Book Review: A Beautiful Rival-A Novel of Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden by Gill Paul

It’s no secret that the beauty business is a huge and thriving industry. We pay $100 for the perfect salon blowout. We spend time at spas getting the best facials and massages. We spend a king’s ransom at places like Sephora and Ulta. And getting a mani/pedi is as vital as food, air, and water to some people.

Yet, just a little over a hundred year ago, women focusing on their beauty, getting massages, facials, and other spa and salon treatments seemed overly vain and self-indulgent. And as for cosmetics, well, only ladies of ill-repute rouged their cheeks and painted their lips scarlet.

Two women changed that type of thinking. Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein believed beauty was every women’s birthright and a worthy goal to obtain, and little bit of war paint never hurt anyone. Both women were from very humble backgrounds who rose to great heights and grabbed the brass ring of success. They did this through hard work, dedication, clever marketing, and yes, quite a bit of chicanery.

Despite their huge success and being women at time when women were only supposed to fulfill the domestic sphere, Arden and Rubinstein were fierce rivals and bitter enemies. And all of this is fully encapsulated in Gill Paul’s latest book A Beautiful Rival: A Novel of Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden.

A Beautiful Rival begins in 1915. Elizabeth Arden and her salons dot the New York City landscape and are very popular with high society. Her line of cosmetics and face creams are also quite successful. Women are realizing that focusing one one’s beauty doesn’t make someone shallow. In fact, it is quite necessary in capturing and maintaining a significant other. And wearing lipstick doesn’t mean you’re a dreadful whore. Painting your lips crimson, pink, or coral might even perk you up a bit.

Arden is relishing her success when an interloper arrives on the scene-Helena Rubinstein. Rubinstein has already established successful salons in Australia, London, and Paris. Now she wants to set up shop in the United States, and New York City is the perfect place.

Rubinstein turns out to be a daunting adversary for Arden. There are rumors that Rubinstein was a doctor and her products are “scientifically formulated,” which may give her a bit more credibility that Arden might lack. Rubinstein also becomes quite buddy-buddy with New York City’s smart set. Arden is not happy about this.

Thus begins the rivalry between Arden and Rubinstein. They were determined to out-do each other, and took to great lengths to screw over each other. They did this anyway they could. They send out spies, they stole employees, and spun outrageous stories about themselves and each other for the press.

But as much as Arden and Rubinstein hated each other, they did share some traits and qualities. Both were shrewd, smart, and savvy. Both of them came from less than desirable backgrounds. Though Arden managed to an old-money WASP aesthetic, she actually grew up poor on a farm in Canada. Helen Rubinstein grew up in Poland and was pretty much estranged from her father after she fellow in love with a Gentile. Both women were unlucky in love, and Rubinstein was hardly a devoted mother to her two boys. And with Arden’s disdain of having sex with her first husband, I wondered if she might be a lesbian or asexual.

A Beautiful Rival is told from the point of view of both Arden and Rubinstein in alternating chapters. Not only does this book examine the foibles, triumphs, both professionally and personally these two formidable women dealt with, it also uses history as a backdrop, including the Great Depression and World War II, and how both of these things affected both Arden and Rubinstein.

Though at times Paul had a habit of telling instead of showing throughout A Beautiful Rival, I still found the story of Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein quite fascinating. Today it is not uncommon to see successful women in various industries, but women like Arden and Rubinstein was quite uncommon a century ago. A Beautiful Rival gives us a glimpse of what it was like for women to succeed in the cutthroat world of business. Beauty can be quite ugly.

Book Review: The Kingdom of Prep-The Inside Story of the Rise and (Near) Fall of J.Crew by Maggie Bullock

J.Crew, the quintessential clothing label is so much more than apparel. It’s been the go-to fashion pieces from its roll-top sweater to sequined ballet flats for around 40 years now. Starting off as a catalog, it has morphed into a collection of brick and mortar stores, a popular internet presence, and seemed to reach its apex during the Obama administration with fashion retail icons like Mickey Drexler and Jenna Lyons at the helm. But what is the exact story of J.Crew? Fortunately, fashion journalist, Maggie Bullock gives us the skinny in her extensive book The Kingdom of Prep: The Inside Story of the Rise and (Near) Fall of J.Crew.

It was the early 1980s, and being preppy was all the rage. Lisa Birnbach’s The Preppy Handbook was a huge bestseller (didn’t matter it was satire). Muffy and Chip were layered in polo shirts (often with popped collars) and had dock siders on their feet. Being a prep was all about the Ivy League and being a total WASP. And even if you went to a state university and your last name was Esposito you could still look like a prep. All it took was the right uniform.

