Cornering the Market

Hola Everybody,
In an intro to Metro Studies class, I had a wonderful professor, Robert Fitch. He authored The Assassination of New York, a cutting and searing indictment of the financial and real-estate elites who wrecked New York. Unfortunately, Mr. Fitch passed on several years ago. He was an inspiring and passionate teacher. Anyway… 

Cornering the Market

These ‘new’ whitemen were called scramblers because they would rush on board a Slaveship before it docks and brave the filthy stench...
 -- Richard Ligon, A True and Exact History of the Island of Barbados

I bring up Robert Fitch because he spent at least one-third of that intro course expounding on capitalism and how it was such a great boon to Western civilization. Finally, unable to take it anymore, I raised my hand and asked, “But what would’ve capitalism have looked like without the slave trade?”

The man smiled so wide, I thought his face would crack and he said, “I thought you would never ask… ” and he began what was one of the more insightful take downs of capitalism I had ever heard. After class, he called me over and expressed that he thought no one would ever ask that question.

Why bring this up, you ask? Read on… 

First let me start in this way: not that long ago, I overheard two former colleagues describing a bigoted real estate player as a “cracker.” My colleagues were white, raised in the northeast, progressive-thinking, activists -- two people I hold in high esteem. Anybody that knows me even for a little while knows that I’m not exactly “politically correct.” I transgress at least once a day.

I am also a lover of words and love to explore word and phrase origins. Having lived in the deep South, I was aware of the word’s origin. Well, at least as it was explained to me by a genuine “cracker.” He said that the word cracker came from the sound of the whip used to beat slaves. When I informed my colleagues, they were horrified! They never used the word again. Of course, from that point on, I went out of of my way to say “cracker” in their presence at least once a month.

Language is a powerful thing and many of our everyday words and phrases come from ignoble origins. Take “handicap,” for example. Handicap comes from the phrase “hand in cap” used to describe the physically challenged who were forced to beg for money for their survival. Not a nice.

Which brings me to my point today. Let’s take the common phrase, “cornering the market.” To corner the market is a good thing, right? It means dominating and economically exploiting a market. It’s “winning.” Not bad, right? Well the phrase has its origin from the behavior of “scramblers.” Scramblers would rush on board a slave ship before it even docked. They would wade through the filth and death stench of these slave ships so they could get their pick of the healthiest looking captives. They would separate their picks from the rest and have them placed in a corner of the deck. Hence the origin of the capitalist term “to corner the market.”

My name is Eddie and I’m in recovery from civilization… 

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Cornering the Market

Hola mi Gente,

Well, my beloved Mutts are a good team and baseball’s spring training is about to start! That's a good thing...

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Cornering the Market

These “new” whitemen were called scramblers because they would rush on board a Slaveship before it docks and brave the filthy stench...

-- Richard Ligon, A True and Exact History of the Island of Barbados

Not that long ago, I overheard two of my colleagues describing a bigoted real estate player (who shall remain nameless ::wink::) as a “cracker.” My colleagues were white, raised in the northeast, progressive-thinking, activists -- two people I hold in high esteem. Anybody that knows me even for a little while knows that I’m not exactly “politically correct.” I transgress at least once a day.

I am also a lover of words and love to explore word and phrase origins. Having traveled lived in the South, I was aware of the word’s origin. Well, at least as it was explained to me by a genuine “cracker.” He said that the word cracker came from the sound of the whip used to beat slaves. When I informed my colleagues, they were horrified! They never used the word again. Of course, now I go out of my way to say “cracker” in their presence at least once a month.

Language is a powerful thing and many of our everyday words and phrases come from ignoble origins. Take “handicap,” for example. Handicap comes from the phrase “hand in cap” used to describe the physically challenged who were forced to beg for money. Not exactly a nice phrase.

Better yet, let’s take the common phrase, “cornering the market.” To corner the market is a good thing, right? It means dominating and economically exploiting a market. Not bad, right? Well the phrase has its origin from the behavior of “Scramblers.” Scramblers would rush on board a slave ship before it even docked. They would wade through the filth and death stench of these slave ships so they could get their pick of the healthiest looking captives. They would separate their picks from the rest and have them placed in a corner of the deck. Hence the origin of the capitalist term “to corner the market.” 

It is interesting to note how many of what I call the chattering class (people on social media, for the most part) spend their time reifying, through conscious and unconscious advocacy of neoliberalism, the horrifying and dehumanization of the hidden meaning of cornering the market.

My name is Eddie and I’m in recovery from civilization… 

Cornering the Market

¡Hola! Everybody...
Well, the Arod controversy notwithstanding, baseball’s spring training is about to start! That's a good thing... I would like to point out that all this commotion about athletes cheating isn’t anything new. Athletes have been looking for an edge since time immemorial. In the 50s it was amphetamines, for example. And as for drug abuse, Babe Ruth was very likely a drunk (and womanizer); Mickey Mantle was definitely a drunk, as was Don Newcombe and countless others. Yankee great, Whitey Ford, would doctor the baseball to gain an advantage. If they had played during this era, they would be embroiled in the same nastiness (maybe even worse).

Back in the day, reporters knew that Mickey and the Babe were less than perfect, but there was an unspoken rule back then to keep things under wraps. The point being that we shouldn’t be teaching our children to adopt role models whose only qualifications are athletic ability.

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-=[ Cornering the Market ]=-

“These ‘new’ whitemen were called scramblers because they would rush on board a Slaveship before it docks and brave the filthy stench... ”

-- Richard Ligon, A True and Exact History of the Island of Barbados

Not that long ago, I over heard two of my colleagues describing a bigoted real estate player as a “cracker.” My colleagues were white, raised in the northeast, progressive-thinking, activists -- two people I hold in high esteem. Anybody that knows me even for a little while knows that I’m not exactly “politically correct.” I transgress at least once a day.

I am also a lover of words and love to explore word and phrase origins. Having traveled extensively in the South, I was aware of the word’s origin. Well, at least as it was explained to me by a genuine “cracker.” He said that the word cracker came from the sound of the whip used to beat slaves. When I informed my colleagues, they were horrified! They never used the word again. Of course, now I go out of my way to say “cracker” in their presence at least once a month.

Language is a powerful thing and many of our everyday words and phrases come from ignoble origins. Take “handicap,” for example. Handicap comes from the phrase “hand in cap” used to describe those who begged for money. Not a nice way to describe the physically challenged...

Better yet, let’s take the common phrase, “cornering the market.” To corner the market is a good thing, right? It means dominating and economically exploiting a market. Not bad, right? Well the phrase has its origin from the behavior of “Scramblers.” Scramblers would rush on board a slave ship before it even docked. They would wade through the filth and death stench of these slave ships so they could get their pick of the healthiest looking captives. They would separate their picks from the rest and have them placed in a corner of the deck. Hence the origin of the capitalist term “to corner the market.”

Love,

Eddie