Ever since he started agreeing with everyone, Matthew Fort has found life much easier
I am one of nature’s Yes Men. There’s a tendency to dismiss us as craven, spineless creatures of little moral worth. But isn’t ‘Yes, dear’ one of the great maxims of family life? ‘You’ll call the plumber, won’t you.’ ‘Yes, dear.’ ‘Did you remember to renew the car insurance?’ ‘Yes, dear.’ ‘Will you pick up the cleaning?’ ‘Of course, dear.’ ‘Yes, dear,’ is the tranquilliser dart of domestic discourse. We Yes Men say it without thought or consideration. ‘Yes’ is open to multiple interpretations and has a host of subtleties to it. There’s the energetic, dynamic ‘Yes!’ ‘Yes’ that promises action! ‘Yes’ that means, well, ‘Yes!!!’ ‘Say “Yes!” to Jesus!’ There’s the optimistic, positive ‘Yes’. Look online and you’ll find a second- hand bookshop’s worth of self-help books built around the power of ‘Yes’: Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own...
I’m afraid this isn’t one of our four free articles available in full, which are set out in the first two rows of the ‘Magazine’ page.
Please click here to find them.
To buy a digital version of this issue for just £2.99, click here
