Dana Blankenhorn

What Tebowism Really Tells Us

Think of this as Volume 16, Number 2 of A-Clue.com, the online newsletter I've written since 1997. Enjoy.

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It's one of the ironies of our political cycles that a decisive turn is often followed by the other side's capture of the culture.

Think about it.

1. The South and the “Lost Cause” were culturally ascendant after the Civil War, even as the grave closed over the Confederacy.

2. Populist-fueled racism became a popular cultural expression after progressives captured the flag in the 1890s. See “The Birth of a Nation” for a fine example from that era.

3. The 1930s and 1940s saw a very conservative culture, which you can see in the movies of that era. I might point specifically to the Andy Hardy-Judy Garland movies for its truest expression.

4. The 1960s were all about the rise of Leftist culture. Funny how the sideburns suddenly start growing across the establishment after Nixon won in 1972.

Today I see another turn happening all around me. My kids are a lot more like those of the 1930s than they're like me. Even the “Occupy Wall Street” movement was well-behaved. It was the police over-reaction to peaceful protest that said otherwise. And did you notice the lack of reaction to that over-reaction? In a cultural sense, we're very respectful of authority these days.

So the best sign of the left's rising to a semi-permanent state of power in America is probably the rise of Tim Tebow.

Tebow is the ultimate expression of muscular Christianity. He is a man who lives his values, and they're values that even Rick Santorum would approve of. He defies our expectations in a throwback sort of way, a run-first quarterback throwing himself into the line. Sort of like a Republican Muhammad Ali, and I'm very afraid he may wind up the same way, a victim of repeated head trauma, old before his time.

I'm seeing similar expressions across the culture. What are the biggest movie hits of the last few years? Why, it's the “Twilight” franchise, in which a young girl swoons before a strong, masculine presence. Our most popular musicians, like Jay Z and Bruno Mars, are self-consciously consumer products, careerist, careful in how they live, careful with their money.

What I find most fascinating about the Tea Party is not how reactionary it's been, but how ineffective. The Congress and governors elected by that movement in 2010 are now almost universally mocked, much as hippies were derided 40 years ago. We don't need Spiro Agnew, they write their own lines. Here's one – will someone get this guy a joint and a paisley flag, please?

It makes sense. Culture tends to act best in opposition. If we don't have anything to be angry about, we really do stagnate.

When Will Small Investors Know They Are Wanted?

Ever since the dot-coms, and then the Towers, came down, over a decade ago, corporations have given small investors the back of their hand.

(As always when I use The Monopoly Man as an illustration, I point you to the fine game produced by Hasbro.)

Hedge funds have arisen that squeeze out small profits on fast action, play with leverage, and take control of trends like social networking. Small players are not invited. This is how the 1% of the 1%, and the 1% of that group, kept their lead growing over the rest.

The result is that the best returns aren't available to you or me. Popular stocks cost hundreds of dollars (in the case of Berkshire Hathaway BRK.A many thousands of dollars) per share. Entire booms (like social networking) start to bust before small investors can even get a taste. Instead we get the investment equivalent of mush, ETFs and mutual funds with limited risk but very limited return.

I think this is about to change.

One reason is the social networking crash, which has mostly happened out of sight and burned some very big checking accounts. With smart money getting suspicious, investment bankers are going to look for investment where they can get it.

Another reason is political. The atmospherics of giving all the best opportunities to a handful of people are bad. Spreading things out, even out toward the 5% of Americans with “mad money” to invest, is almost populist.

A third reason is technological. The Internet makes it very, very easy for small investors to move money around. Lots of people with small accounts still means a lot of money. Sites like Seeking Alpha give small investors the courage to play.

A Tebow or Two

Just a few words about the  Tim Tebow phenomenon. With no politics.

Tebow has managed to reverse the way we talk about the quarterback position, and about athletes and race. Funny how no one noticed.

As recently as 10 years ago, when Michael Vick and Donovan McNabb were kids, black quarterbacks were described as "athletic" and white ones as "heady." It was a racist presumption, based on the fact that both Vick and Donovan were fast, agile runners while top white quarterbacks like Tom Brady and Brett Favre would drop back, survey the defense, and sling it.

This racism pervaded the whole sport. It was assumed that blacks were best in the "athletic" positions, whites in the positions requiring smarts. And this, in turn, was used as an excuse to maintain racism in the coaching ranks -- it still pervades college coaching. There were very few white linebackers, and even fewer white running backs.

Tebow puts the lie to all this. He's athletic as can be, and in football terms he's as dumb as a post. He doesn't look at three or four choices, as Tom Brady does. He looks at one, or pretends to look at one while actually planning on going the other way. He also runs a lot. He's athletic and he's quick.

Meanwhile, McNabb and Vick have grown up to be fairly heady people, in a football sense. McNabb became a thrower later in his career, and Vick's always had the gun. Whatever you think of them as men (and many Atlantans and pet lovers will never see Vick as anything but a thug) the fact is they're seen as quarterbacks. This has opened the way to a host of mediocre black quarterbacks -- Tavaris Jackson, David Gerrard being just two names that come to mind.

Point is that Tebow is an athlete. He's not a quarterback. He's white, not black. Black guys can be heady and white guys can be athletes. An accomplishment of a curious sort.

Oh, and go Wednesday. Now we return you to your regularly-scheduled tech blog.

England's Austerity Fairy

While my ancestors came here from Germany, Ireland, Poland and Scotland, I have always had a soft spot for England. (It's the language.) I have English friends, I watch English sports, and I even speak English at home.

For England, the war in Iraq has been more like the Vietnam era was for us. It politically discredited the left, which was blamed for getting England in, and brought forth a Nixon-like figure to leadership in the form of David Cameron.

Cameron, like conservatives everywhere these days, whether on Wall Street or Main Street, believes in the magic Austerity Fairy. He's what I call a Mellon-ista. Liquidate everyone (except the bankers) and growth will return by magic.

There is no Austerity Fairy. Market failures like the one just passed make money disappear. What was lost by the longs is not fully gained by the shorts. There is less money around. Less value in homes, less value in stocks. Waiting for the Austerity Fairy while the clock ticks on loans is a recipe for poverty, not prosperity.