Obiter Scripta, no. 88

By in obiter scripta, solitude No Comments

LADY CROOM: But surely a hermit who takes a newspaper is not a hermit in whom one can have complete confidence.

— Tom Stoppard, Arcadia, act II, scene 7

I have never subscribed to a newspaper, but I do check in with multiple blogs each day. What can I say? I’m more inclined toward pantheism than otherworldly asceticism. Just because I don’t want to interact with most people doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy observing them from a distance. The world, with all its folly and frivolity, still deserves some love, and as Lou Barlow sang, hypocrites like us deserve a little trust along the way.

When Their Light Has Picked You Out

By in poetry, the geist of the zeit, the great awokening No Comments

Jonathan Rauch:

So what, exactly, does a cancellation consist of? And how does it differ from the exercise of free speech and robust critical debate?

At a conceptual level, the difference is clear. Criticism marshals evidence and arguments in a rational effort to persuade. Canceling, by contrast, seeks to organize and manipulate the social or media environment in order to isolate, deplatform or intimidate ideological opponents. It is about shaping the information battlefield, not seeking truth; and its intent—or at least its predictable outcome—is to coerce conformity and reduce the scope for forms of criticism that are not sanctioned by the prevailing consensus of some local majority.

You will be walking some night
in the comfortable dark of your yard
and suddenly a great light will shine
round about you, and behind you
will be a wall you never saw before.
It will be clear to you suddenly
that you were about to escape,
and that you are guilty: you misread
the complex instructions, you are not
a member, you lost your card
or never had one. And you will know
that they have been there all along,
their eyes on your letters and books,
their hands in your pockets,
their ears wired to your bed.
Though you have done nothing shameful,
they will want you to be ashamed.
They will want you to kneel and weep
and say you should have been like them.
And once you say you are ashamed,
reading the page they hold out to you,
then such light as you have made
in your history will leave you.
They will no longer need to pursue you.
You will pursue them, begging forgiveness,
and they will not forgive you.
There is no power against them.
It is only candor that is aloof from them,
only an inward clarity, unashamed,
that they cannot reach. Be ready.
When their light has picked you out
and their questions are asked, say to them:
“I am not ashamed.” A sure horizon
will come around you. The heron will rise
in his evening flight from the hilltop.

— Wendell Berry, “Do Not Be Ashamed,” Openings

The Struggle Is On

By in extraordinary popular delusions, procrusteans, the cult of multi, the statusphere No Comments

The struggle is on, no
mistake, and I take
the side of life’s history
against the coming of numbers.

— Wendell Berry, “The Clearing,” New Collected Poems

Andrew Sullivan:

My point is that any attempt to make a specific institution entirely representative of the demographics of its location will founder on the sheer complexity of America’s demographic story and the nature of the institution itself. Journalism, for example, is not a profession sought by most people; it’s self-selecting for curious, trouble-making, querulous assholes who enjoy engaging with others and tracking down the truth (at least it used to be). There’s no reason this skillset or attitude will be spread evenly across populations. It seems, for example, that disproportionate numbers of Jews are drawn to it, from a culture of high literacy, intellectualism, and social activism. So why on earth shouldn’t they be over-represented?

And that’s true of other institutions too: are we to police Broadway to make sure that gays constitute only 4 percent of the employees? Or, say, nursing, to ensure that the sex balance is 50-50? Or a construction company for gender parity? Or a bike messenger company’s staff to be reflective of the age demographics of the city? Just take publishing — an industry not far off what the New York Times does. 74 percent of its employees are women. Should there be a hiring freeze until the men catch up?

Rhetorical questions don’t need to be answered, but since we’re here: No, of course all the mindless chatter about demographic “representation” issuing forth from the diversity-inclusion complex isn’t to be taken seriously. When the irresistible force of elite overproduction meets the immovable object of limited elite employment opportunities, those who are denied entry will try any trick they can to cut to the head of the line. When talent and luck aren’t sufficient to bring you the opportunities you so obviously deserve, maybe accusations of bias will open some doors. If it turned out that trash collection was a field dominated by white men, do you think there would be any anguished op-eds in the New York Times demanding racial and gender parity? Of course not, because there’s no status to be gained in that field, even though trash collectors are far more important to society than pundits, journalists, diversity consultants, MFA grads, and other similar make-work occupations. This is an internecine phenomenon exclusive to cultural elites bewitched by Procrustean fantasies, and the rest of us should only enjoy our popcorn and root for maximum casualties.