Like today, preppy clothes weren’t exactly hard to find. You could find khaki trousers and polo shirts at places like LL Bean and Land’s End. And if you were looking for a more elevated and stylish, and not too mention much more expensive fashion of prep, there was Ralph Lauren.

Arthur Cinader, already a successful business man with his catalog Popular Club Plan, was inspired by the whole preppy style and look, and wanted to offer a happy medium between lower priced brands like LL Bean and Land’s End and pricier fair like Ralph Lauren. Thus, in 1983, he created J.Crew and offered clothing for men and women with a preppy flair. It didn’t matter Cinader had no experience in fashion, and J.Crew’s earliest company was located in the very unglamorous New Jersey. Cinader had the entrepreneurial prowess and know-how to make J.Crew work. Arthur’s daughter, Emily, soon joined J.Crew after graduating from the University of Denver with a degree in marketing. It was Emily’s classic and fresh-faced style that helped hone J.Crew’s look and image. And no, there is no person named J.Crew. It’s made up.

Slowly and surely, J.Crew became very successful soon after its debut. It’s catalog was a welcome sight in shopper’s mailboxes and J.Crew’s rolled neck sweater became a must-have. Even writer, Bullock claims to have coveted a rolled neck sweater herself. J.Crew’s catalogs featured attractive and athletic models, both female and male, often doing something quite sporty rather than posing like soulless mannequins. And J.Crew hit the big time when they booked the top supermodel, Linda Evangelista, for their catalog.

J.Crew went from strength to strength. It expanded to include actual brick and mortar stores, and Cinader was quite exacting in how he wanted his stores to look like. J.Crew moved its location from New Jersey to the much more fashionable New York City. However, by the 1990s, J.Crew was failing to keep up the pace. This was when Cinader decided to sell 90% of it to a private equity firm. This did not help for many of the CEOs brought along didn’t exactly jibe with J.Crew’s unique vision and image.

However, help was on the way. Mickey Drexler, who had a great deal of success with The Gap, was brought on as CEO. And the fashion icon, Jenna Lyons (now on The Real Housewives of New York), was brought on as womenswear director. Combined, these two brought a J.Crew resurgence in the 2000s. Jenna, especially, gave J.Crew a new twist. Though J.Crew was still preppy, it was preppy with a twist. Jenna gave us sequined ballet flats and bold statement necklaces. Michelle Obama was a big fan of J.Crew. She wore their gloves on inauguration day in 2009, and her daughters, Malia and Sasha, were adorably outfitted in J.Crew’s children’s line CrewCuts. In fact, when it was found out that the Obamas were J.Crew fans, the company’s website crashed the day after Barack Obama was sworn in as President of the United States.

Of course, J.Crew has had it’s ups and downs since then, and has also been embroiled in juicy gossip regarding Jenna Lyon’s love life. And Bullock goes into great detail chronicling every stellar moment of J.Crew and as well as its lower moments. Bullock is clearly a lover of both fashion and fashion history, and she clearly did her homework when researching the history of J.Crew, fashion, retail, and the preppy lifestyle. I learned so much about J.Crew and I really appreciated all the fabulous photographs with the book. In fact, I wish there were more. And now I’m hankering for a J.Crew rolled neck sweater.

The Kingdom of Prep is a knowledgeable and interesting read for anyone who is a fan of J.Crew or interested in the business of fashion and retailing.

Book Review: The Man Who Broke Capitalism: How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland and Crushed the Soul of Corporate America―and How to Undo His Legacy by David Gelles

For the longest time, I think I took for granted that corporate America was all about appeasing shareholders, paying CEOs huge sums of money, treating employees like cogs in the machine, and making huge profits at any cost. I figured I should just expect companies utilize huge layoffs, give executives enormous golden parachutes even if they totally screw up, and outsource jobs to foreign countries. Profits and the bottom line were of utmost importance even if a company was degrading the environment, cheating customers and clients, or putting out shoddy products or services. Yes, I’m quite cynical.

But it wasn’t always that way. Once upon a time, many corporations wanted to offer top notch products and services, CEOS didn’t make 400 times what a lower level employee made, appeasing shareholders wasn’t always of utmost importance, and employees were treated like assets, not costs. What changed?

Well, you can blame a lot of what changed and how things went wrong on the late Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric. It was Welch who helped create the hellish landscape that is so much of America’s corporate landscape.

Welch, grew up poor and scrappy, but through obtaining a college education and a lot of hard work, he was able to climb the ladder at General Electric. That alone may seem admirable, but it is what he did during his tenure at General Electric that caused so many problems for the company, its employees, and its customers.

Once upon a time, General Electric was one of the most respected and successful companies in the United States. Often referred to “Generous Electric,” GE provided topnotch products that filled our homes and businesses. And GE also provided its employees, blue collar, white collar, and pink collar, with excellent pay and benefits. Workers expected to work at GE for nearly a lifetime, and retire with a decent pension.

But that changed once Welch took over as CEO and chairman in 1981. And in the twenty years that followed, Welch and his cronies made decisions that both hurt GE and its reputation.

To Welch, shareholder profit was of utmost importance. And he implemented three key tools while at GE-downsizing, deal making, and financialization. Through downsizing, Welch began laying off thousands of workers by massive firings, offshoring jobs, and outsourcing. Through deal making, Welch padded the bottom line through billions of dollars in acquisition, which had very little to do with GE’s initial business. And with financialization, Welch got rid of GE’s manufacturing base, and instead magnified GE Capital, which focused on investments and insurance. And you thought GE was just about toasters and ovens.

At first, Welch’s tenure looked good, at least to shareholders as profits and stock prices were rising. Welch was treated like some golden god of corporate America, and was the focus of many business articles praising him as an effective leader and businessman. Welch wrote several books and Trump was a fan of his (because of course, he was).

But appeasing shareholders and increasing stock prices isn’t everything, and Welch’s twenty year tenure did cause a lot of problems, and not just for GE. Many of Welch’s practices were implemented at other companies, and soon became standard operating procedures for most corporations. And Gelles goes into great length how these practices are not good for the companies, its workers and customers/clients, and America as a whole (not to mention the rest of the world).

Reading this book, I got really pissed off. I joined the workplace a bit after Welch took over at GE, and for the longest time, I thought his way of managing a company was just how things were and I had to put on my big girl panties and cope with it. But no. We don’t need to do things Welch’s way, and it’s better for all of us if were reverse course, and get back on track on making sure we make a world free of Welch’s malfeasance.

Book Review: Anna-The Biography by Amy Odell

American Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour is probably one of the most powerful women in fashion and media. But despite her fame and influence, Wintour remains an enigma. Who is the woman behind the bobbed hair and dark sunglasses?

Fashion journalist, Amy Odell, whose book Tales from the Back Row: An Outsider’s View from Inside the Fashion Industry I reviewed last fall, also wanted to know more about the imposing and elusive Anna Wintour. And through incredibly thorough research and countless interviews, Odell delivers with Anna: The Biography.

Long before she became the editor-in-chief of Vogue, Anna Wintour was a young girl growing up in London. Her father was the editor of the newspaper, The Evening Standard so media was in Wintour’s blood. She also had a mad passion for fashion. Wintour just knew she had to combine fashion and media and make both her vocation.

Wintour moved to New York City when she was in her early twenties. She first worked at Harper’s Bazaar. She then procured jobs at magazines that are now defunct, including Viva, a Playgirl-like magazine that was found by Bob Guccione, Yes, the guy who gave us the nudie magazine Penthouse. Yes, Wintour worked on fashion layouts in a magazine that featured dicks. And after a briefly editing the British version of Vogue, Wintour was tapped to take over the American version of Vogue (and pushing out the sitting editor-in-chief of Vogue, Grace Mirabella).

Wintour’s first issue of Vogue was quite revolutionary when it comes to its cover in November of 1988. It featured model Michaela Bercu wearing a Christian Lacroix jacket with a pair of stonewashed denim jeans. Now a days, many fashionista combine high and low fashion, and designer streetwear featuring $1,000 hoodies is quite common. But nearly 35 years ago, this look was quite shocking. Readers knew Wintour would transform America’s fashion bible in many ways.

With Vogue, Wintour brought on two fashion icons, Grace Coddington and the late Andre Leon Talley. Vogue featured the top super models of the day, Naomi, Cindy, Linda, Christy (no last names needed). And later Vogue started using celebrities as cover models, something that is still a mainstay at Vogue. Vogue was simply the magazine to read for those in the fashion industry and its wannabes.

But things weren’t always rosy at Vogue with Wintour at the helm. Under Wintour’s helm, Vogue was often seen as too out of touch, and there was often accusations of racism within its ranks. A lot of people weren’t too happy with Wintour’s love of fur and featuring fur within the pages of Vogue. And to work at Vogue, one usually had to be tall, thin, rich, white, and come for the right family. Heck, Wintour even wanted Oprah to lose 20 pounds before she could be on the cover of Vogue-yes, Oprah!

During Wintour’s reign at Vogue, she’s gotten the reputation of being a bitchy ice queen, which seemed to be even more apparent with the release of the novel The Devil Wears Prada written by her former assistant, Lauren Weisberger. And of course, we can’t forge the delicious movie based on the novel which featured Meryl Streep as the Anna Wintour inspired Miranda Priestly. If Wintour was hurt by this book and the movie, she really doesn’t show it. She has much better things to do.

Another feather in Wintour’s couture cap is the Met Gala, which she transformed from a charity event to a major fashion event and showcase of celebrity, glamour, and opulence. For the uninitiated, The Meta Gala raised funds for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York City.

