. Wiley. Ed is humbled and promises to be a good corporate man from now on. Let's hope he didn't rush out and buy a suit jacket with lapels as wide as Mr. Wiley's. I Want to Be a Secretary (15:52) -1941 Follows a young woman through her clerical training and job search. Shows pre-World War II offices and office workers, primarily women. One of Coronet's earliest educational films. Great title, but the muddled soundtrack and bargain basement production of this early Coronet effort make it less satisfying than other "career woman" films. The stilted interaction between the aspiring secretary and her various elders is okay, but nothing to write a memo about. This film's soundtrack was re-recorded when it was re-scripted and re-edited down to a 10-minute version in 1951. It was then remade in 1954 as the less-dogmatic Do I Want To Be A Secretary? Supervising Women Workers (10:37) -1944 Management addresses the special problems of women workers with concern and a heavy dose of sexism. Secretary's Day, The (10:47) -1947 Compares daily activities of a secretary with those of a stenographer. This film takes us through a typical work day of "Jean Carroll," a professional secretary who is tactful, courteous, poised, alert, personable, efficient, prompt, neat, and orderly. We learn that Jean's morning dictation period is "the foundation of secretarial skill," and are given many opportunities to view her invaluable calendar pad. A more or less typical secretarial film. Jean's boss, "Mr. Williams," plays the young politician in Political Parties.

Economics

Banks And Credits (10:36) -1948 Coronet Instructional Films (a division of Esquire Inc.) presents Banks and Credit. Educational collaborator James Harvey Dodd, PhD., Professor of Economics and Business Administration, Mary Washington College at University of Virginia Understanding The Dollar (9:39) -1953 A dramatization which explains the essential purposes of money as a medium of exchange, analyzes factors which affect the value of the dollar, and shows the effects of rising prices on people with various types of income. Capitalism (9:24) -1948 A group of teenagers on a high-school radio program discuss just what capitalism is, seizing onto the example of the butcher who supplies the weenies for their picnic. Capitalism is one of many "free-enterprise education" films released in the first few years of the Cold War. Unlike many films produced under corporate sponsorship, it avoids taking jabs at socialism, Russia or New Deal government programs. Nonetheless, it uses the common Coronet device of showing a group collectively engaged in coming to terms with an idea -- a process with predetermined conclusions. In this respect, I imagine that it's not so different from Soviet educational films. Introduction to Foreign Trade (10:38) -1951 Cold War-era treatise on globalization. Trading Centers of the Pacific Coast (10:38) -1947 The Pacific Rim at the start of the air age. What Is Money? (10:33) -1947 Following the journey of a five-dollar bill through many transactions, the film shows how money functions as a standard of value and future payment, a storehouse of value and a convenient medium of exchange. This film follows a five-dollar bill (Federal Reserve Note G12463089B, series 34E) as it flows from person to person and performs different functions in the money channels of America. The narrator explains that money is "a quick and easy medium of exchange," which we use because "life today is too complex." Actually, money is a pretty abstract concept, and this film does a good job of making us aware of it. Watch for the cameo by "Mrs. Moore," who later played roles in Making Your Own Decisions and Political Parties. What Is Business? (9:49) -1948 Business produces Mother's pen, the bread on the breakfast table, and the pop-up toaster into which the bread goes. "The world we live in is a world of business." This postwar paean for the glories of free enterprise showers much praise on the Trinity of production, distribution and communication, which "have made the world of business TRULY one world." There's no narrative story line in this film, just a general overview, and much impressive talk about how business is "essential to our modern mode of living" and "helps fulfill our desires for a better way of life." As the camera pans down the storefronts of Main Street, the narrator cries, "Just think what it would mean if all this were taken away!" The battle lines of the Cold War couldn't have been drawn more succinctly.