Obiter Scripta, no. 87

By in books, obiter scripta, religion No Comments

It is a curious fact that the artist who produced the most compelling and accessible vision of Christian humanism in the twentieth century was a multiply-married, luxury-loving, alcoholic atheist by the name of Robert Bolt. It is worth noting that he came to this choice of lifestyle after a strict Methodist upbringing. And I might add that not long after throwing off his Methodist faith, he became a card-carrying member of the Communist party. I am not sure what conclusion to draw from these facts.

But on a more serious note, I can say with a straight face that Bolt not only remained obsessed by Christianity his whole life, but also continued to think Christianly to the end of his days. He was what might be called a “flying buttress”—someone who remains resolutely outside the church, but who does a great deal to prop it up. In the divine economy, I suspect that there is a mansion in heaven for tortured Augustinian souls like that of Mr. Bolt, and perhaps in God’s mercy it has room service.

— Gregory Wolfe, Beauty Will Save the World: Recovering the Human In an Ideological Age

I’ve been leafing through Wolfe’s book again, as well as one by Daniel Ritchie. Recently, I revisited many of G.K. Chesterton’s essays, and I even held on to a collection of C.S. Lewis’s books rather than sell them as I originally intended. I enjoy the irony of me, an Epicurean, seeking out Christian writers as a refreshing, interesting alternative to the tiresome fundamentalist preachers of Diversity and Inclusion™️, but it’s a funny old world we live in. As Wolfe says earlier in the book, we can learn well from artists and thinkers who ask the right questions even if we disagree with their answers. That’s how it is for me — nine-tenths agreement is good enough. If Communism, a Christian heresy, can have fellow travelers, why not Christianity itself? Anyway, I appreciate the thought that there might be celestial lodgings reserved for us buttresses, but if I couldn’t be an ornamental hermit in heaven as well, I’d respectfully hand back my ticket.

It’s Not the Future That I Can See, It’s Just My Fantasy

By in fresh hell, technology, unintended consequences No Comments

A little over three years ago, some brilliant seer gazed into the future and reported back:

Nowadays, I’m sure there are brilliant minds working hard to figure out how we can implant SIM cards in our frontal lobes so that we can keep up with the Kardashians without having to go to all the exhausting labor of manipulating our pocket computers with our fingers, like savages.

Well…

Yes, yes, the “initial aim” is always something unobjectionable and beneficial. What’s actually interesting is trying to imagine all the ways in which humans will inevitably harness new technologies to serve the same old ends of hedonism, power struggles, and violence. Musk seems to believe that the best defense against the possibility of hostile AI is for humans to become cyborgs by means of wires implanted in our brains, allowing us to interface with technology at the speed of thought. Did I say interesting? I meant horrifying.

Obiter Scripta, no. 86

By in books, foolosophy, obiter scripta 2 Comments

We live in a Babel of antagonistic tribes — tribes that speak only the languages of race, class, rights, and ideology. That is why the intuitive language of the imagination is so vital. Reaching deep into our collective thoughts and memories, great art sneaks past our shallow prejudices and brittle opinions to remind us of the complexity and mystery of human existence.

— Gregory Wolfe, Beauty Will Save the World: Recovering the Human In an Ideological Age

I’ve been working twelve-hour days for what seems like a month, at least. I’m not complaining, mind you. In fact, staying busy serves as something like an emetic. The mind is purged of the toxins of current events. I gaze upon the Boschian hellscape of the web with fresh eyes and think, Surely, there’s got to be more edifying stuff than this. And so I make a promise to myself that I will redouble my efforts to seek out the cracks which Matthew Crawford spoke of, the overlooked spaces where beauty and imagination can flourish. It’s been too long since I stumbled across any new and interesting blogs to read. I think I’ll start pointedly searching for some. Any suggestions?

Am I My Brother’s Personal Trainer?

By in battling personal entropy, ohferfucksake No Comments

Addison Del Mastro:

More substantively, workout culture is individualistic in the most corrosive and shame-inducing sense, pretending that the individual exists in a vacuum, and that socio-political problems like obesity, sedentary jobs, automobile dependency, and subsidized junk food, either do not exist or are merely wholesome opportunities to exercise self-restraint. Workout culture admits no possibility of societal sickness or policy solutions to the problems of being unhealthy or overweight. It is a sort of glossed-over eugenic ideology, a cult of self-improvement in a broader society which is deeply and perhaps terminally inconducive to self-improvement. The gym rat is social Darwinism made flesh.

