Jackmormon, you can't coherently will that that solution be universalized. In fact, I don't think any solution to this problem can be coherently willed to be a universal law. Kant therefore sez: It is immoral to use your weekend home as a way to get away from your neighbors. Up against the wall!
Jesus Christ. Here's another article that puts me over the edge. I'm going to have to stop reading the NYT before my eyes stick from me rolling them back in my head so much.
the airline flies service animals every day; all owners need to do is show up with a letter from a mental health professional and the animal can fly free in the cabin
Awesome! I've been wondering how we'd transport PK's mice if we had to move. Problem solved.
What bothers me is that what was once "The Paper of Record" has now turned into a daily version of US Weekly. It's just fucking ludicrous. This is the news that's fit to print?
The caption under the photo in the article Becks linked in 7 amuses me:
Anthony Milburn, at right with four of his dogs, rely on their pets for emotional well-being.
There's only one human in the picture, so "at right" seems unnecessary. And apparently this Anthony has so much well-being he gets a plural pronoun! And, at least one of the dogs seems to be a stuffed animal.
(I know, it's just a typo, and probably the wrong picture, but it's late and I'm amused.)
Jackmormon, you can't coherently will that that solution be universalized. In fact, I don't think any solution to this problem can be coherently willed to be a universal law.
And you have a PhD? The problem is simply one of specificity in the maxim. Make yours "I will choose the location of my vacation home so that I don't have to be near my neighbors", and it's totally universalizable. Naming a particular place is what causes problems, but you only name a particular place because it's momentarily unpopular, not because you actually value that place more than you value getting away from the people you see at home.
teofilo, That's about what the girls' school I went to charges now. When I started at boarding school, tuition was $13K and with room and board it was $17 or $18K. By the time I left, tuition was $18K, and the whole thing was $22K.
I'm surprised that kindergarten is that expensive. Most schools charge less for kindergarten. We sued to pay less for the 5th and 6th grades than for the upper years.
I'm sure $25,000 isn't out of the ordinary for a private school in NYC, but the whole thing just seems insane to me (and of a piece with the whining about vacation homes). I went to public school for free, and I think I turned out okay.
The perfect solution, of course, is to not have any friends. And speaking for attribution in a story like this ought to get one a ways down that road . . .
31: The perfect solution has already been decided in these here parts, and it's obviously home schooling:
We'll educate our kids at home
Until the day they're fully grown
When someone asks our reasons why
We're always glad to clarify
We want them sharin' our own faith
And in a place we know they're safe
Instead of violence and drugs
They'll get high on prayer and hugs
Do they write an article like that every year? Because I'm sure I've read that exact same thing before.
Posted by teofilo | Link to this comment | 05-13-06 3:15 PM
I think my recent favorite was on the agonizing decision of whether or not to have a doorman in one's building.
Posted by bitchphd | Link to this comment | 05-13-06 3:26 PM
These wealthy Manhattanites should avoid their friends by buying their vacation homes in scenic Newark. Problem solved!
Posted by Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 05-13-06 3:28 PM
I do not understand these people at all.
Posted by Cala | Link to this comment | 05-13-06 3:35 PM
Jackmormon, you can't coherently will that that solution be universalized. In fact, I don't think any solution to this problem can be coherently willed to be a universal law. Kant therefore sez: It is immoral to use your weekend home as a way to get away from your neighbors. Up against the wall!
...OK, I've read the article now, and it's about time for a massive redistribution of wealth.
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 05-13-06 4:27 PM
Do they write an article like that every year? Because I'm sure I've read that exact same thing before.
Every six months, so the rich folks can read the exact same shit in the Hamptons that they do in the city.
Posted by Anonymous | Link to this comment | 05-13-06 5:28 PM
Jesus Christ. Here's another article that puts me over the edge. I'm going to have to stop reading the NYT before my eyes stick from me rolling them back in my head so much.
Posted by Becks | Link to this comment | 05-13-06 5:40 PM
the airline flies service animals every day; all owners need to do is show up with a letter from a mental health professional and the animal can fly free in the cabin
Awesome! I've been wondering how we'd transport PK's mice if we had to move. Problem solved.
Posted by bitchphd | Link to this comment | 05-13-06 6:51 PM
bring the rivers of blood, please.
Posted by mcmc | Link to this comment | 05-13-06 8:22 PM
I'll second that call for rivers of blood.
Posted by gswift | Link to this comment | 05-13-06 8:33 PM
I think the article makes it clear that as a society, we need to encourage screwballs to just kill themselves.
Posted by gswift | Link to this comment | 05-13-06 8:39 PM
Maybe we could lock them all in the same vacation house in the Hamptons and wait for them to kill each other.
Posted by teofilo | Link to this comment | 05-13-06 8:49 PM
Maybe we could lock them all in the same vacation house in the Hamptons and wait for them to kill each other.
Gotta film that. Ratings would be through the roof.
Posted by JL | Link to this comment | 05-13-06 8:53 PM
That sounds like a great TV show. We could lure them in by promising that the winner gets one of their kids into Collegiate. I'd watch it.
Posted by Becks | Link to this comment | 05-13-06 8:53 PM
$25,000 a year for elementary school? Yeah, let's do this show.
Posted by teofilo | Link to this comment | 05-13-06 9:08 PM
What bothers me is that what was once "The Paper of Record" has now turned into a daily version of US Weekly. It's just fucking ludicrous. This is the news that's fit to print?
Posted by SomeCallMeTim | Link to this comment | 05-13-06 9:27 PM
The caption under the photo in the article Becks linked in 7 amuses me:
Anthony Milburn, at right with four of his dogs, rely on their pets for emotional well-being.
There's only one human in the picture, so "at right" seems unnecessary. And apparently this Anthony has so much well-being he gets a plural pronoun! And, at least one of the dogs seems to be a stuffed animal.
(I know, it's just a typo, and probably the wrong picture, but it's late and I'm amused.)
Posted by mrh | Link to this comment | 05-13-06 9:34 PM
Meh. All the news that's fit to print. Print all the news that fits. Whatever, eh?
Posted by Cala | Link to this comment | 05-13-06 10:30 PM
wait wait wait...there's a school that charges $25,000 for kindergarten? And that's just tuition, not even room and board? This seems silly.
Posted by Matt F | Link to this comment | 05-14-06 12:23 AM
Jackmormon, you can't coherently will that that solution be universalized. In fact, I don't think any solution to this problem can be coherently willed to be a universal law.
And you have a PhD? The problem is simply one of specificity in the maxim. Make yours "I will choose the location of my vacation home so that I don't have to be near my neighbors", and it's totally universalizable. Naming a particular place is what causes problems, but you only name a particular place because it's momentarily unpopular, not because you actually value that place more than you value getting away from the people you see at home.
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 05-14-06 1:46 AM
I'm also all for bringing on the rivers of blood.
Posted by Matt McGrattan | Link to this comment | 05-14-06 4:32 AM
Whatevs, Wolfson. Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded.
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 05-14-06 6:13 AM
No, I really do think they should all go to Newark.
Posted by Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 05-14-06 8:55 AM
Ooh, good idea!
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 05-14-06 9:37 AM
These are the things that make me wish that Brunel was still alive...
Posted by Scott Lemieux | Link to this comment | 05-14-06 9:48 AM
You know, I couldn't continue reading that story, the pathos was overwhelming (plus I feared getting caught looking at wealth porn).
But now the suspense is killing me: did everything turn out okay in the end? Were they able to have a vacation without seeing their friends??
Posted by M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 05-14-06 11:14 AM
teofilo, That's about what the girls' school I went to charges now. When I started at boarding school, tuition was $13K and with room and board it was $17 or $18K. By the time I left, tuition was $18K, and the whole thing was $22K.
I'm surprised that kindergarten is that expensive. Most schools charge less for kindergarten. We sued to pay less for the 5th and 6th grades than for the upper years.
Posted by bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 05-14-06 2:07 PM
I'm sure $25,000 isn't out of the ordinary for a private school in NYC, but the whole thing just seems insane to me (and of a piece with the whining about vacation homes). I went to public school for free, and I think I turned out okay.
Posted by teofilo | Link to this comment | 05-14-06 2:40 PM
Well...you're a little on the thin side, teo.
Posted by SomeCallMeTim | Link to this comment | 05-14-06 2:46 PM
You say that like it's a bad thing.
Posted by teofilo | Link to this comment | 05-14-06 2:48 PM
The perfect solution, of course, is to not have any friends. And speaking for attribution in a story like this ought to get one a ways down that road . . .
Posted by CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 05-14-06 3:40 PM
31: The perfect solution has already been decided in these here parts, and it's obviously home schooling:
Posted by Anonymous | Link to this comment | 05-14-06 5:41 PM
32 = Stanley
Posted by Stanley | Link to this comment | 05-14-06 5:42 PM
That's in the Real Estate section, not the Style section.
Posted by finn | Link to this comment | 05-14-06 7:18 PM
That's okay, the Real Estate section is pretty gross, too.
Posted by bitchphd | Link to this comment | 05-14-06 7:26 PM
33 gets it exactly right.
Posted by M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 05-15-06 1:36 PM