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Fitzgerald's Gatsby is still great at 100
I reread F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 classic, The Great Gatsby, for the first time in my early 30s. I had moved to Delhi around that time, rented the tiniest bedsit I could find in the upmarket southern part of the city, my very own version of the seamier West Egg side of Long Island Sound in the novel, and, like Nick Carraway, the Yale-educated but 'no-money" narrator of Gatsby (to borrow a phrase from critic Tony Tanner), began getting acquainted with the new- and old-money denizens of the posher East Egg side of the society I had thrown myself into. I had a sense of turning a corner in my life, like Nick, who turns 30 in the course of the novel, and his epiphanic line about that momentous event struck a cord with me: 'Thirty—the promise of a decade of loneliness, a thinning list of single men to know, a thinning brief-case of enthusiasm, thinning air." Recently re-reading the novel after an interval of nearly 15 years, I was amused by my youthful indulgences, which, in a sense, captures the essence of what Gatsby is all about. When it came out exactly 100 years ago, it portrayed a generation of men and women and their excesses, not just material but also psychological, during the so-called The Roaring Twenties. The 1920s were a time of boundless hedonism. A flamboyant sense of optimism coursed through the air during those inter-war years, which would presage The Great Depression of the 1930s, followed by World War II. A century later, the capitalist effluence that Fitzgerald described in his novel is even more pronounced—watch the limited series, Sirens, on Netflix, in case you need a reminder, or just follow the exploits of Elon Musk and Co. The Great American Dream, once a rallying cry of egalitarian aspiration in the proverbial land of the free, is now the privilege of only the select few—indeed, the elected few, by the people. Also read: Two films show our present is the future we once feared Instead of the glamour and cultural cache of the jazz age, we have the xenophobic, exclusionary politics of Donald Trump's MAGA. In that sense, Fitzgerald's novel holds up a perverse mirror to 21st century America—the glass has cracked and the reflections in it have become distorted and monstrous. While it's tempting to read The Great Gatsby as a social commentary, at its heart it is a bloody good story before everything else. Part of its mystique is the central character himself. As late as 1924, Fitzgerald wrote to his editor Maxwell Perkins, 'I have now decided to stick to the title I put on the book. Trimalchio in West Egg." Both Perkins and Fitzgerald's wife Zelda dissuaded him from the idea, but the allusion is revealing. Trimalchio refers to a social upstart in Satyricon, a classical play by Roman writer Petronius, who is a master of revels. He is a glutton with an outsized appetite for both sex and food and, like Jay Gatsby, is in the habit of hosting lavish banquets. Curiously, by the time the novel was ready for publication, not only had the title changed, but the eponymous hero resembled nothing of the Roman character. Gatsby, as Nick tells us, doesn't drink, though alcohol flows wildly at his parties. This generosity during the Prohibition Era not only attracts uninvited guests to his raucous evenings, but also raises more than a few eyebrows. And while Gatsby has ample opportunities to indulge in sexual dalliances, he remains unmoved by the women who throw themselves at him. He has eyes for one person only, and that is Daisy, Nick's distant cousin, who is married to the boorish Tom Buchanan, scion of a wealthy family. Gatsby's life, especially his dodgy career, has been geared toward building wealth and a reputation befitting of Daisy's exalted antecedents. He erases his origins, his given name, and all the myriad struggles he had to endure in order to retrieve his beloved from the clutches of her brutish husband. Unlike Trimalchio, he does not want to lose himself in the affluence he has amassed for the sake of it. Rather, everything he has achieved—the exquisite decor of his palatial home, his sprawling property with a swimming pool, the most beautiful clothes money can buy—are to impress Daisy as her potential suitor. Apart from the enigma that is Gatsby, the other character of interest in the novel is Nick himself. Critics have pointed out that Nick isn't Fitzgerald, though the two men have shades of each other, as does Gatsby and his author. Like Gatsby's obsession with Daisy, Fitzgerald harboured a lifelong attraction to socialite Ginevra King. Although King reciprocated his love, her family was against the match with a young Midwesterner of no comparable pedigree except for an Ivy League education. Like Nick, who went to Yale, Fitzgerald attended Princeton, and like Gatsby, he served in the war. King's friend, Edith Cummings, an amateur golfer, became the inspiration for Jordan Baker, who has a short-lived flirtation with Nick. Although Nick is a stand-in for the omniscient narrator, he is not someone who can be fully trusted. 'I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known," he tells the reader, a statement that immediately puts the latter on the alert. He also reflects Fitzgerald's ambivalent feelings about the Jazz Age, in that he is bedazzled by the splendour of Gatsby's soirees but does not necessarily identify with his set. Instead, he keeps a delicate balance between distance and proximity, which gives him the advantage of having an interested outsider's perspective on everything that comes to pass in the novel. There have been several movie adaptations of The Great Gatsby, most notably by Baz Luhrmann in 2013, with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role. Unfortunately, the screen version puts an undue focus on the pomp and splendour of Gatsby's parties, at the expense of going deeper into the hollowness of the human condition that the novel truly trains its eye on. But, as with every great work of literature, the reader comes away with a new sense of significance with each reading. Revisiting it this time after a decade and a half, I saw less of the glitter but more of the gloom at the heart of the story. Also read: 'Mountainhead' review: Plutocrats in party mode