Eugenics! Social Darwinism! Structural reorganization of society! So far, so woke, you might say. Just another predictable jeremiad from the fat-positive, pronoun-announcing, reality-is-a-social-construct side of the Internet. But no! Some of you might have already noticed that link goes to The American Conservative. Yes, it can be difficult to tell the difference between the competing brands of collective-mindedness these days, but it’s evident in the details:

In a society which has lost a sense of civic togetherness and mutual support—that is, the communitarianism of “intermediating institutions” between the lone individual and the all-powerful state—self-improvement itself becomes a sort of self-loathing. Individual responsibility becomes an exercise in bashing one’s head against the wall. Genuine good health—like faith, family, and so much else that actually matters—is done in community. Many of our particular problems lie far downstream from a broader and more general breakdown. “Excuses” might actually be opportunities to probe what has really gone wrong with us.

Yes, yes, all problems are social problems, social problems have to be addressed as a whole rather than piecemeal, and individualism is the cancer eating away at the marrow of the ideal Rousseauian community, where the Volk would get their exercise the way God intended, by doing communal labor in their idyllic, car-free villages. It just goes to show the fluidity of political identity — compared to the woke left, I’m a release-the-hounds reactionary. Compared to the communitarian right, I’m a libertarian, almost a libertine. I’m an orangutan among chimpanzees, and all I want is for these equally-obnoxious conformists to swive off and leave me out of their stupid salvific schemes.

Anyway, if our hero could pause his sermon for a moment, he might consider that many people exercise not because of self-loathing caused by Madison Avenue brainwashing, but because being fit feels better than being out of shape. It could be that they actually enjoy the challenge of building and maintaining fitness. Possibly, they might even subscribe to a Stoic realism which focuses on changing what lies within one’s power to change, starting with one’s own body. Del Mastro might enjoy posturing as a bodhisattva who refuses to enter the Nirvana of fitness until all sentient beings enjoy equal access, but Occam’s Razor says he’s just lazy, and clever enough to rationalize it as social criticism.

Only You Can Prevent Parks and Rec Exclusion

By in environment, ohferfucksake, race, the cult of multi 2 Comments

Monica Samayoa:

Recent data from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department shows Black people are underrepresented as visitors to state parks. They make up 2.2% of Oregon’s population and 0.9% of daily visitors and 1.9% of overnight visitors to parks. Other underrepresented demographic groups include American Indian and Alaska Natives, with an estimated 1.8% population, and 1.4% day visitors and 1.2% overnight visitors and Latino people, with 13% of the Oregon population and 6% of day visitors and 5% of overnight visitors.

On the other hand, whites account for 76% of Oregon’s population but 88% of the system’s day visitors and 87% of its overnight visitors.

OPRD Spokesman Chris Havel said this is an issue his department has been struggling with for years. It’s been working with different community organizations to find solutions to make sure every person feels equally welcome when they visit state parks.

I’m not surprised. Considering recent media reports of the miscreants and reprobates who can be found on Oregon’s hiking trails, I don’t think even I would feel safe there.

(Ver)Schlimmbesserung

By in extraordinary popular delusions, ohferfucksake, the cult of multi No Comments

One of my favorite loan-words from German is Schlimmbesserung,  “a so-called improvement that makes things worse.” I wouldn’t have thought it was possible to “improve” on Tommasini’s call for racial quotas to make orchestras more cosmetically appealing to guilt-ridden white progressives, but damned if Singal hasn’t managed it here. “Reform our economic system” — as if “the economy” is a matter of an engineer twiddling some knobs, adjusting some faders, and raising the economic EQ levels until, presto, it produces more exotic blends of violinists. There are so many ignorant assumptions baked into that simple empty-calorie phrase that I don’t know where you’d even begin trying to argue with it. I see now why Zen masters prefer hitting their students over the head with a stick. Sometimes a hard reboot is so much more efficient.

UPDATE: A German friend of mine, in response to my query over which variant to use, writes:

I also agree with the distinction between Besserung and Verbesserung, they are slightly different and explained well in the post [link here]. That said, it actually would be more accurate to use Verschlimmbesserung and verschlimmbessern as it relates to attempts to improve something (verbessern). Besserung and bessern relates to an improvement of something that happens by itself (not by human intervention) and means that it is a change to something better, therefore not worse (schlimmer).

1 2 3 4 5 >»