An Ethos

Posted in Manifesto by kentay on March 31, 2009

A while ago i discovered MagnificentBastard.com and was absolutely thrilled to find a bunch of guys blogging out of Pulaski, Wisconsin who had my sense of humour and generally felt the same way about Toolbags.

This is a summary of what they preach:

1. Have a keen awareness of self.

2. Obscurity/ Exclusivity.

3. Understatement. Observe how much cooler Brawn GP cars are. They look like they were squeezed out of a tube of toothpaste. Brilliant. See also: new England kits.

4. Senseless lack of utility. This one is tricky. Sometimes it will conflict with instinct #3.

Why senseless lack of utility? Because its more romantic. Its about living beautifully. Sure, I can wordprocess a tonne of letters but for extra specialness, I will have one typewritten on a Olivetti Valentine. Thats top right hand corner; right up there with none

5. Artful Dishevelment. Also tricky. An MB must not over think what hes doing. see also: Studied Carelessness and Studied Maleficence

6. Everyone is just an unconverted MB. This might contradict principle of obscurity/ exclusivity but we believe that magnificence ought to be democratic. Helping a brother in need is pour l’homme magnifique.

Now we can apply these instincts (rules are for schools) to something like say… Supercars.

I. Supercars are expensive.

II.  Supercars violate principle of Understatement and principle of Democratic Magnificence.

III. Owning a Supercar will satisfy Principle of Exclusivity

IV.Principle of Exclusivity should not be misunderstood. Its not about price; Its about Degree of Difficulty (DD is measured in Celsius). Activities or items with a high DD demonstrate virtuosity and panache.  Knowledge and style > money.

V. Supercars can only be justified if it comes with a superior sense of Artful Dishevelment but only just. You would have to be very badly dressed when stepping out of a Supercar. No luxury goods on your person and definitely no sunglasses. It would help if you haven’t shaved in weeks.  Alternatively, you can demonstrate an utter disdain for your wealth by crashing your Supercar. Such carelessness will no doubt be highly lauded by your peers and would arguably be a more extreme form of Artful Dishevelment.

VI. Everything i just said is up for debate.

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