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Aussie dollar at risk of collapse amid China-US trade war as Trump wields dangerous $732 billion power
Donald Trump has launched a tariff broadside against the world, China in particular. The ripple effects we've seen over the last 24 hours, with Aussie dollar plunging and billions wiped from the stock market. China has responded with tariffs of its own, which have led President Trump to threaten still more tariffs. It's a tit-for-tat that could, in the worst case, collapse the Australian dollar, perhaps to as low as 40 cents. Commodities, interest rates and house prices could all be impacted by the trade war Australia has been swept up in. So, what are the outcomes for Australians, and how likely are they to come to fruition? In the seminal history of markets and The Great Depression, Manias, Panics, and Crashes, Charles Kindleberger offered the following chart to illustrate what happens when tariff tit-for-tat episodes break out. Trade volumes spiral towards zero. How would this affect Australia were it to repeat today? Quite differently, because it is a trade war between superpowers rather than everybody. The US-China trade relationship is asymmetric. On the China side, it is nearly all raw material imports and a not very large $238 billion. On the US side, it is a much larger and more dangerous $732 billion in goods. Which, I guess, is what this is all about. Therefore, were a tariff escalation battle to play out, the obvious conclusion is that the supply side of the Chinese economy would slump into a huge glut and deflation, while the demand side of the US economy would be crushed by inflation. The former could be mitigated by stimulus and a weakening currency, and the latter by recession. What it would do to the rest of us would be pretty bad as well. Australia is unlikely to respond with tariffs of its own, so this means that we would be on the receiving end of two shocks. The first would be a tsunami of cheap Chinese goods seeking new markets. Given Trump's tariffs also apply (if less so) to other export-oriented economies in Asia and Europe, the battle to attract market share outside of America would be so powerful that it would easily overwhelm a falling Australian dollar. Second, there would be some call to replace US goods in China, especially agribusiness, so our farmers might benefit from higher volumes, though at much lower prices, given the world would also be in recession. Third, the recession emanating from the US (and China) would be a second-round deflationary shock as commodity and asset prices collapse, as they have been doing over the past week. This would severely crimp national income and hit the budget hard. The worst-case scenario would collapse the Australian dollar, perhaps to as low as 40 cents. This would not prevent the RBA from slashing interest rates. The only scenario in which the RBA may be cornered is if Asian gas prices were caught up in an upward price shock as the AUD fell, just as Australia begins LNG imports to backfill its reeling energy transition. This does not seem likely mid-global recession. So, Aussie interest rates would collapse. Canberra would probably do what it usually does when trouble strikes and open the borders to more immigration. House prices would be well supported by both. We would also run enormous deficits in the short term to cushion the blow for households. President Trump refers to himself as "tariff man" but the truth of it is closer to "tariff bluff man". Most of the tariffs he has used so far have never seen the light of day. Trump is making enemies at an astonishing speed. Even in his political party, which is pulling new legislation to inhibit presidential powers over tariffs. Making an enemy of Wall Street and American billionaires tends not to end well, either. We have to wonder what plans are afoot in the private sector to end the reign of tariffs. Where is the so-called Trump "put"? The measure at which falling markets make him so unpopular that Trump simply backs down himself? It is almost certainly higher than the Fed "put" with the central bank sidelined by the looming inflation shock. The Trump approval rating is still higher than most of the Biden term and well above his lows below 40. That said, who knows what turns the narcissist who hogs headlines, humiliates rivals and makes himself the centre of the known universe? David Llewellyn Smith is the editor-in-chief and publisher of MacroBusiness. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Family-owned CT hardware store for sale after 100 years. ‘It's home,' longtime customers say