War

Communism (10:41) -1952 Educational film on the Cold War conflict. Unlike Capitalism, this Coronet film has no dorky teenagers or weenies in it. Classic cold war propaganda film. Starting Now (10:44) -1951 High school students anticipate and prepare for the military draft. (Are You Ready for Service? No. 4) Getting Ready Emotionally (10:25) -1951 (Are You Ready for Service? No. 6) Getting Ready Morally (10:43) -1951 (Are You Ready for Service? No. 7) Getting Ready Physically (10:29) -1951 Korean War-era film encouraging high school boys to use the physical training, health and recreational resources of their communities so as to be ready for military service. Service and Citizenship (11:03) -1951 Korean War-era film points out that military service should be understood as part of citizenship and that training in the everyday duties of citizenship is a part of the preparation for military service. Powers of Congress, The (10:30) -1947 Mr. Williams drops off to sleep for a few minutes to find himself confronted with a world in which Congress has been suspended and federal authority dissolved. This film marks Coronet's earliest excursion into surrealism. It opens in the living room of "Charles Bentley," whose checked suit and zebra-striped tie clash maddeningly with the room's bulls-eye wallpaper pattern, and give some hint of the strange sights to come. "Congress this! Congress that!" Bentley snorts as he throws down his newspaper. "I've got more things to think about than Congress!" He stomps down to the post office to mail his tax return, and continues his tirade for the benefit of his strange-looking friend, "Williams." "What's Congress ever given me except a lot of trouble?" Bentley grunts. "You know what I think? I think we'd be better off if there WASN'T any Congress!" CUs of soap bubbles suddenly appear as Bentley is catapulted into a black void nightmare world where all the sets are built on German Expressionist angles and everyone's voice has an echo. "LOTS of things are different without the powers of Congress!" cackles Williams, who has been transformed (thanks to low-angle lighting) into a kind of omnipresent demon. "YOU'LL see! Hee hee hee hee...." Bentley quickly discovers that, without Congress, his money is worthless, his court system is in ruins, and, worst of all, Social Security is bankrupt. "You'll have to look out for yourself when you lose your job!" Williams crows. Next, Bentley's wife arrives, sobbing that without Congress "our FHA loan was no good" and that now the Bentley's have been thrown out on the street! Thankfully, the soap bubbles reappear and Bentley wakes up back is his nightmare-inducing living room. It was all a dream! "NOW I know what to put in my speech for the club!" he chuckles, and we leave him with a better attitude and a Social Security system that his beloved Congress would eventually leverage into bankruptcy anyway.

Race

Plantation System in Southern Life, The (10:39) -1950 Eurocentric view of the plantation system and its effect on Southern U.S. culture. Palmour Street (23:54) -1957 Everyday aspects of mental health in an African American community in Gainesville, Georgia.

Much of the annotation of this post was written by shaggylocks and the good folks at the Internet Archive - where all of these videos should be accessible in perpetuity if their current links die.

epistolary novel

kliuless — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 07:42:23 -0800

Clay Shirky: How the Internet will (one day) transform government [1,2,3] Open Source Politics: The Radical Promise of Germany's Pirate Party

If anything, the Pirate Party is more akin to the Communist Party, in that it was born out of an emerging economic and social era driven by a new technology, and that it advocates for people's rights in, and postulates new rules of engagement for, how to live in this new era of new advances. If the communists were beholden to industrialization, then the Pirates are beholden to the Internet. "The ancient dream of compiling all human knowledge and culture and to store it for the present and future is within close grasp," the Pirate manifesto posits. "The digital revolution brings humanity the opportunity of advancing democracy" and "enables completely new and previously unthinkable solutions for the distribution of power within a state." "The aim," it calls, "is to distribute power as broadly as possible over all citizens and thus secure their freedom and their privacy." The Internet has radically transformed human society by democratizing access to information, as well as the aspiration to shape knowledge.

also btw... -The Power of Networks -When We Build -The mathematics of democracy: Who should vote? -Military Aid Plummets as Washington Turns Focus to Bolstering Legal System [1,2,3]

Grape Apes: The Origins of Morality

kliuless — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 07:41:59 -0800

Chimp Fights and Trolley Rides from Radiolab's morality episode: "try to answer tough moral quandaries. The questions--which force you to decide between homicidal scenarios--are the same ones being asked by Dr. Joshua Greene. He'll tell us about using modern brain scanning techniques to take snapshots of the brain as it struggles to resolve these moral conflicts. And he'll describe what he sees in these images: quite literally, a battle taking place in the brain. It's 'inner chimp' versus a calculator-wielding rationale."

LETS

kliuless — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 01:23:17 -0800

Start Your Own Currency - "In the Catalonia region of Spain, a restaurant and a community garden are part of an experiment in alternative cash--they are accepting a home-grown currency called the Eco as well as the Euro." [viz. gated article (Google link), cf. The Wörgl Experiment]

sovereignty and taxation

kliuless — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 14:46:51 -0800

David Graeber: Of Flying Cars and the Declining Rate of Profit (via)

Mandel had argued that humanity stood at the verge of a "third technological revolution," as profound as the Agricultural or Industrial Revolution, in which computers, robots, new energy sources, and new information technologies would replace industrial labor – the "end of work" as it soon came to be called – reducing us all to designers and computer technicians coming up with crazy visions that cybernetic factories would produce. End of work arguments were popular in the late seventies and early eighties as social thinkers pondered what would happen to the traditional working-class-led popular struggle once the working class no longer existed. (The answer: it would turn into identity politics.)

Daron Acemoglu: The world our grandchildren will inherit - "The last century has been the age of political rights. Never in our history have so many people taken part in choosing their leaders and having a say in how their societies are governed. To be sure, this unparalleled expansion of civil and political rights remains incomplete. Yet it is profoundly significant, not only due to its transformative impact on the lives of billions, but also because so many other phenomena in recent history are connected to it. The rights revolution is intertwined with diverse trends such as the development of technology; sustained yet uneven economic growth; a general decline in war within recent decades; and a population explosion placing new pressures on our resources and environment." Anatole Kaletsky: A New Capitalism

Seabright engages in some fascinating speculations on anthropology and biology. He posits a form of "group selection" – natural selection operating within entire societies rather than individuals... His conclusion – which is quite pessimistic – is that over millions of years humans have evolved to operate quite successfully in limited and well-defined groups. But we're now moving into a world where the social group that is relevant to the future success, maybe even survival, of humanity is no longer a tribe, a city or a nation. It is the world as a whole. Once humanity is operating on a global level, people have to cooperate on a far broader scale, and the mechanisms for cooperation which have evolved over thousands of years may break down. He gives the financial crisis and the inability of nation states to control it as one example of this breakdown. Others are climate change, nuclear proliferation, energy depletion and environmental destruction. These are all global challenges for which cooperative social mechanisms have not had time to evolve... If you go back to the roots of the monetarist revolution in the 1970s, you find that all its conclusions depend on the assumption that profit-motivated individuals operating in free and competitive markets will make the best possible decisions about the allocation of resources. Frydman and Goldberg explain that this claim of optimal decisions by the markets is simply untrue, unless we also assume that perfect knowledge of reality is possible, at least in theory – and not just about the present, but about the forces shaping the future. If such perfect knowledge does not exist, even in theory, then the claims about self-stabilising markets at root of most economic policy since the early 1980s are false. And if perfect knowledge did exist, then ironically Communist central planning would work as well as a market system. All you would need is a computer large enough to take into account all this knowledge, and it would be able to plan the economy. The reason you need markets is precisely because it's impossible to know what the future will hold. Therefore, markets are a system of experimentation – and they will only work properly if non-market decisions, made by regulators and ultimately by politicians, set some bounds within which market prices can be allowed to freely fluctuate.* This is a very important and profound insight which will ultimately undermine not just the structure of academic economics, but also the way in which people think about the relationship between markets and government.

