This is one of the most interesting thing about internet discourse--its utter futility.
So many things that are so obvious to me seem utterly hidden to others reading the same text. I guess this is the true fruit of "multiculturalism". That we no longer speak the same language although the letters, words and sometimes even the syntax are the same. We no longer respond to the same metaphors or recongnise the same concepts underlying our assumptions. EVERYTHING has to be negotiated or explained in precise detail. And even then we never seem to reach a common understanding.
There never has been, on earth, a civilization like the one that Europe created. In 1914 they stood at what appeared to be the apex of human achievment. Instead it was a precipice. A precipice that the "elite" of that glorious civilization embraced.
Why did they do that? Why are the American "elite" embracing a similar fall down the precipice for our culture--not as "brilliant" as Europena culture once was, but filled with incredible decencies? Why?
How can you not see, Orual, that IS the topic at hand? That is Darlymple's life work in his writing--the melancholoy chronicle of the destruction that Western Elites have wrought upon the civilization that bred them.
The thugs and misfits in French progressive housing complexes have been GIVEN PERMISSION by FRENCH ELITES to defecate upon La Belle France!! Just as the thugs and misfits in our country have been given permission. Remember Radical Chic-- the essay by Tom Wolf chronicling he embrace by rich white people of the Black Panthers? Who do you see wetting their panties as they gush about the wonderful uplifting work done by the Nation of Islam on NPR? Rich white women, of course.
You want to stick to THE TOPIC AT HAND? You woundn't recognise THE TOPIC AT HAND if it fired at you from its bushmaster as it crouched in the nearby woods.
Just keep serpentining and hoping for 3% tax break.....
So many things that are so obvious to me seem utterly hidden to others reading the same text.
Ah, to be blessed with such insight, such intellectual prowess. If the discourse is so futile, why do you stick around? Such a bore to try to discuss deep and earth-shattering concepts with so many dolts who do not recognize the subtext. I'd stick to Aristotle and Plato if I were you - it's obvious that they are your intellectual equals. The scratch-and-burp crowd are sooooooooooooo dumb.
Good post.