Schmidt's & Serafine's Inc. True Value has roots in Waterbury going back 100 years. Now, the long-time family business is up for sale. Company president and co-owner Jeff Schmidt, 71, has worked at the hardware store for more than 50 years and has been part of the ownership for two decades. He is one of five co-owners who have decided to put the business up for sale. 'The decision is tough because it's a family business and we have no next generation that wants to be involved for various reasons,' Schmidt said. 'It's very tough. It's been 100 years for us and we've been at this location since 1958. The history is huge, and it's been a hard decision.' Jeff Schmidt's great-grandfather, Charles H. Schmidt, opened up a hardware store in 1925 at 825 North Main St. in Waterbury with his sons Ellsworth Schmidt and Charles Schmidt Jr., Jeff's father. The business was open for about 10 years before closing during The Great Depression. Charles Schmidt Jr. reopened a hardware store in Old North Square in Waterbury and, in the 1950s, opened a second location in the Waterville section of the city. At that time, the Serafine family operated a hardware store in Waterbury. The three stores combined at the current 464 Chase Ave. location and called it Schmidt's & Serafine's. 'We grew up in the neighborhood in Waterbury, in the Bucks Hill neighborhood, where there were seven houses in a row and were all related. Most of us worked at the store,' said Jeff Schmidt, who started working at the store in the early 1970s. 'My grandfather would take the van, and everyone would come down in one vehicle and when we closed, we would all go home in the van together. We worked from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. then. It was always a tight family thing.' Jeff Schmidt took over the business after his father Charles died nine years ago. There is still a family feel to the business. He works with his cousin, Lee Schmidt, who works in the power equipment and repair department. Jeff's sister Beverly still works part-time at the store. 'I'm 71 and I would like to spend a little time off playing golf once a week instead of three times a year,' said Jeff Schmidt, who lives in Plymouth. 'The retail business is difficult, and you need youth to drive it. … Someone could make a good living here with a little youth.' Jeff Schmidt has two sons. Ian is a physician's assistant in New Jersey and Jeffrey is the owner of Waterbury restaurant Hindsight BBQ on Thomaston Avenue in Waterbury. One of Lee's children is a teacher in Waterbury and the other works for Eversource. Jeff Schmidt said the 7,920-square-foot property is for sale and the goal is for it to remain a hardware store, thinking about his 24 employees, 16 of which are full-time. 'There's a lot of family tradition and most of the employees will tell you they become part of the family and that's why I'm trying to watch out for them too,' Jeff Schmidt said. Lee Schmidt admitted that being in a family business can be challenging at times. 'There are so many different opinions and views, but it worked out with my father and my brother, Beverly and my uncle Charlie. As kids, we worked at the business and that kind of thing is gone now. We don't have the next generation that wants to do that. It's not for everybody. It was a whole different mentality back in the day,' Lee Schmidt said. Jeff Schmidt said the business has also been hurt by the raise in minimum wage. He used to hire four or five high school students but only has one. 'We are a typical hardware store with a lawn and garden section with power equipment,' Schmidt said. 'We tend to know our customers by name, and many of them have been with us a long time.' Lee Schmidt said it's just time to sell. 'I'm just getting tired, and we've been doing this for so many years,' Lee Schmidt said. 'The family environment is what has set us apart. 'We try to treat everyone the way we would like to be treated. We try to do that the best we can even when we can't please everyone.' According to Schmidt said Schmidt's & Serafine's is the last remaining family-owned hardware store in the city. Schmidt said the industry has changed a lot over the years with large box stores, tractor supplies and the biggest of them all, Amazon, for online shopping. 'It's the personal touch that keeps me coming back all of these years,' said Thomas Desantis, a lifelong customer of the hardware store. Desantis, 75, started visiting the store with his parents in the 1950s. He lives down the street and has purchased power equipment, tractors, chainsaws, leaf blowers among other items throughout the years. 'It's a niche. It's home,' Desantis said. 'Every year when I come down to buy a Christmas tree, you are welcome. It's kind of like going to your favorite restaurant and everybody knows you. That's how it is here. … They load up my car for me. That's the difference between a place like this and Home Depot and Lowe's.' Joe Stofko, of Waterbury, has been shopping at the store since 1968. 'The people here keep me coming back. They have always been really well stocked in just about everything,' Stofko said. 'I have bought everything here from screws to barbecues. … It's convenient, prices are competitive with anyone else and they've always treated me right here.' Dwayne Preston of Waterbury, a 27-year employee at Schmidt's & Serafine's, said customer service is what keeps customers coming back. 'When they come in, we take care of them. That's why we have a lot of faithful old-timers that are still coming in,' Preston said. John Giudice, also of Waterbury, is a 40-year employee who proudly remembers his first day when he started at the job on July 9, 1984. 'It's personal. When a customer walks in you actually wait on them,' Giudice said. 'You don't go down five aisles and not talk to them. We practically take them down the aisle and right to the product. 'The job is convenient because I'm only five minutes from home,' he added. 'I've learned a lot being here. Anything you want to know about fertilizer I can tell you everything you need to know. If you have any questions about plants, I can help. I'm pretty knowledgeable and if you stick with something you learn it. That's why I'm still here.' Schmidt's & Serafine's Inc. True Value is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday.
