LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Mahoney’s Cojones To the Editor: I am concerned about the lack of focus, piss, vinegar, and pizzazz in Brian Mahoney’s recent writings. What was once looked to as a monthly joy which my wife and I read aloud to one another is now a run of the mill letter from the editor. Bring back Mahoney’s cojones. —Scot Sedey and Kathleen Finn
Extraordinary Flowers, Beautiful Jewelry and Unique Gifts 1204 RT. 213, HIGH FALLS, NY THEGREENCOTTAGE.COM 845-687-4810
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18 CHRONOGRAM 4/18
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A Call to Work To the Editor: I’ve spent the last 18 months building a business in Stone Ridge—and it’s the most challenging and rewarding endeavor I have ever undertaken. I recently received an email from your publication, informing me my business was mentioned in an article of yours. I was “invited” to share said article on my social media. As I read the article, finding the hyperlink of my name nestled in a paragraph about our Hamlet of Stone Ridge, I noticed an error. I was surprised to learn that I served “specialty blends” in my shop—I pride myself (although not too seriously) on only carrying the highest quality, single-origin, in-season coffees in the region, working with partners locally and from New York City. I have designed the space, my menu, and constructed a customer experience that reflects that intent. I am incredibly grateful for the support my cafe has received and would not be able to do the work I do without their financial and personal support. I have done this for a purpose somewhat divorced from caffeine consumption—I have a vision of cooperative economics and society. I see the decay of our social contract, the displacement of our communities’ most vulnerable, and the consistent, systematic abuse perpetrated by employers and capitalists in our region—(they know exactly who they are, and are closer to the norm than the exception) and it’s no surprise our government and country exemplify such values. Our society has normalized the abuse and the material conditions imposed by American Empire. The error about my cafe did irk me, but there was another feeling I couldn’t shake. What was the intent behind this email blast? This “invitation” to promote a publication, that I knew knew of me but had not made any prior formal contact...I could imagine the strategy. In an era of digitization, social media, cross-referencing, and e-commerce, aggregation is one of the few paths to continued survival for profitmotivated, advertising-supported media. And it’s a strategy that is almost completely useless to someone like me and with my intent. I don’t like being leveraged as filler, plain and simple—though what I like even less are unethical employment practices. Accountability starts at the top, a principle of hierarchy oft forgotten by those quickest to utilize such stratification. Realizing the article was written by someone remotely, that this email was signed by an intern, I made a commitment to not carry/affiliate with Chronogram or purchase advertising with you until I felt confident that you embodied the values necessary to advocate for and publicize our community in a responsible and thoughtful (and equitable) way. While the invitation to write this letter is a concession I did not anticipate and am thankful for, the judgement of our progress must be defined by the material conditions and liberty of the poorest and most confined among us, not by how much business we do or how many people want to buy our ads—or drink our coffees. When my friends can afford to live in the towns they grew up in, and my peers can earn not just a living wage but control of the profits they generate—we can rejoice in our surplus unashamed. Until then, our institutions and communities won’t socialize themselves. We have work to do. —Andrew McCarthy Carthaigh Coffee, Stone Ridge