A dirty secret: you can only be a writer if you can afford it

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/27/a-dirty-secret-you-can-only-be-a-writer-if-you-can-afford-it

by jelliclesfarm • 6 years ago

13 7 6 years ago

cafard• 6 years ago

Back when Norman Podhoretz came out with a memoir called I think Making It which mentioned a "dirty little secret" (I'm no longer sure which: maybe that money got more respect than intellect), somebody, probably Esquire, said "it may not be dirty, but it sure is little."

Is it a dirty secret that you can only be a yachtsman/fox hunter/back country skier if you can afford it? Yes, I regard writing as in general a better activity than those. But I don't have an answer.

jelliclesfarm• 6 years ago

Work and remuneration is different from a living wage.

The way we consider ‘work’ has changed. Working for remuneration is necessary to exist. This wasn’t so a hundred years ago...’work’ is the new normal. Is that necessarily a good thing?

Would the next shift change it again?

Kalium• 6 years ago

The way we consider ‘work’ has changed. Working for remuneration is necessary to exist. This wasn’t so a hundred years ago...’work’ is the new normal. Is that necessarily a good thing?

In the history I am familiar with, in many places working for remuneration was typical, common, and even expected a century ago. In most cases a person either worked for remuneration to provide for themselves or another provided for them.

Is there some way in which my understanding could stand to be improved?

nix232• 6 years ago

Joanne Kathleen Rowling says, that title is click-bait ;)

WesternStar• 6 years ago

J.K. could afford it because the U.K. subsidized her life with welfare. There should be more of that.

nix232• 6 years ago

Dirty secret...theguardian.com is located in the U.K And subsidized is a harsh word for something that should be normal.

A dirty secret: you can only be a writer if you can afford it

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