Anna: The Biography also covers a personal side of Anna Wintour, including her marriages relationships and subsequent divorces and breakups, and her devotion to her two children, Charles and Katherine (nicknamed Bee). Wintour is now a doting grandmother and even changes diapers. Hopefully, she’s not getting poop on the Prada.

I loved Anna: The Biography. Those looking for a lot of gossip and bitchery will probably be disappointed. Odell humanizes Anna Wintour, showing the good and the bad. Anna: The Biography is a fascinating read and one I think fashionistas and anyone interested in mysterious, yet powerful public figures will probably love.

Book Review: Leading from the Roots-Nature-Inspired Leadership Lessons for Today’s World by Dr. Kathleen E. Allen

“Leadership today is about unlearning management and relearning being human.” – Javier Pladevall, CEO of Volkswagen Audi Retail

You know I like a book when I mark it up with post-its, write notes in the margins, highlight certain passages and nod my head along like one of those bobble-head figurines. Which is exactly what I did while reading Dr. Kathleen E. Allen’s fascinating, timely and revolutionary’s book Leading from the Roots: Nature-Inspired Leadership Lessons for Today’s World.

This book implores organizational leaders (and pretty much anyone else with a stake in the workplace) to look beyond the confines of the physical spaces where we toil to nature and how it can help us and our companies thrive.

Leading from the Roots is divided into 11 well-researched,  and finely-written chapters on concepts like cooperation, diversity, lack of waste, curbing excess, the power of limits and so much more.

Each chapter gives ample evidence on how nature can help worker’s productivity and commitment to their jobs and how simple it is to work these practices into the workplace that won’t break the bank, take up too much time, or distract us from our tasks at hand. Dr. Allen provides ample evidence through both her extensive end notes and bibliography. And each chapter concludes with a summary of the chapter’s main focus and points to ponder and discuss.

Simply put, Leading from the Roots inspired me. Dr. Allen’s lessons are doable, practical and very audience-friendly. It’s ideal for everyone-managers, workers, students and grads, religious leaders, politicians, activists, teachers, creative types, social workers, medical personal, entrepreneurs, and so on.

Leading from the Roots is a great addition to my book shelf. I highly suggest you add it to your book shelf.

Book Review: Voices From the Rust Belt – Edited by Anne Trubek

Just what is the Rust Belt? In simple terms it stretches from Milwaukee to Buffalo with cities like Chicago, Detroit, Flint, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh inbetween, cities that were once known as vibrant communities of manufacturing that have fallen on hard times but are trying to recapture their former glory. The Rust Belt is also a place I call home.

Sometimes romanticized,sometimes looked down upon, and often ignored, the Rust Belt is a place rich in history and tales so I was only to happy to find Voices from the Rust Belt, a collection of essays by people of all kinds who deftly write about what it is like to live in the Rust Belt.

After a brief introduction, which describes what is the Rust Belt and why it matters, Voices from the Rust Belt is divided into four parts.

1. Growing Up
2. Day to Day in the Rust Belt
3. Geography of the Heartland
4. Leaving and Staying

I pretty much loved all the essays written by talented women and men of all kinds. Some stories I could relate and others opened my eyes to experiences completely foreign to me. These stories are written by journalists, immigrants, students, artists, business owners, activists and working stiffs of all kinds who call the Rust Belt home. Nearly every one of theses writers impressed me and I was thrilled to find brief bios of the writers, which gave me further insight to these people beyond their written words. I also pondered what it would be like to see a well-made documentary on the Rust Belt – Ken Burns, I’m looking in your direction.

If I have any quibbles with Voices from the Rust Belt it is there is no voice from Milwaukee. Hmm, maybe in the sequel.

Book Review: Herding Tigers-Be the Leader That Creative People Need by Todd Henry

“Much of the dysfunction and tension that exists in the workplace is the result of highly creative people’s needs not being met. If you step back and examine the patterns, you’ll find that a lot of bad behavior occurs when there is poor or inattentive leadership”-Todd Henry

And that, my fellow citizens of the Island of the Misfit Creatives is the gist of Toddy Henry’s practical, timely and eye-opening book Herding Tigers: Be the Leader That Creative People Want.

There is an idea that dealing and managing creative types is like managing cats, but Todd thinks that idea is insulting to creative types. No, it’s more like herding tigers-creative types are often brilliant, driven and need the proper environment to bring all their talents that provide results that satisfy management, clients and yes, creative types.

After a brief introduction, the book leads off with a chapter on what creative people need. It also dispels myths about creative types. These myths include concepts like creative types wanting full control to create and we’re obsessed with working on ideas that are considered “cool.” Creative types are totally insecure (when we aren’t being total egomaniacs). Creative types are flaky and flighty and lack analytical ability and business acumen.

