Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

Utopia means many things to many people.  Certainly none of those meanings have anything to do with the Utopia that Sir/Saint Thomas More wrote about when he penned “On the Best State of a Republic on the New Island of Utopia” late in the 15th Century.   My Utopia includes endless lush soccer fields with plenty of cold beer in the aftermath.  Others may view their Utopia quite differently.   Very quickly, however, should you randomly approach people on the street, you might find answers to Utopian question that run the gamut from such things as the end of hunger or the end of unemployment to the more controversial things such as universal health care--heaven forbid.  

Those answers would be closer to More’s Utopia than mine, but I can’t help think soccer would be one of More’s favorite pastimes, had it been around back then.  Soccer, you see, is far more akin to a balanced state of social justice then the economic dominance of the winner take all mindset always at the root of capitalism.  American football, for instance, is capitalism at its finest and more closely related to the philosophy of Conan the Barbarian, “To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women!”  Which, ironically, is also more akin to another book, published at about the same time as Utopia.  “The Prince”, by Niccolò Machiavelli, which was  published in 1513, about three years ahead of Utopia, would never be referenced in any bill on universal health care.  But to continue the analogy of soccer, low scoring games, well played, are superior to the breaking of bones.

More was well ahead of his time.  And that, perhaps, cost him his head.  Yet he was on to something big.  Something bigger than the governments of the day, something bigger than the Church of England, or the Catholic Church.  He was talking about justice.  Was talking about equality.  He was talking about happiness.  Institutions, such as slavery, were impossible to reconcile with his view of justice and thus, had to play a role in his Utopia.  Slaves, were not thus, slaves, but rather the incarceration of those who committed crimes against society.  That was an easy fix for the injustice of the day.  But so too were the inequities of commerce when the rich were in a powerful position to exploit the poor.  Fast forward 500 years. It’s now 2018.  Would anyone dispute that living in a democracy, be it in the United States or any other modern democracy, is Utopian?  I think despite our political differences we all can agree modern democracies figured most of it out.  Yes we have flaws but the precepts of More’s Utopia foreshadow most of our American values for justice and the value of human life.  We also work hard, wish to create as few laws a possible, and try to only engage in just wars. We do not commit criminal acts and we are free to worship as you please.  Above all, More believes that  an overarching principle of Utopia is to be happy. Bob Marley would echo that sentiment. 

Yet Utopia, despite the fact that we live in a very Utopian USA, is riddled with criticisms stemming from what can only be described as Marxism.  It’s communist at worst and  socialist at best.  Well yes, the Utopia that Thomas More envisioned had many flaws, but if life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness equals socialism, then yes, socialism is what he wrote about...that, and an unfailing love of God and the Catholic Church.  Which isn't so bad either, and no would would argue the impact of the Christian theology on Western philosophy.  The Golden Rule is a prominent feature of Utopia, to name but one of the many ties.

We should all drop to our knees and thank Thomas More for writing this book, 500 years overdue. There can be no doubt his influence on our forefathers showed up in our constitutional framework.  We credit Hobbes and Locke...but perhaps we fell 100 years short of the real inspiration found in many of our textbooks.  Most likely because the common good of the common man flies in the face of profit the past 200 years.

John Depp, Early Adopters, and the Best a Man Can Get

Have you ever used a disposal Bic razor? Single blade, hard plastic? I have. In the aftermath I look like Edward Scissors Hands [1] just completed a topiary. To avoid this look, my dad opted to use of an electric razor, presumably in the 60's. I've never seen him use anything else. He's used it all of his life having been, in my mind, an early adopter. Although Schick invented the electric razor in 1930 it required several modifications, with the introduction of the foil razor, and later the Norelco three-head, to really become mainstream.

Many men still prefer the electric razor. I suspect for the following reasons. One, men do not like to look like Johnny Depp. Two, they are still on the market being gifted and received under many Christmas Trees annually. And three, I saw a dude shaving with one in the car the other day. Gross. The women in the passenger seat had the vanity mirror down and was applying make-up. Maybe they fight over the bathroom mirror in the morning and this is their compromise? Still gross, but I digress.

Maybe this ability to shave in the car is the attraction. Not for me. I tried the electric razor. It never worked for me...my beard just isn't my dad's beard. He has a five o'clock shadow by noon. I guess that's why I've never been able to grow a full beard either. It takes a special kind of beard to work with the modern technology..which isn't so modern anymore. My technology, the old technology, remains the same. Cold steel. And if you can avoid the lacerations, I much prefer the wet shave. When twin blades became ubiquitous, I never tried the electric razor again. I've been wet shaving every morning since. No improvement, over the twin blade, seemed necessary. Yet, when the twin blade was introduced, it was ridiculed by Saturday Night Live. When will it end...they mocked the multiple blades. Yet here, in 2018, six blades are available. 

