That Feeling You Get When You Can See The End of Your Usefulness

Some important thoughts on the artificialness of my work writing on wine.

It is the job of the writer/communicator to deliver what are (hopefully) unique insights around a subject or issue and to do so in a cogent and entertaining way. Whether the writer’s goal is to inform, educate, motivate or change minds, it is the ability of the communicator to attempt these things by delivering insights in a unique voice.

Most of you reading this right now in fact pay me to do exactly what I describe above. Presumably, your willingness to pay for my writing is due in large part to the fact that I have a long history of examining, studying, and being involved in the wine industry and most particularly the politics of the wine industry and its regulatory nuances. Moreover, you understand that I bring a point of view to the question; I am, for lack of a better description, “partisan” when it comes to these issues and this is part of my appeal to those willing to pay to access my newsletter.

Moreover, it is fair to say that you might be able to count on just two hands the number of people in the United States today who have an equal grasp of the kind of industry issues I inveigh against in my writings on discriminatory, archaic, and protectionist alcohol industry laws and policies.

It turns out that you may need an additional set of fingers to count the folks who have the potential to match my expertise on these issues and to write about them. Read the following argument: