So, like a lot of people, I watched episode 67 of the Sopranos on Sunday night. Due to some travel obligations, I couldn’t get to the TV until the 11 o’clock showing, not the original 8 PM one.
The kernel of the epsiode is Tony’s coma-induced dream-thinking wherein he is Kevin Finnerty, a regular guy just like us, not the tough guy killer mob boss Tony Soprano. The summary for the episode on HBO’s website starts with this Tony quote:
I’m 46 years old. I mean who am I? Where am I going?
He is, it seems, Kevin Finnerty, guy trying to get along in this world. And he’s Tony Soprano, killer/ jerk. Both. And so am I. And so are pretty much all thoughtful, gainfully-employed middle aged American men– workers in the gardens of both good & evil.
I wrote an entire book on this subject, from both the immensely broad and intensely personal perspectives. The central thought in Economics is that in order to do good– to feed oneself and clothe one’s children and keep the growth rate hovering near 4% annually– one has to bow down before evil. No one has clean hands here. Everyone is Kevin Finnerty.
And that’s why I’ve loved The Sopranos so much. And that’s why I bought www.kevinfinnerty.com— to explore this further. God bless us all.