Capitalism's risk manager: The philanthropic complex - "We envision a society that values more of what matters – not just more... a new emphasis on non-material values like financial security, fairness, community, health, time,** nature, and fun." The Progressive Consumption Tax - "By pulling a simple tax lever, we could reduce the costs of growing income disparities, while at the same time freeing up several trillion dollars of additional resources each year – more than enough to pay down the federal debt and rebuild our crumbling infrastructure – all without requiring painful sacrifices from anyone." Beyond scarcity: The parable of water - "Yet if water abundance is great enough people will look around and see there is no scarcity. They will see they are better off than they have ever been. Eventually, they will understand all the scarcity is artificial. They will also realise they have no need for receptacles, because receptacles have no value. You can live directly off the source. As those with receptacles adjust to the realisation that they have no advantage over those with no receptacles, there is a crisis in the old system. Ultimately, however, more people are provided with access to a constant supply of water than ever before, and on equal terms. The crisis is only for those who used to have an advantage in the system." The end of artificial scarcity - "Without something like a war — or an extra-terrestrial pursuit*** — the system can only be rebalanced by a boom in credit supply and/or artificial scarcity enforced by manufacturers themselves." Debunking goldbugs - "Unlike the gold system, which asks you to put your faith in an inanimate shiny object, a paper 'fiat' system asks you to put faith in relationships, in your neighbours, your community. It asks you to believe that society will honour its debts because it doesn't make sense for it not to – largely because it is just as dependent on you honouring your debts to it, as you are on it honouring its debts to you. It's a system based on quid pro quo relationships. A symbiosis based on trust." Gold's Anti-Social Behaviour Order - "So while gold may be a workable underlier for a redemption option, this doesn't change the fact that at the heart of the system it is faith and faith alone which holds everything together. Whether that faith is reflected in a sovereign's ability to manage the economy on behalf of the group, in the sovereign's guarantee to honour a gold option, or faith in the gold god himself... faith is the constant. Not gold. What's more, while gold encourages anti-social behaviour and hoarding in individuals, a fiat-based system encourages the very opposite: sharing, distribution, collaboration and cooperation." Space opera, beyond finance edition

That includes the notion that in the future there will likely be more currencies not less. "Perhaps even billions of currencies," he says, sketching out a world where every individual and every human network boasts its own unit of exchange. He believes that city-states will become more relevant than nations. And that communities and networks will take control over their own units of account. Virtual currencies such as BitCoin or Facebook credits or others not yet invented, meanwhile, could well start to rival established state-issued money both in private exchange and international trade. And community-led Peer2Peer networks will run alongside more established currency systems. If you thought exchange rates might pose a problem here, Park says technology will provide us with something akin to a "universal translator" for establishing relative values. Real-time and cost efficient. The concept of pricing, meanwhile, will likely to be turned on its head entirely. That's because in the future Park believes prices will become a function of who you are just as much as broader supply and demand fundamentals. One reason why reputation tracking will once again become critical to business, investment and even daily exchange of goods. Just like when a gentleman's word used to be his bond.

previously :P --- *gzip the universe: "I feel we look at matter and information and we see the dichotomy because it's semiotcratic to do so. Just as we look at particles and see fermions (things that can't be in the same place at the same time) and bosons (things that can be so). Perhaps it's just an artefact of our measuring equipment. It's all string vibrations, further down. And rooms and corridors. Buildings and streets (tell that to those in Catalhoyuk!). And objects and textures, of course, animate/inanimate, background/attended. Mesh/tree, mesh-becoming/tree-becoming, branching/canalising, push/pull. But we've talked about that, or we will. We've created an arboreal world, we've also been created. We can't assign causality, only proximity. Does it makes sense to talk about any thing if everything is every thing?" or look at the world in terms of affordances, viz. Hans Rosling: Religions and babies **Paul Ford: 10 Timeframes - 'we're asking people to spend their heartbeats on things we make'

The time you spend is not your own. You are, as a class of human beings, responsible for more pure raw time, broken into more units, than almost anyone else. You spent two years learning, focusing, exploring, but that was your time; now you are about to spend whole decades, whole centuries, of cumulative moments, of other people’s time. People using your systems, playing with your toys, fiddling with your abstractions. And I want you to ask yourself when you make things, when you prototype interactions, am I thinking about my own clock, or the user’s? Am I going to help someone make order in his or her life, or am I going to send that person to a commune in Vermont? There is an immense opportunity—maybe it’s even a business opportunity—to look at our temporal world and think about calendars and clocks and human behavior, to think about each interaction as a specific unit, to take careful note of how we parcel out moments. Whether a mouse moving across a screen or the progress of a Facebook post through a thousand different servers, the way we value time seems to have altered, as if the earth tilted on its axis, as if the seasons are different and new. So that is my question for all of you: What is the new calendar? What are the new seasons? The new weeks and months and decades? As a class of individuals, we make the schedule. What can we do to help others understand it? If we are going to ask people, in the form of our products, in the form of the things we make, to spend their heartbeats—if we are going to ask them to spend their heartbeats on us, on our ideas, how can we be sure, far more sure than we are now, that they spend those heartbeats wisely?

