Covid Archives - Chris Carosa

How Far Do Private Property Rights Go?

By Chris Carosa on June 6, 2023

Many see Thomas Jefferson’s iconic “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” as having derived directly from Aristotle’s “Life, Liberty, and Eudaimonia.” For those of you not familiar with Greek, eudaimonia literally translates to the state or condition of “good spirit.” It represents the combination of the eu (meaning good) with daimon (meaning spirit).

Aristotle used the term in his Nicomachean Ethics, his tome devoted to the “science of happiness.” As a result, we commonly equate eudaimonia with happiness. Aristotle was all about living the good life, and by “good life” Aristotle alludes to a morality of higher Continue Reading “How Far Do Private Property Rights Go?”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Alan S. Waterman, Andrew Cuomo, Aristotle, asylum, Covid, Crossroads Hotel, Declaration of Independence, Eric Adams, Eudaimonia, Founding Fathers, home rule, Hudson Valley, illegal alien, John Locke, Kathy Hochul, liberty, life, New York City, Newburgh, Nichomachean Ethics, Orange County, property, pursuit of happiness, Ramada by Wyndham, refugee, rights, Sanctuary City, State of Emergency, Thomas Jefferson, Veronika Huta

On The Oscars, Bank Runs, And Picking Winning Stocks

By Chris Carosa on March 21, 2023

I’m not really a fan of awards shows. I’ve got a lot of other things to do besides watch celebrities celebrate each other. Oh, and don’t get me going on the value signaling.

But I do watch movies. Mostly old ones. Although for the first time in a long time, I actually saw one of the movies nominated for best picture. Only one of them. And I’m probably not alone in that category.

Top Gun: Maverick did something Hollywood really needed. It made people want to go to the theater again. You can count me among them. Granted, that was the only movie that compelled me since the last James Bond fiasco (see “Abandon Bond All Ye Who Enter,” Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, November 4, 2021).

In return for this gift, the powers that be nominated Top Gun: Maverick for “Best Picture.” It would never win, of course, but they truly believe it’s an honor merely to be nominated. But to make them feel less guilt, they’d have to nominate the film for a few other Continue Reading “On The Oscars, Bank Runs, And Picking Winning Stocks”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, bank run, Best Picture, Best Sound, Charles MacKay, Covid, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, FOMO, James Bond, Maverick, Oscars, Rochester Armory, Signature Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, stocks, SVB, Top Gun

Are We Losing Our Independence?

By Chris Carosa on June 28, 2022

A very good and kind friend of mine from New York City once came to visit. As we were sitting casually in the sun overlooking my front yard, he turns to me and says, “Chris, that open space is a terrible waste of good space. You should pave it for more parking, maybe put up a shed or two. You’ll get more use out of it.”

I tried to explain the fine nuance of local zoning laws, the joys of smelling freshly cut grass, and the pleasant soft coolness an expansive lawn offers, especially on hot summer days.

He would have none of these arguments. He saw only the sterile utility of the land, not the Continue Reading “Are We Losing Our Independence?”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged 1607, 1620, 2020/21 budget, 94-c, America, Andrew Cuomo, Article 10, Caledonia, Colony of Virginia, community, Constitution, Covid, Declaration of Independence, Emergency Executive Powers, Founding Fathers, freedom, Gordon Stanton, government, home rule, independence, Jamestown, New York State, New York State Constitution, ORES, Pilgrims, Rush, Shining City on a hill, Thanksgiving

Is Cattaraugus County Leading The Way To Greater Western New York Independence?

By Chris Carosa on September 21, 2021

Just because you may not have seen this in the news doesn’t mean it isn’t news. In fact, it could be big news.

Actually, it could be very big news, and it occurred just a month ago in the halls of the Cattaraugus County legislative chamber. What’s more amazing, and not really being reported, was how fast it all happened and the fact the origin didn’t start with an elected official, but with a group of concerned everyday citizens like you.

Cattaraugus County is located along the Southern Tier of the Greater Western New York region. It’s mostly rural with the largest city being Olean (the other “big” city is Salamanca, the birthplace of NFL legend Marv Hubbard, who played fullback for the Oakland Raiders). Cattaraugus County is also the home of St. Bonaventure University.

Known for its promotional nickname “Enchanted Mountains,” traveling through its picturesque hills full of never-ending green trees gives you a sense of what our region looked like to the pioneers who first settled Western New York shortly after the Revolutionary War. Seeing this unadorned beauty throughout our region, you can’t help but think Continue Reading “Is Cattaraugus County Leading The Way To Greater Western New York Independence?”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged BRenda Hanson, Cattaraugus County, church, Constitutional County, Covid, David Koch, Ginger Schroder, Marv Hubbard, Oakland Raiders, rugged individual, Salamanca, second amendment, Southern Tier, St. Bonaventure, Western New York

How Has Your Workday Changed?