Okay, we got the myths out of the way. But what do we need in the workplace? Creative people need both stability (clarity and protection) and challenge (permission and faith) to thrive in the workplace.

Now, this is easier said than done and Henry builds on this theory throughout Herding Tigers. After providing us a clear mantra on what creatives need. Herding Tigers divides itself into two distinct parts. The first part implores management to focus on its current mindset. In the second part Henry shares the mechanics when it comes to leading creative types for both established management and for those who go from being peers to management.

While reading Herding Tigers I kept nodding my head, thinking to myself, “Yes, someone who gets it!” I also felt a wee bit bereft because as a creative it is Henry’s idea of managing creatives, which has been missing the most in my life as a working creative. I’ve often felt misunderstood, caught up in feelings of lost, angry and stuck in places where I should have flourished. If I was queen of the world, every manager and every organization that relies on work by creative types, would be required by law to read this book and implement Henry’s wise, compassion and practical advice, concepts and checkpoints when handling me and my fellow tigers. And don’t worry managers of Tigers, Henry is also in your corner. He truly cares about all of us. (And to be honest, I think Herding Tigers is just a good management book even if you’re not leading creative types).

Herding Tigers is a book that I can imagine reading again and again. In fact, my copy is littered with little post-its, highlighting passages and ideas that I agree with or I find interesting and valuable. I’ve also written down Henry’s advice in a notebook to refer to again and again.

I highly recommend Toddy Henry’s Herding Tigers to both management and creatives. Creatives will recognize themselves and management will be enlightened by Henry’s timeless and timely book. Herding Tigers isn’t just one of the best books on leadership I have read this year; it just might be one of the best books leadership I’ve ever read.

Book Review: Up All Night-From Hollywood Bombshell to Lingerie Mogul, Life Lessons from an Accidental Feminist by Rhonda Shear

I’ve often used the phrase “if so and so didn’t exist we’d probably have to invent them.” I’ve used them so often that it’s become a tired cliché. Note to self: Make one of your New Year’s resolutions to come up with a new phrase.

But I don’t have to apply this to Rhonda Shear. Shear is all about invention and re-invention. In fact, Shear is a potpourri of re-invention, a sex kitten who has lived nine lives, and will probably live nine more. And she dishes the dirt and tells her tale in her biography, Up All Night-From Hollywood Bombshell to Lingerie Mogul, Life Lessons from an Accidental Feminist.

During her life, Shear has been a New Orleans beauty queen and a struggling and striving actress who got to kiss Fonzie from the TV classic Happy Days.  Shear later became a stand-up comic and host of the popular USA network program Up All Night, fueling the fantasies of horny teenage boys, grown men and probably a few lesbians. Shear is also a hopeful romantic who found her way back to her teenage love, now husband, Van Hagen. And last but now least, Shear is now a successful “bimboproneur,” inventor of the Ahh Bra and other underthings, which she sells on HSN.

Life began very modestly for Rhonda Honey Shear born and raised in New Orleans. Named after movie star Rhonda Fleming, Shear’s parents, Jennie and Wilbur Shear, doted on little Rhonda and got her involved in dance lessons at a very young age. It was then and there Shear knew she was destined to stardom. She began to compete (and win) local beauty pageants. She also found the love of her life, Van Hagen and together they had a sweet but somewhat volatile teen-age courtship. After high school, Shear got a BA in communications from Loyola University.

After she received her degree, Shear moved to Los Angeles, where she tried to make it as an actress. She got parts in D-list fair but also got a role in Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs. She guest starred on quite a few TV shows like the aforementioned Happy Days, and shows like Cheers and Dukes of Hazzard. Shear. (But she also had to deal with a lot of #metoo issues from some unsavory types in the age before the “Days of Weinstein and Roses.”)

It was through these appearances Shear was able to hone her comedy skills, which inspired her to do her own comedy act. She spent plenty of time working at some questionable clubs but also did her act at iconic comedy showcases like the Comedy Store. She worked a lot with other comics like Gilbert Gottfried, but also developed a comedy act with other funny ladies.

But her teenage swain, Van Hagen, was still on her mind. Through the power of social media, she found her high school honey and once again they connected in a way not often seen other than in Hollywood romantic movies.

But Shear also had dreams of owning her own business and along with her new hubby, created a successful lingerie and lounge wear company, which after a few struggles is doing very well and is sold both via HSN and her website Rhondashear.com. One notable item from her line is the Ahh Bra, an actual comfortable bra!

Up All Night is composed of three parts, part one is about Shear growing up in the Big Easy, part two is about her life in Hollywood and part three is about her life in Florida with hubby Van Hagen and her life as a successful business women. These three parts are composed of chapters Shear calls lessons, lessons which include: Beauty Matters, Don’t Wait for Opportunities, Create Them and Love Has No Expiration Date.