***cf. John Hodgman: Design, explained & Reggie Watts disorients you in the most entertaining way

"tearfully imploring them to remain seated each time we come up for air"

bardic — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:00:02 -0800

"You know how annoying it is when you're sitting on the train with a magazine and the person sitting beside you starts reading over your shoulder? Welcome to every single moment of your future. Might as well get used to it. It's an experience we'll all be sharing." --Charlie Brooker on sharing, and why the world is doomed

Boredom from having thought about myself to answer all these questions

unliteral — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 22:06:28 -0800

Proust is a way for you and your family to share and preserve your stories, one question at a time. The site takes its name from the Proust Questionnaire. Stories can be viewed in several different ways and be set as private or public.

The music 2.0 crusade continues at Turntable

melissam — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 20:27:51 -0800

Turntable.fm DJ for a virtual room at the newest attempt at music-sharing 2.0. Listeners can vote songs up or down, or DJ themselves. Other similar projects like Muxtape and Listening Room have unfortunately not survived long.

Learners are doers, McLuhan as teacher

kliuless — Sun, 29 May 2011 09:09:21 -0800

Wikipedia And The Death Of The Expert - "McLuhan prefigured the Internet era in a number of surprising ways. As he said in a March 1969 Playboy interview: 'The computer thus holds out the promise of a technologically engendered state of universal understanding and unity, a state of absorption in the Logos that could knit mankind into one family and create a perpetuity of harmony and peace' ... Wikipedia, along with other crowd-sourced resources, is wreaking a certain amount of McLuhanesque havoc on conventional notions of 'authority', 'authorship', and even 'knowledge' ... Knowledge is growing more broadly and immediately participatory and collaborative by the moment."

the benefits of work sharing

kliuless — Sun, 22 May 2011 13:49:07 -0800

Work Sharing - "Work-sharing schemes, in many different forms, are becoming the norm in Holland and Denmark, and have made inroads in France and Germany. The key element in any such approach is to separate work from income. "A Danish law enacted in 1993 recognizes a right to work discontinuously, while also recognizing people's right to a continuous income. It allows employees to choose a 'sabbatical' year, which could be divided into shorter periods, every four or seven years. Unemployed people would take the place of those on leave, who, for their part, would receive 70% of the unemployment benefit they would get if they lost their jobs (typically, 90% of one's salary). Danish unions have managed to use such statutory individual rights to reduce the working hours of entire company workforces, and thus increase the number of permanent jobs. The idea of a universal basic income, paid to all citizens, independent of their position in the labor market, is a logical next step." BONUS We're Not All Rocket Scientists - "My point is that along with—not instead of!—policies that make higher education more accessible, we need strategies to improve the quality of these jobs as well. The fact is, as the table in the earlier post showed, we expect to create a lot more of these types of jobs in the future (note that they're in the 'non-tradable' sector so they're not going overseas). Commenters mentioned unions and minimum wages, and they have traditionally helped raise wages in service jobs. Working training can help too, though when you hear people talking about cutting 'discretionary spending', that's where many of those training dollars reside. But here's another point to keep in mind. The last time pay in jobs like these really went up was in the latter 1990s, when labor demand was strong and unemployment was low (and btw, immigration flows were greater in those years than they are now). From the perspective of the workers who hold these types of jobs, there may be no social program more effective than full employment." [1,2,3] Tips on jobs from Zappos for US - "Some of this may mean all of us paying a little more to those who cut our hair and sell us our clothes. But this is exactly what we did a half century ago to spur recovery by paying more to the workers who make our cars and appliances and build our homes." [1,2,3] Keynes for the 21st century - "rich countries should be making preparations for life beyond capitalism"

