The Empty: a Theory

The economic and social expectations (and the wealth that sustains the expectations) of so much Memphis commercial space is too great for a local grassroots entrepeneurial ecosystem to successfully form in that space, given Memphis' present density and available capital.

As a result, buildings remain empty rather than rented or purchased at economically sustainable and viral lower levels.
It's a theory, and subject to proof, if not too badly theorized.

Is it a verbose way of saying we got speculation going on? I think it's more than speculation.

It's that those at the top of the Memphis pyramid are oblivious to the large wealth gaps that separate them not only from the poor but from the middle class. Consequently, they set their expectations to their and their peers' resources, rather than the resources available to Memphis' talent rich, capital poor entrepeneurs.

Race and Economics Forum

The third forum in the New Path/Memphis Urban League 2008 Race Relations & Memphis panel series will be held next Wednesday May 21, 2008 from 6pm-8pm at the Ben Hooks Central Library in Meeting Room C. The topic of the discussion is Race & Economics and will feature panelists Dr. Jerome Blakemore, Dr. Dale Bails, and Roby Williams. Daphene McFerren will moderate.

Thanks, I look forward to seeing you there!

Tarrin McGhee

Program Director, New Path

tarrin@newpathmemphis.org

www.newpathmemphis.org

Try to attend this forum, which was preceded by Race and Politics and Race and Media.

Smashing Memphis

In a scene near the end Martin Scorcese's Raging Bull, Jake LaMotta, the former boxer and middleweight champion has been arrested for abetting statutory rape. For his defense, he needs money.

He goes to his ex-wife's house...

and retrieves his championship belt.

He proceeds to smash the belt to retrieve the jewels that are embedded in it.

He takes the loose jewels to a jeweler. The jeweler wants to know where the belt is. Jake tells him that he removed the jewels from the belt. The jeweler tells him the belt of a champion is much more valuable than the individual jewels.

Jake tells him to give him the money for the jewels anyway. The jeweler offers him a small fraction of what he would have paid for the belt.

The next scene.


I think we still treat natural and built Memphis as LaMotta treats his belt -- as a holding place for raw commodities that can be brutally and unsentimentally smashed to pieces when the need arises.

But our greatest value comes from keeping the many jewels of Memphis intact and adding new jewels to them, in the many, many, many, many places already smashed.

No doubt, there is raw economic value in land stripped of nature, time, history, beauty and meaning, the value of graded dirt in flyover country. But like the Raging Bull and his belt, destroying our legacy decimates our future.

By the way, LaMotta's commentary about the belt smashing, on the Raging Bull DVD:

"what a stupid thing..."

Branding the Public

It's official. The Commercial Appeal's Chris Peck has called the public a "herd".

He tells us what he really thinks in Sunday's editorial that functions as part of the local building industry's marketing campaign.

The public, of course, often operates in a herd mentality, thundering to the worst-case scenario because everyone else is going there.

Herd, hear this. There is a plausible alternative.

Not just operates, but "of course" operates in a herd mentality. Well, at least it explains the many apologies and advertorials that Peck has made for Memphis' rich and powerful.

I think Peck might be the AntiWells.

Love and Technology and the Possibilities of Memphis

We have always loved one another. We're human. It's something we're good at. But up until recently, the radius and half-life of that affection have been quite limited.

With love alone, you can get a birthday party together. Add coordinating tools, you can write an operating system.

In the past we would do little things for love, but big things, big things required money.

Now, we can do big things for love.

Clay Shirky
speaking at the 2007 Supernova Conference

Revenge of the Kitties: 2 Retail Models for Memphis

New findings from Gates Of Memphis Research (GOMR). Inspired by this event and this very interesting comment, posted nearly a year after the commented-on story appeared.