Yes indeed, although not as funny as the Lord Acton quote about rowing.

So you’ve been reading a bit of the old Lateral Economics I see. The example of the keyless car is telling is it not?

Although I’ve often found Americans to be much entertained by good old Australian sardonic self-deprecation.

Whenever I’ve been asked in the States “And what do you do?” I’d usually reply;
“Oh the usual. Sleep in late, drink and smoke too much, eat fatty foods, gamble, fornicate and take the Lord’s name in vain.”

Which reminds me. I’ve always wanted to take out a personal in the NYRB that read:
“Multimillionaire SWM with the looks of a greek god, wise, witty, well-travelled and well-read, sensitive yet down to earth not seeking anyone. Just wanted to gloat.”

Oh and speaking of seminrs and such talkfests, how come you weren’t at the BRW Innovation Summit yesterday Nick? We could have had a good chat about keyless cars and Lord Acton.

It was the usual motherhood stuff about firm handshakes, smiles, polished shoes and expensive suits. And it got me thinking how the great British-derived Australian tradition of self-deprecation and laconic humour is gradually being drained out of us by American sales culture.

This just doesn’t apply to business. You see it in the social world as well. Everyone’s frantically out there ‘selling’ themselves- and all in the same way. In business, the cheesy “can-do” rhetoric is now positively gag-inducing. In society, everyone man, woman and their dogs are selling themselves as “fun-loving risk-takers with a wicked sense of humour”.

To me, it’s yet another symbol of how our entire lives are being taken over by market economics. Time to reclaim the commons. That’s probably why that ad in the London Review of Books resonated as it did.