Keynes predicted, mankind was likely to suffer 'a general nervous breakdown', because it would have been deprived of its traditional purpose. People would still have to do some work 'for contentment'. Three hour shifts or a 15 hour week will 'put off the problem for a little'. But in the end what would be needed was no less than a 'new code of morals'. We shall have to breed out, or breed down, purposefulness and breed up carpe diem – 'the delightful people who are capable of taking direct enjoyment in things – the lilies of the valley who enjoy to breathe the air – the rare angelic beings who are perfectly good, which is almost the same thing as to say that they have no purpose whatever'. All this, remember, was supposed to happen about now, or in the very near future, at least in rich countries. It hasn't worked out like that, but it challenges to think why, and to rethink social arrangements forged in an era of scarcity for us in an age of abundance. Although we should remember and honour Keynes as a great theorist of stabilization policy he has more to offer the 21st century than that. Because he asks the fundamental question that no economist now dares to ask: what is our economic civilization for? What is the purpose of money? What is the relation between money and the good life? Or more simply: 'How much is enough?'

Grouponomics

kliuless — Thu, 05 May 2011 14:56:15 -0800

The Sharing Economy (via) BONUS -Rachel Botsman explains how technology is enabling trust between strangers -Lisa Gansky talks about the future of sharing -Grouponomics -The overpayers' club: we underutilize equity arrangements at every level of our society

We have made an error, from which we need to backtrack, that can be summed up by the word 'commodification'. In the name of a false efficiency, we have struggled to cram everything from corn to cars to financial and legal relationships into the mold of widgets that can be competitively produced, objectively characterized, and then priced in fixed numeraire at arms-length by open markets. If only this could work... But it can't work. Pretending is killing us. Commodification is a reasonable framework for managing trade in corn and manufactured goods, but is an inappropriate for anything or practice whose quality is revealed over time. Commodities are appropriately priced in money and financed by debt. Goods and services that are not commodities require more complex forms of exchange than what's imagined by an introductory economics textbook. What we must 'buy and sell', most of what matters, is relationships. Managing relationships is mysterious, a difficult problem. But we know more than nothing. Just as commodities are naturally exchanged for debt and money, relationship finance naturally takes the form of equity arrangements, in which cash flows are contingent upon variable outcomes.

Ubiquitous nostalgia

stepheno — Tue, 03 May 2011 17:25:31 -0800

Instagram is a hugely successful photo app for iPhone, currently skyrocketing in popularity. Free to download, it enables users to add characteristic filters to their photos and share them online easily. But a growing uneasiness seems to be developing about the software's raison d'être: does it serve to dilute creativity? Or perhaps the effects simply become nauseating when overused. Or is the sharing just too easy, leading us to end up drowning in our photos?

Psst. Hey buddy? Can we borrow $75,000,000,000,000?

zarq — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:30:16 -0800

Earlier this month, thirteen record labels tried to claim that Limewire was liable for between $400 Billion and $75 Trillion in damages. (For some perspective, the world's GDP in 2011 is expected to be a mere ~$65 billion.) Judge Kimba Wood called the assertion 'absurd' in a 14 page opinion. (pdf) Judge Kimba Wood made clear in a 14 page opinion that she found the request “absurd” and claims that it stretches copyright laws to their breaking point. She didn’t entirely side with the defendants, though, and said the damages should at least be one damage awarded per work, rather than per instance of infringement, which will still form quite a hefty bill. The defendants seriously-but-humorously note that the “plaintiffs are suggesting an award that is more money than the entire music recording industry has made since Edison’s invention of the phonograph in 1877.”