By Chris Carosa on March 16, 2021

It’s been a year. For twelve months we’ve been (or at least many of us have been) working from home. Even those fortunate enough (or unfortunate enough, depending on your perspective) to have returned to the office have discovered there’s no going back to what once was.

If you can take a moment (do you even have a moment anymore) to sit back and consider the evolution of work, it may strike you we’ve come full circle.

Skipping caveman times, let’s accelerate right up to what is known as the “Agricultural Economy.” You remember learning about that in school, don’t you? It existed pretty much Continue Reading “How Has Your Workday Changed?”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Agricultural Economy, Content Economy, Covid, Covid Economy, Industrial Economy, Judeo-Christian, Middle Ages, Office Economy, remote work, Thomas Edison, virtual convention, virtual meeting, work from home, Zoom, Zoom fatigue

So Long, Hal. We Hardly Knew Ye…

By Chris Carosa on February 2, 2021

The signs were ominous.

As I pulled into the familiar parking spot, I couldn’t help but notice the unbroken blanket of fresh fallen snow. No one had parked here. In fact, save for a long pair of footprints making a path in the snow to the door, there was no sign of life.

I glanced up at the storefront windows to see if the lights inside were on. But the blinds shuttered the windows completely, barring any spying eyes from the outside.

On one hand, the daily hours remained posted in their usual spot. On the other hand, there was neither a “We’re Closed” sign or a “We’re Open” sign.

That was strange.

I told my father to wait in the warm car and that I’d check out the situation. I got out of Continue Reading “So Long, Hal. We Hardly Knew Ye…”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged barber, Covid, Cuomo, Dad, erie county fair, Hal, Hamlet, Mendon, pizza

We Need High-Speed Broadband, Now!

By Chris Carosa on January 19, 2021

“I would long since for the time that no votes buy our cares;
For people that once possessed command, high civil office, legions and all else,
now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses.”

– From Satire X, Juvenal, ca. 100 AD

When the Roman satirical poet Juvenal wrote these lines centuries ago, he meant it as an exposé of government corruption. It also represented a warning to a populace too eager to sacrifice freedom for immediate delights.

Unfortunately, rather than a cautionary alert, Juvenal’s “bread and circuses” has become a blueprint from which every dictator since has built his empire.

You can now add Andrew Cuomo to the long sorry list of power-mad rulers seeking to Continue Reading “We Need High-Speed Broadband, Now!”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Albany, Andrew Cuomo, Bread and circuses, broadband, Covid, highways, Juvenal, Marjorie Byrnes, New York Post, New York State, Richard Parsons, roads, soma

Welcome to the New Age of (Virtual) Exploration

By Chris Carosa on October 6, 2020

Following the fall of Rome, the European continent went dark. Although the term “Dark Ages” has fallen out of favor, we have no problem referring to the nadir of that time – when the Bubonic Plague – decimated Europe’s population as “the Black Death.”

Shortly after this tragic pandemic, Europe finally emerged from its thousand-year cocoon. Today, we call this the “Renaissance,” and it is aptly named. Side-by-side with the flourishing arts and sciences was the advent of something greater, something that, without it, we would not exist.

It’s called the “Age of Exploration.”

It was a time when everything came together for Europe. It was a time we forever remember as a simple mental image of a dandily dressed mustachioed man in a shiny helmet planting his Continue Reading “Welcome to the New Age of (Virtual) Exploration”

Posted in Business Tips, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Age of Exploration, Black Death, Bubonic Plague, Chinese curse, colonization, Columbus, Constantinople, CougarTech, Covid, Crusades, Dark Ages, Dutch, English, Europe, Frederic R. Coudert, French, HFL, Ottoman, Portugal, Renaissance, Robert Kennedy, Spain, World War One, Zoom

Which Way To The After-Party?

By Chris Carosa on September 1, 2020

Following the last show of a performance, everyone involved in the production gets together and celebrates. The “cast party” has long been an entertainment tradition – from high school musicals to Saturday Night Live. It’s an opportunity for all to release the tension and anxiety that comes with acting in front of a live audience.

Other events have a similar tradition. It’s called an “after-party.” As the name implies, it’s Continue Reading “Which Way To The After-Party?”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life Tagged after-party, cast party, Covid, teaching, virtual meeting