Is this book perfect? Of course not. At times I found it a bit rushed and not fully developed. I wish Shear would have gone deeper into various phases of her life. At times, Up All Night just skimmed the surface. I wanted more cake, less frosting. Perhaps, Shear’s life would be better served through several volumes of her life story. But it’s very likely her publisher wanted to pack it all into one book.

Some of the advice Shear offers verges on Hallmark card clichés or something you might find on a bumper sticker or a fortune cookie (but then again, the advice is pretty good and I think Shear’s heart is in the right place-she really wants to be there for the reader).

Oddly enough, I found myself quite interested in her life as a beauty queen. This could be because I’m from the land of the Green Bay Packers, Wisconsin, where women where cheeseheads, not tiaras.

And as a fledgling jewelry designer with a mad love for Martha Stewart and lesser known ladies of business, I gobbled up her tale about developing her business, coming up with the Ahh Bra, and other sexy and also comfy lingerie and lounge wear designs. And I appreciate how Shear shared the good, the bad and the ugly of running one’s business, how she made her mark on HSN and life as a lady mogul. When it comes to our breasts, ladies, I don’t care if you are an A Student, packing a couple of killer Bs, a tempest in a C cup or a cornucopia of riches, a comfortable bra is every women’s birthright!

Ultimately, I grew to like Shear and her brand of feminism. Feminism is often open to interpretation (not too mention misunderstanding). You can be a feminist in so many ways, and Shear more than proves it.

Book Review: No More Work-Why Full Employment is a Bad Idea by James Livingston

For ages, work equaled having a job so you could put a roof over your head, keep your belly full, clothe your back and pay your bills, taxes, mortgage, insurance, car note and other life essentials. And if you had some of your hard-earned paycheck left over you might treat yourself to a day at the spa, a night out on the town or attend a concert or sporting event.

But work doesn’t just mean money. Work also conveys discipline, education, skills, talent, passion, and making contribution to society and culture as a whole. Work is the solution to society’s ills, after all, idle hands are the devil’s workshop, right?

According to James Livingston maybe we need to take a look at our age-old idea of work and turn this idea on its head. And he goes into this further in his thought provoking book No More Work: Why Full Employment is a Bad Idea.

According to Livingston, professor of history at Rutgers University, gainful employment is seen by Americans, of all political leanings, as a proper goal for all of us instead of a problem that needs to some serious overview and overhaul, both morally and economically. We need to examine why we go to work and how it is affecting us as human beings and as a nation.

There are several problems with gainful employment for your average American worker. One includes technology and automation are replacing humans for various business transaction. We do are banking on-line, use the self-checkout at the grocery store, and check out various travel websites rather than talk about our vacation plans with a travel agent.

Another factor Livingston examines in No More Work is how we have reached peak productivity levels that do nothing more than provide a cushion of leisure for most of us. Yet it is mostly the one percent among us who truly benefit primarily due to the how both wealth and work are dispersed. We have far too many workers make less than a truly life sustaining wage, often using public assistance just to make it. And it’s not just people working at Wal-Mart. Even people who are college educated and working white collar professions rely on food stamps and other “entitlements.” Meanwhile, some CEOs make huge sums of money in both income and assets even as they make decisions that can sink a company.

And there is this idea of the “romance of work,” the age old Protestant work ethic most Americans swear by even though it doesn’t always benefit us financially, mentally, emotionally and so on.

So what is the solution according to Mr. Livingston? One solution is taxing corporate profits, which often aren’t used to fully invest in ways that benefit most of us. By now I think most of us realize “trickle-down economics” is a complete myth.

What else does Livingston suggest? Livingston also suggests implementing a guaranteed minimum basic income. This may sound familiar to many of my readers when I debunked Miriam Weaver and Amy Jo Clark’s badly researched take on this concept in my review of their book Right for a Reason.

A basic guaranteed income for all citizens is being examined again and is supported by both those on the left and the right. Personally, I think the idea is very intriguing, and even with this type of income, most of us will seek some type extra of employment to make more money and to get benefits, especially health insurance.

No doubt No More Work is brings up several controversial issues, but I do hope it’s used as a springboard when it comes to the concepts of full employment, corporate America, guaranteed basic income, raising the minimum wage, income inequality, our current tax system, entitlements, and our concepts of work, leisure, life, and money that are deeply etched into our country’s psyche.