Social Calculation and Coordination Problems

kliuless — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 07:28:36 -0800

Trust, Coordination Technology* & The Experience Economy - "It could be that the nature of technological change isn't causing the slowdown** but a shift in values.*** It could be that in an industrial economy people develop a materialist mind-set and believe that improving their income is the same thing as improving their quality of life. But in an affluent information-driven world, people embrace the postmaterialist mind-set. They realize they can improve their quality of life without actually producing more wealth." (via mr) also btw, here're some TGS critics: -BOOK REVIEW: THE GREAT STAGNATION -Tyler Cowen and "Act of God" Economics -Don't Worry, Be Unhappy BONUS -Microconsignment [1,2] -Social Impact Bonds [1,2] -How Skyscrapers Can Save the City [1,2] -Shirky: Facebook and Twitter Speed Up Revolutions [1,2] --- *SRW makes a list "from assembly lines to the limited-liability joint-stock corporation," which might also include money, cities, co-ops/employee ownership, war, religion, moral/emotional/primal appeals (marketing), scientific processes/empiricism, government/NGOs and social networking, etc., i.e. techniques inducing/enforcing agreement -- either thru incentives, coercion and/or reason -- for the coordination of collective action to produce/achieve social outcomes, cf. Two followups, in way too many words & The Problem of the Commons: Still Unsettled After 100 Years, viz. Veneer Theory **more on demographics ***previously

Will this put those Ask.Me questions to rest?

jacquilynne — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 09:53:14 -0800

How do you split the rent when one room is tiny and has no closet while the other is large and has great windows? Based on a not really scientific survey, Jonathan Bittner has come up with a decisive way to answer those 'who should pay how much' questions when it comes to apartment sharing.

Dead Drops

zarq — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 08:08:21 -0800

Artist Aram Bartholl (creator of CAPTCHA business cards) has embedded USB sticks in various walls, buildings and curbs accessible throughout New York City for Dead Drops: "an anonymous, offline, peer to peer file-sharing network in public space." (Flickr) There are currently five 'Dead Drop' locations: * 87 3rd Avenue in Brooklyn (Makerbot) * Empire Fulton Ferry Park in Brooklyn (Dumbo) * 235 Bowery in Manhattan (New Museum) * Union Square Subway Station at 14th Street in Manhattan * Eyebeam Atelier at 540 West 21st Street in Manhattan

mefi coop: how to turn metafilter into a CC cooperative

kliuless — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 05:43:10 -0800

The Birth of Sharing Law and the Rise of Co-ops - "A new sharing economy is emerging — but how does it fit within our legal system? Time for a whole new field of cooperation law." (via wc)

Emotional eavesdropping

madamjujujive — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 13:57:54 -0800

StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit fostering and preserving meaningful conversations between two people who are important to each other. The vignettes are addictive little heart-grabbers, some unearthing long-held secrets. Here's a sampling: I don't know anything about white people; A son's premonition; Bathtub gin; Adoption; Two canoes; Where's the colored section?; Good hugger; Court every day; A schmear; Stonewall memories; and one video animation - a charming talk between a 12 year old with Asperger's and his Mom. There are hundreds more. StoryCorp's history and mission Clips are often featured on NPR. One clip features mefite irisclara and her very touching talk with her dad, which was discussed in the West Virginia Mine Explosion thread in April.

Free's Gold

battlebison — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 13:44:42 -0800

Record label Fool's Gold, run by DJs A-Trak and Nick Catchdubs, has just put their entire catalogue online for free streaming with links to paid downloads for each track. The music is hosted by Fairtilizer, a music streaming service that acts as a sort of online music library.

Caring with cash

kliuless — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 07:49:20 -0800

Shared social responsibility - When customers could pay what they wanted in the knowledge that half of that would go to charity, sales and profits went through the roof ... Gneezy describes the combination of charitable donations and paying what you like as 'shared social responsibility', where businesses and customers work together for the public good. (via mr) [also see 1,2,3]

Leave them laughing

madamjujujive — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 03:24:46 -0800

Carla's final video blog from heaven - shown publicly for the first time at Carla Zilbersmith's funeral after her death from ALS. Carla's self-penned obituary Hi Muselings, this is Carla's son, Maclen, and, by popular demand, my final post on this blog will be the eulogy that I delivered for Carla at her Memorial. Obituary in the LA Times [NSFW, language]

Your life is an Open Book

monospace — Mon, 17 May 2010 09:11:42 -0800

Is Facebook violating your privacy, or are you just oversharing? Facebook status updates are searchable through the Graph API.