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Frank Cotolo
October 15, 2009 |
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Recently, if not sooner, I wrote an article for The World Economic Report, a
newspaper that costs too much to buy but has many readers (go figure). The ink
had hardly dried before a critic replied.
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The article is called The Price of Tea in China. The critic slammed me
and wrote: "What's any of what you wrote have to do with the price of tea in
China?"
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Indeed, I write in my own defense, the price of tea in China has everything to
do with the cost of the plant in that country. The critic, whose name will
remain a mystery to anyone who has not read his byline, obviously misinterpreted
the socio-economic ramifications of the generic phrase about tea in China and
the literal definition of the phrase.
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If I were to write an article about the politics of Brazil and the content was
solely about samba music, anyone would have the right to say: "What's any of
what you wrote have to do with the price of tea in China?" But my article is
about one thing and one thing only: the price of tea in China.
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But in any event, in all events and especially in this event, readers must
realize that the critic is wrong even in a metaphoric sense. The subject of tea
prices in China is always a universal question that represents a badly
represented case.
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For instance, what did Sacco and Vanzetti have to do with the price of tea in
China? Judge Thayer said in summation at the trial, "Murder in the first degree
is the gravest offense known to the law. This is so because of the statutory
penalty of death." One may ask, "What's that have to do with the price of tea in
China?" The answer is not simple because, for one thing, neither tea nor China
were elements in the case of Sacco and Vanzetti.
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However, a discussion of anarchy in the matter of Italian immigrants at the time
of the case could very well support the fact that what tea cost in China had
much to do with the unfortunate murder that convicted the pair, even though
neither Sacco or Vanzetti may have enjoyed drinking tea, no less tea from China,
no less having no connection to those who bought the tea which may not have even
been purchased in China.
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Also, we must remember that the phrase changes from culture to culture, never
once affecting the purpose of my article. In fact, the changes strengthen
whatever argument I propose in my analysis of economic issues.
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