Mario Rizzo: Cut-Rate Wanna-Be Nietzschean Uebermensch, or "Witty and Self Effacing... Ironic and Sly"
Roger Koppl emails:
Brad,
I don't think this is really so complicated. If Mario [Rizzo] were a true and literal sociopath, the risk of complaints from the cabbie would not deter him from stiffing the driver. So the question is how seriously to take his explanation of why he tips even though he dislikes the custom. When Mario says it is a failing of his psychological makeup to go ahead and tip, he is being witty and self effacing... ironic and sly...
I reply:
I don't buy it.
Rizzo's conclusion is:
People ought not to confuse social customs (norms) and the discomfort caused by violating these with morality. You are not a bad person if you don’t tip taxi drives much or at all. Just be prepared to tell the voice in your head [that whispers that you have just cheated somebody by letting them believe you were going to tip them] that it is wrong.
Exhorting others to not let themselves not to be bothered by the anger of those who you have stiffed and cheated--that's not "witty and self-effacing... ironic and sly" That's something different...
Roger's full email:
Brad,
I don't think this is really so complicated. If Mario were a true and literal sociopath, the risk of complaints from the cabbie would not deter him from stiffing the driver. So the question is how seriously to take his explanation of why he tips even though he dislikes the custom. When Mario says it is a failing of his psychological makeup to go ahead and tip, he is being witty and self effacing. I don't think he is revealing himself to the world. He is being contrarian and curmudgeonly as is his wont. He is being ironic and sly. He is being, Brad, a New Yorker. Again, he says that he does tip.
I can guess that Mario genuinely feels vexed by the necessity of tipping NYC cabbies, who normally have to ask you for directions. As you know, London cabbies almost universally know every little byway, have more comfortable vehicles, and so on. The NYC cabs are pretty bad on average. I think we can understand why Mario would feel grumpy about tipping these guys. Nevertheless, he tells us, he does tip. Really, Brad, that just ain't sociopathy real or metaphorical.
I was not kidding when I professed difficulty in understanding where all the heat was coming from. I think it must be the social signalling point I made earlier today at ThinkMarkets. Well, that and a failure to appreciate a little self mocking irony in the oh-so-self-serious age in which we live.
