Southerly by David Haywood

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Southerly: By Popular Demand: Another Night to Remember with Alan Bollard

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  • Don Christie,

    No, I disagree with a previous poster. These articles are better than your dog training ones.

    Next time you are sinking a quiet one with Al you might like to ask him whether his financephalograph has sprung a leak, or something.

    Pretty sure the RBNZ still uses this technology for modeling our economy.

    (Note - Bill Phillips is an unsung NZ icon, found out about him as a result of a wonderful talk given by Dr. Bollard a few years ago.)

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Austin,

    Great work David.

    London • Since Nov 2006 • 1027 posts Report Reply

  • andrew llewellyn,

    Yes. ALthough a bit more putting the boot in wouldn't find me objecting...

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report Reply

  • Damian Christie,

    Hilarious. It's not often I LOL at my desk. Reading during my allocated morning tea time, of course.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1164 posts Report Reply

  • Harold Ellison,

    Such revealing confessionals are to be highly commended. Hallelujah! I pray de lawd convinces a high paying journal editor to purchase this, & all your future confessions. Amine & hallelujah again for good measure.

    EBoP • Since Nov 2006 • 1 posts Report Reply

  • James Graham,

    Absolutely bloody brilliant.

    Tauranga • Since Nov 2006 • 12 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Hilarious. It's not often I LOL at my desk. Reading during my allocated morning tea time, of course.

    I'm sure you're making all the sacrifices Damian. Just think: if everyone only has one chocolate biscuit, they could save the whole news division ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Nat Torkington,

    Brilliant, David. I think of your pieces as Quentin Tarantino-Listener political column slash fic. What do you call your genre? "Pulp Clifton" or "Clifton Tarantino"?

    Ti Point • Since Nov 2006 • 100 posts Report Reply

  • Juha Saarinen,

    Think further: if everyone at TVNZ were made to pay for their choccie bikkies, the broadcaster might become as profitable as AirNZ is.

    Since Nov 2006 • 529 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    I think of your pieces as Quentin Tarantino-Listener political column slash fic.

    Slash fic? Slash Fic? What's David doing with Alan Bollard in YOUR head, dude?

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Nat Torkington,

    Three men, blood, body parts, a head banging repeatedly into the floor of a ute, hospital trips and upset girlfriends ... sorry, I skimread the original post. I naturally assumed it was a paean to rough trade man love in the halls of power. Did somehow get the wrong end of the stick, as the bishop said to the Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand who was dressed as an actress and giving head to Darfield Charlie?

    Ti Point • Since Nov 2006 • 100 posts Report Reply

  • Don Christie,

    Nat, I find reading David's articles is better your way. The mind has been known to blow.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • jon_knox,

    As I point of clarification (for anyone studying or intending to study Haywood's work for NCEA).

    Is the underlying theme?

    A) Bollard cares not about the amount of pain he inflicts as long as improves the bottom line.
    B) Trying to chop more than a finger of Charlie at a time is a bad thing.
    C) Bloody christians.
    D) All of the above
    E) None of the above

    Belgium • Since Nov 2006 • 464 posts Report Reply

  • Don Christie,

    F) "Klaus shall buy his own fish and chips," said Gretchen.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • dylan,

    (Note - Bill Phillips is an unsung NZ icon, found out about him as a result of a wonderful talk given by Dr. Bollard a few years ago.)

    There is also a full version of the Moniac Machine machine in the Science and Technology Museum in London. Unfortunately it was not operational when I was there...seems to me that it would be a fantastic educational tool.

    netherlands • Since Nov 2006 • 14 posts Report Reply

  • john shears,

    At the risk of offending such a sensitive and caring author can I point out that you may consider it wise to edit this story in a minor way.

    It is a well known fact that blunt cutting devices cause accidents not sharp ones.

    Wish I had the money to buy the rights.

    John

    North Shore City • Since Nov 2006 • 21 posts Report Reply

  • Juha Saarinen,

    Since Nov 2006 • 529 posts Report Reply

  • David Haywood,

    Glad that people have enjoyed my little allegory. To answer Jon Knox's question: Yes, I was trying to make a serious point in this blog.

    I have deep concerns with regard to the ideological myth of 'economics'. Postmodern theorists such as Aronowitz (1988) have shown that economic 'reality' emerges from the transgressive performativity of economists, who -- by definition -- are pre-postmodern, trans-determinate, and neo-essentialist in their outlook. This suggests to me that the socio-political nature of 'economic' constructs (such as value, time, and money) must have important ontological implications for all financial processes.

    Don Christie is correct in identifying my deliberate thematic references to the financephalograph. The first part of the allegory explores my concerns with regard to fluid-dynamic genderization in economic theory. As Hayles (1992) puts it:

    In the same way that women are erased within masculinist theories and language, existing only as not-men, so fluids have been erased from science, existing only as not-solids.

    This leads to considerable difficulties in terms of Phillips's attempts to model national economies. It also raises the obvious question: have all subsequent epistemological approaches inherited the ontological bi-univocalism inherent in the 1940s Zeitgeist?

    In order to circumvent these limitations a new paradigm of indexicality is clearly required. The second part of the allegory attempts to achieve this by acknowledging the inherent co(n)textual indexicality of economic behaviour. This new approach transcends both univocalism and bi-univocalism to operate at a 'mono-bi-univocalist' level.

    Some examples may be useful to illustrate my point:

    1. Darfield Charlie's 'blood-letting' represents not only the monetary flows within the economic system, but also the cultural and socio-political Weltanschauung of economists.

    2. The eventual infection of Darfield Charlie's wounds are deliberately suggestive of entropy. The confrontation with his girlfriend contains obvious references to Gödel's theorem (Gödel 1949) and Heisenberg's uncertainty principle (Heisenberg 1958).

    3. Cultural and socio-political Dasein are characterized using quantitative methods that draw on a variety of iconic popular culture signifiers. The 'axe scene' echoes dance routines from the Broadway musical Oklahoma! (Rodgers and Hammerstein, 1943). Bollard's comments about GDP are 'appropriated' from the television series My Favourite Martian (Green 1963).

    As John Shears has observed, my allegorical approach is not without its difficulties. It does not, for example, imply a solution to larger problems such as quantum gravity. However it does confront our societal norms in terms of indexicality issues, and goes some way towards suggesting 'inclusive' economic solutions that could operate within the cultural context of other (non-western) societies.

    For those of you interested in this topic I would recommend the following items as essential reading:

    Aronowitz, Stanley (1988), Science as Power: Discourse and Idealogy in Modern Society, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.

    Gödel, K. (1949), 'An example of a new type of cosmological solutions of Einstein's field equations of gravitation', Reviews of Modern Physics, 21, 447-450.

    Greene, J.L. (1963) My Favorite Martian, CBS, Los Angeles.

    Hayles, N.K. (1992), 'Gender encoding in fluid mechanics: Masculine channels and feminine flows', Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies, 4(2), 16-44.

    Heisenberg, W. (1958), The Physicist's Conception of Nature (Translated by A.J. Pomerans), Harcourt-Brace, New York.

    Rodgers, R. and Hammerstein, O. (1943) Oklahoma!, Williamson Music, New York.

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Stowell,

    Damn. And I thought it was funny.

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report Reply

  • andrew llewellyn,

    The 'axe scene' echoes dance routines from the Broadway musical Oklahoma!

    The original Gower Champion choreography? Or Bob Fosse's for the later Broadway season?

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report Reply

  • Jen Hay,

    Wow.

    This is the most sophisticated and insightful economic analysis that I have seen in a long time, and I think it could represent a true international breakthrough.

    It's crystal-clear except for one minor point. I don't really understand what 'Dasein' is?

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 43 posts Report Reply

  • David Haywood,

    Andrew Llewellyn wrote:

    The original Gower Champion choreography? Or Bob Fosse's for the later Broadway season?

    With respect, Andrew, your question suggests to me that you hardly know anything about economics.

    Obviously, the original Gower Champion choreography.

    In my opinion, Bob Fosse's lacklustre dance routines have contributed less than nothing to international understanding of economic theory.

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report Reply

  • David Haywood,

    Jen Hay wrote:

    This is the most sophisticated and insightful economic analysis that I have seen in a long time, and I think it could represent a true international breakthrough... [but] I don't really understand what 'Dasein' is.

    With respect, Jen, your question suggests to me that (like Andrew) you hardly know anything about economics or philosophy. A thorough understanding of Dasein is essential in order to comprehend the important economic theories that I put forward in my essay 'Another Night to Remember with Alan Bollard'.

    The meaning of Dasein is most easily explained by saying that Dasein can only be explained by understanding existence. Dasein always understands itself in terms of its existence, in terms of its possibility to be itself or not be itself. Dasein has either chosen these possibilities itself, stumbled upon them, or already grown up in them. Existence is decided only by each Dasein itself in the manner of seizing upon or neglecting such possibilities. We come to terms with the question of existence always only through existence itself. The question of existence is an ontic 'affair' of Dasein. For this the theoretical perspicuity of the ontological structure of existence is not necessary. The question of structure aims at the analysis of what constitutes existence. Its analysis therefore has the character of an existential understanding.

    In other words, the task of defining Dasein is prescribed with regard to its possibility and necessity in the ontic constitution of Dasein.

    I hope this answers your question.

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report Reply

  • Don Christie,

    Quite. So.

    Brave use of "ontological", I might add.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Brave use of "ontological", I might add.

    All uses of "ontological" are either brave or foolish.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

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