Taking One for the Team: Right for a Reason-Life, Liberty, and a Crapload of Common Sense by Miriam Weaver and Amy Jo Clark

Has this election season made you a nervous wreck? I know it has me at the end of my tether, and with my bad allergies, morbid depression, and chronic insomnia, I don’t know if I should make a plate of brownies, charge my smart phone, or buy a truckload of Xanax. Either way this election goes (I’m going to plug my nose and vote for Hillary Clinton), by this time next week we will have a new President-Elect.

Anyway, here is my latest installment of “Taking One for the Team,” Right for a Reason: Life, Liberty, and a Crapload of Commonsense by Miriam Weaver and Amy Jo Clark, two Indiana-based conservative pundits who go by the name of Chicks on the Right. The Chicks have a radio show on WIBC in Indianapolis, an occasional newspaper column for the IndyStar, their own website featuring their opinion pieces (under the pen names Mockarena for Weaver and Daisy Jo for Clark), links to other like-minded conservative websites and memes well-versed in the radical right mindset. Their social media has plenty of followers and they are often profiled and interviewed by more mainstream media outlets.

Not living in Indiana, I first became aware of the Chicks when they wrote a scathing screed for the IndyStar lambasting liberal feminists for wearing vagina costumes or thinking tax payers should pay for their birth control pills or being all-around entitled, whiny, crybaby harpies. They claimed they were the true feminists because even if their husbands left them for “younger models” they would just pick themselves up by their bra straps, soldier on, and not expect any type of safety net to bail them out. And for some odd reason, stiletto shoes were also involved in the world of Chicks-fried feminism.

Well, as one of those liberal feminists the Chicks love to hate. I can’t recall seeing anyone in a vagina costume, and I don’t exactly expect anyone to pay for my birth control; I just believe there should a safety net for people who are struggling and a woman’s reproductive issues are a very important component of health care. I hardly think this makes me a virulent shrew. And I have to remind the Chicks, even this libtard, feminazi in sensible sling backs, pays her fair share of taxes.

This opinion piece went viral, picked up by other media outlets including Bust, Jezebel, We are Libertarians, and Democratic Underground. My curiosity piqued, I decided to learn more about the Chicks. I found their website, which included a high-heeled shoe in the logo (because the ladies love their shoes, amirite?). The Chicks’ apparent goal is to give conservatism a “makeover” because when people think of conservatism they think of old, white, silver-haired, dour and boring men. Well, actually I think of skinny blonde women talking smack…and writing smack.

Which finally brings me to Right for a Reason…

In Right for the Reason, the Chicks go deep as a Jimmy Choo in-step when it comes to serious topics regarding capitalism, race, feminism, guns, abortion, political correctness and LGTBQ issues.

On the surface, Right for the Reason’s first chapter, Capitalism is a Good Thing, isn’t exactly something I disagree with. I am very grateful for living in a country where entrepreneurs of all kinds from my friends Laura and Myra making a living designing jewelry to domestic diva, Martha Stewart, can hone their skills, talents and expertise and become successful. But capitalism is not without its faults whether it’s the malfeasance found on Wall Street or CEOs making 400 times what the average worker and treated to a golden parachute worth millions even though they make decisions that sink a company and screw over employees, clients, consumers, shareholders and other invested interests.

And then then there is their take on Occupy Wall Street, which to the Chicks, pretty much was made up of dreadlocked hippies pooping in the streets while updating their Twitter feeds on their iPhones. Sure, there were quite a few members of Occupy Wall Street that fit that tired stereotype. But if one looked any further, you would also find knitting grandmas, blue collar types and suit-wearing professionals. They also found one ridiculous Occupy Wall Street manifesto that they use to sum up the entire movement. That’s like me saying all members of the Tea Party can’t spell, are total bigots and dress like Paul Revere. I wouldn’t because I’m pretty sure the Tea Party types have a variety of people in their ranks, too.

When it comes to the poor here in the United States, the Chicks compare the poor in a first world country versus those in a third world country. Well, of course there are differences! We talking about a first world country compared to third world countries, where there are vast differences in policies, infrastructure, education, and so on. But the Chicks never delve into those complex topics. Instead, the poor in America often own TVs, DVD players, stereos, kitchen and laundry amenities, and even cars! Well, a lot of the poor live in apartments where kitchens come fully equipped and there are laundry facilities. One can buy certain luxuries like a TV used or have they been given as gifts. And if someone doesn’t live in a place with reliable public transportation a car is a must to get to work, school and to run errands. Yes, a lot of poor people work and/or going to school. Not everyone who is poor is lazy, popping out babies, uneducated, not working, watching “Jerry Springer” and fully dependent on the taxpayer. And it seems to the Chicks the only people who pay taxes are themselves and their fellow conservatives.

As for corporate welfare? The Chicks briefly refer to corporate welfare was the bailouts, which mostly happened in 2008—when Bush was still President.