I've been a twin blade purist for most of my shaving life. I resisted the urges to move to the triple. But in recent times it's been another force in the market place that has pushed for change. Mail order razors. New start-ups like Harry's and Dollar Shave Club sensed that men no longer had the available time to spend picking out razors at the CVS. Rather, for a monthly subscription, their razors would arrive in the mail. And the cost would be so low, rather than scraping your face with a dull blade, because you forgot to run to the pharmacy, you would have a fresh blade whenever you needed one. 

As mentioned in previous blogs, I am an early adopter, not an innovator. So I spent some time observing the mail order razor phenomenon before I took the plunge. I studied the business model. But studying the business model doesn't allow you to actually know what you are missing. You actually have to use the product. So here is the trade. Can the new companies keep the cost and convenience of using a new blade on a weekly basis undercut the well established companies dominance in the wet shave market. The business model makes sense, but are they sending you a quality product. Does the promise of a new blade every week provide better performance than the performance of a quality blade? This is not a quality guarantee you can trust the butcher on. You really do have to stick your head up the bulls ass and have a look around [2]. Dollar Shave Club and Harry's are competing with several titans of industry...well really only two because Bic razors suck...they should stick to cigarette lighters. So Schick and Gillette are really at the top. Harry's and Dollar Shave want to topple these dynasties with their business model. I've been a Gillette man for as long as I can remember. Why? Because it's the best a man can get. I believe that in my soul, but I also believe 4 out of 5 dentists survey recommend Trident for their patients who chew gum. 

Regardless how I got here...I logged into a monthly shave club and joined the buzz. I've spent about a year evaluating their product. Bottom-line. Despite the business model, mail order shave clubs are a scam. Quality blades from Gillette are far superior to whatever bullshit manufacturing process (and their German steel) these clubs are using. And if you are following their advice though to the inevitable end, you will ultimately be paying a ton more money for your morning shave, wasting more product and resources and getting a less quality shave. 

Over the course of my test period I tried all the razors they had to offer. The twin blade, the quad, and the boss (6 blades). The twin blade is what you get for $1 a month. The quad cost's you $6 a month. And the boss will cost you $10 a month. If you stick with the $1 a month plan, and change the blade 6 times a month (they give you 6 blades) you will save money. But you will not be shaving with a quality twin blade...nicks and cuts come easy if you don't go easy with these blades. I shave quick...not like Edward, but I like to throw the blades around in the morning. By comparison, you can buy the top of the line Gillette Fusion razor, with five blades, and all the technology Gillette has been working on. That will cost you $42 for 12 blades. Gillette wants you to use each blade for 4 weeks. So that's the essence of the trade. Pay $12 a year, get 72 twin blade cartridges, or pay $42 for only 12. Seems intuitive that the shave club wins. Except you cannot compare the shave with the twin blade to the shave of the Fusion razor. To compare the experience you need to elevate to the Boss. And thus, without much thinking about it...you are now paying $10 month for 4 blades, or 48 cartridges a year, versus the paltry 12 blades of the Fusion from Gillette. Per cartridge, that's $10 x 12 / 4 = $3 for the club and $42 / 12 = $3.50 for the Fusion. You think that price point is a coincidence? The club is contending their blades are cheaper...they are, slightly. But you need to buy more...a lot more. Last time I checked, $120 / year was more than $42 / year. And you don't have to take any trips to the pharmacy. So is $10 / month worth it? What about performance? 

So...the shave club estimated their performance correctly. Their blade quality lasts about a week. After 4 or 5 shaves their blades are dull. So much for German steel. If you proceed to week two, and try to stretch the life of their blades, you run the risk of nicks and cuts. On the other hand, Gillette wants you to use their quality Fusion blades for a full month. Can you shave 4 full weeks with one cartridge? The answer, probably not. I can't stretch them that long. But you can get a quality shave for three full weeks. Which means you need more than 12 cartridges. But not too many more...just four. So doing the math...$3.50 x 4 = $14 for the extra cartridges. So for $56 a year you can use Gillette, the Best a Man Can Get, all year long. And if you buy them all at once, that's a single trip to the pharmacy. 

Now for you tree huggers out there...who tend to be early adopters of technology, thinking they are saving the environment by not going to the Pharmacy every week. Well, one, you are going to the pharmacy anyway. So buy your razors. And two, with the shave club you are disposing of 48 razors into land fills a year vs 16 from Gillette. And that's not to mention the packaging from the shave club...monthly boxes and postage. 

So I'll admit. I tried to work this all out in my head, a head of time, and it seemed like the shave club was the way to go. It's is not. Unless you like the twin there is no reason to switch methods.

As an aside, the club I joined also offered other products. I choose a tooth brush. Here again, for these items, one must stick to the companies who actually put some engineering into their products. Colgate makes the best tooth brushes. Unless you like brushing your teeth with a stick, stick to Colgate. 

1) Image: http://thefilmspectrum.com/?p=20283
2) Tommy Boy