Also when I lived in Breckenridge you desceihwd your work to me a little bit, but you didn't tell me it was actually interesting! This piece was great!
Lots of food for thought here. Like you, I read pretty much every article in that issue of The Point and was very impressed by many of them, and I’ve also been interested in how the left and liberalism in general can articulate a positive vision of the good life.
Thinking about cities and how to quantify quality of life, I think the World Cup provides a good recent example. I personally loved having the tournament in Toronto and think it had a positive impact on the city and the country, but I also have seen articles saying the city lost money by hosting games, and I read one article from a certain publication heavily criticizing Toronto (imo, tough to take its argument seriously because the writer clearly hated soccer, got factual details about games wrong, and had their mind made up in advance about the event to align with the politics of the magazine…)
From my experience, I went to two free events hosted in Hamilton where they broadcast the game at Tim Hortons field on the big screen, and it was quite a joyous atmosphere seeing everyone support Canada, kids playing on the pitch, etc. You can’t really quantify that, I would say. Seeing the videos of fans marching through the streets, the fan fests, and other events was special too. All of this was basically free for people to enjoy. I was also lucky enough to attend a match (Senegal v Iraq), which obviously was not free, but the experience at the stadium was amazing, both sets of fans simply happy to be there and a party atmosphere all around. I’ve also read that changes to public transit made for the tournament were very successful in managing traffic, and it’s possible these might continue in the future.
thanks Derek! I also had a great time during World Cup and thought Toronto did a terrific job overall. Didn't make it to any games, but part of my regular routine was to bike down to the Distillery District, where they had free wifi and big public screens with inflatable couches. I'd work there a few hours, take in a game, have a drink. Terrific all around.
There actually is a pretty big scholarly literature on how to evaluate these kinds of events, and like any literature, not all of it is of the highest quality. But overall though I do think one cannot just say "it was fun therefore it was worth it." I personally would be biased toward saying it was worth it, since I had a great time and I saw a lot of joy and fellowship produced by it. But for that very reason I'd want a rigorous analysis of tradeoffs to check my biases against.
Somebody does have to pay for it, and if you are in the role of a civil servant who is a steward of public funds, you've got to do some cost-benefit analyses and consider tradeoffs, as well as questions about who should pay for what and how much. This doesn't require any crude reductionism of all to profit-seeking.
The Heath book I mention in the post is actually a terrific exposition of the analytical underpinnings of that kind of exercise, written in a philosophical register. I'd highly recommend it. In the meantime, now I have to figure out what to do with my days now that the World Cup is over!
Thanks Dan, I will take a look at the Heath book (I've enjoyed his writing here on Substack, which I think I found through you). And yes, I'm also staving off the post World Cup blues, although I now have more time for reading, which is a good thing.
This is a lovely essay, and I strongly commend the desire to bring the big questions down to earth.
I am boring technocratic liberal, but of the utilitarian variety. I wanted to note that, although you present the Odyssean option in a way that highlights the value of autonomy, self-shaping, and a spirit of adventure, dreary utilitarians (like myself) can fully agree on the institutional vision without thinking freedom per se is of any intrinsic value. This because there is significant variation among people and some happen to be born into scenes that don’t really work for them. So, while I’m not a person who values adventure for its own sake, I am gay, and it was pretty important for me to be able to transition scenes as a youngster! Not for the joy of the journey, but for the suitability of the destination.
Anyway, a friendly note from a fellow traveler that I think your vision is, if anything, even more broadly appealing than you let on!
That’s a great point, thank you. Yes, exactly. In an environment with a range of available scenes, it should be able to accommodate those who want the grounding of one in particular, even if they weren’t lucky enough to be born into that one.
Hey, I didn't know you knew Mr. Thakkar!
Also when I lived in Breckenridge you desceihwd your work to me a little bit, but you didn't tell me it was actually interesting! This piece was great!
Thanks Orion, great to hear from you after all these years! Those were good times back in Breck...
Lots of food for thought here. Like you, I read pretty much every article in that issue of The Point and was very impressed by many of them, and I’ve also been interested in how the left and liberalism in general can articulate a positive vision of the good life.
Thinking about cities and how to quantify quality of life, I think the World Cup provides a good recent example. I personally loved having the tournament in Toronto and think it had a positive impact on the city and the country, but I also have seen articles saying the city lost money by hosting games, and I read one article from a certain publication heavily criticizing Toronto (imo, tough to take its argument seriously because the writer clearly hated soccer, got factual details about games wrong, and had their mind made up in advance about the event to align with the politics of the magazine…)
From my experience, I went to two free events hosted in Hamilton where they broadcast the game at Tim Hortons field on the big screen, and it was quite a joyous atmosphere seeing everyone support Canada, kids playing on the pitch, etc. You can’t really quantify that, I would say. Seeing the videos of fans marching through the streets, the fan fests, and other events was special too. All of this was basically free for people to enjoy. I was also lucky enough to attend a match (Senegal v Iraq), which obviously was not free, but the experience at the stadium was amazing, both sets of fans simply happy to be there and a party atmosphere all around. I’ve also read that changes to public transit made for the tournament were very successful in managing traffic, and it’s possible these might continue in the future.
thanks Derek! I also had a great time during World Cup and thought Toronto did a terrific job overall. Didn't make it to any games, but part of my regular routine was to bike down to the Distillery District, where they had free wifi and big public screens with inflatable couches. I'd work there a few hours, take in a game, have a drink. Terrific all around.
There actually is a pretty big scholarly literature on how to evaluate these kinds of events, and like any literature, not all of it is of the highest quality. But overall though I do think one cannot just say "it was fun therefore it was worth it." I personally would be biased toward saying it was worth it, since I had a great time and I saw a lot of joy and fellowship produced by it. But for that very reason I'd want a rigorous analysis of tradeoffs to check my biases against.
Somebody does have to pay for it, and if you are in the role of a civil servant who is a steward of public funds, you've got to do some cost-benefit analyses and consider tradeoffs, as well as questions about who should pay for what and how much. This doesn't require any crude reductionism of all to profit-seeking.
The Heath book I mention in the post is actually a terrific exposition of the analytical underpinnings of that kind of exercise, written in a philosophical register. I'd highly recommend it. In the meantime, now I have to figure out what to do with my days now that the World Cup is over!
Thanks Dan, I will take a look at the Heath book (I've enjoyed his writing here on Substack, which I think I found through you). And yes, I'm also staving off the post World Cup blues, although I now have more time for reading, which is a good thing.
This is a lovely essay, and I strongly commend the desire to bring the big questions down to earth.
I am boring technocratic liberal, but of the utilitarian variety. I wanted to note that, although you present the Odyssean option in a way that highlights the value of autonomy, self-shaping, and a spirit of adventure, dreary utilitarians (like myself) can fully agree on the institutional vision without thinking freedom per se is of any intrinsic value. This because there is significant variation among people and some happen to be born into scenes that don’t really work for them. So, while I’m not a person who values adventure for its own sake, I am gay, and it was pretty important for me to be able to transition scenes as a youngster! Not for the joy of the journey, but for the suitability of the destination.
Anyway, a friendly note from a fellow traveler that I think your vision is, if anything, even more broadly appealing than you let on!
That’s a great point, thank you. Yes, exactly. In an environment with a range of available scenes, it should be able to accommodate those who want the grounding of one in particular, even if they weren’t lucky enough to be born into that one.
This is the best review of the Nolan movie yet!
“Like a Rolling Stone “. GREAT ARTICLE !