In this chapter, the Chicks bring up the idea of “mincome,” which apparently all of Canadian liberals played around with back in the 1970s and it was a huge failure because everybody became a lazy slug or something like that. I had heard of mincome so I did some investigating. Turns out mincome was something relegated to mostly Manitoba, and the only people who pulled back on working and earning a paycheck were teenagers and mothers with babies and very young children. Most citizens continued to work regular jobs while also receiving a decent minimum income from the government.

And just who were among these unwashed hippies who came up with the idea of mincome? Milton Friedman, yep, that Milton Friedman.

In America is Exceptional the Chicks go all neener, neener on liberals who have the audacity to point out America’s flaws, both past and present. And Weaver tells the tale of her father coming to America as an immigrant and having nothing but good things happening for him, not quite owning up to the privilege he already had in place—being white and highly educated. He certainly had it better than some immigrants coming from places like Mexico and Syria, or what my great-grandfather, Max, faced coming here as a poor orphan from Germany when he was still a teenager. Anyway, the vastly smarter and funnier, Jimmy Dore, sums up what’s great about America in the final chapter of his book, Your Country is Just Not That Into You.

Other subjects where Chicks have all the intellectual heft of a feather include the idea of hands up, not hand-outs. I guess you’re alright to get some help if you’re a single mom who identifies as a conservative. The rest of us can just die in a fire.

When it comes to the first amendment the Chicks bitch their right to free speech is being violated due to one set back on Facebook, not quite acknowledging they have a radio show, a newspaper column, an active social media presence and a book. If that’s called having one’s first amendment rights being trampled on, sign me up! They also call political correctness stupid with all the maturity of kindergartners in a sandbox, claim they don’t see color when it comes to the thorny topic of race, stomp their stiletto-shod feet for their right to own things that go Pew-Pew-Pew (to the uninitiated they are talking about guns, not Pepe le Pew). They think the war on women is a load of crap (yep, these two classy dames love to use the word crap), but throw plenty of insults when it comes to women they disagree with, often using hateful dialogue to disparage a more liberal women’s looks. They are proudly pro-life and are convinced that all clinics that provide abortion services resemble the horrors of Kermit Gosnell’s clinic; most clinics don’t resemble Gosnell’s clinic at all.

And if you happen to be gay? Well, quit being so obvious about with your same sex wedding announcements, gay pride parades and suing Christian bakers. Yea, like the heterosexuals have to hide their lifestyles and loving with abiding shame.

In the final chapter the Chicks offer their declaration on why it’s time for a conservative makeover. They claim it’s not cool to be a conservative, not mentioning conservative ideas and opinions can be found all over in print, televison and digital media. As I write this, one of the hottest pundits in right wing media is yet another skinny, blonde, Tomi Lahren. Heck, she’s so hot she’s allegedly dating a cast-off of The Bachlorette!

But just how do the Chicks plan to give conservatism a make-over. Well, according to the cover and the contents of Right for a Reason it has to do something with Christian Loubatins, clothes from the MILF Collection at Forever 41 and calling out Nancy Pelosi for using Botox. Actually, the Chicks call conservative makeover consist the following:

1) Discuss conservatism with young people
2) Stop being prudes (it’s okay to cuss)
3) Remember the 80/20 rule (it’s okay if other people agree with only 80% of the time)
4) Stop with the labeling (interesting, considering the Chicks have a pretty strict guideline for what makes a true conservative)

As for the GOP, among the things the Chicks suggest include being offensive (no problem there with Trump as a possible next president—shudder) rather than defensive, use limited government, the Constitution and personal freedom when it comes to messaging, empower women and minorities, use all media platforms, and fight fire with fire.

Okay, the Chicks do have a point on certain things. I think they bring up interesting concepts when it comes to messaging. And they call out both Todd Akin and Todd Rokita for their positively boneheaded remarks, Rokita making condescending compliment regarding CNN’s Carol Costello’s looks and Akin’s opinions regarding rape. And though the Chicks are pro-life, they are also in favor of contraceptives and Plan B.

But ultimately, Right for a Reason is just a shrill and malicious, with writing on par with a middle school mean girl’s Twitter diatribes against various liberals, feminists, progressive activists, not to mention President Obama, Hillary Clinton, Sandra Fluke, Beyoncé, Al Franken, Sheryl Sandberg, and Whoopi Goldberg. They offer no promise of hope and how to reach across the aisle to truly improve the state of the USA in the 21^st century. Right for a Reason is also devoid of carefully honed research on issues that are crucial to us as citizens at one of the most critical times in country’s history. In the end, you aren’t left with the feeling conservatism doesn’t need a makeover; it needs a complete do-over, a total reboot, the kind of boot that can’t be found at any pricey shoe boutique.

Right for a Reason: Life, Liberty and a Crapload of Common Sense is right on one thing. It is a crapload.