The political developments of the past couple of years have been alarming for liberals and conservatives alike. At times like this, theories crop up everywhere, and it's tempting to enthusiastically adopt the most recent theory we've seen! (I confess.) But the right thing to do is to consider them all, and try and glean the most valuable insights from each.
Guys (and gals) who comment on the political scene for a living certainly do this; this is where Blogs were born, actually. Political bloggers used to read all sources who were commenting on the political events of the day, and condense them for their readers. (I tend rather to simply present my own opinions, something I'm technically not qualified to do.) Unfortunately, in these times of strong opinions, we tend only to read articles with which we agree, which is not always a good thing, witness what comes out of Donald Trump.
In addition, political commentators do write beautifully, some of them. I happened to pick up a copy of Time Magazine, something I had not read for decades, and several small articles caught my eye.
Political Edutainment: One of these articles contains the following paragraph (Joe Klein).
"In the days before the mayhem surrounding Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, Jeff Zucker–the impresario of CNN–hired the noted Trump campaign heavy Corey Lewandowski as a “political analyst” for a rumored $500,000. He would have been expensive at half the price. I feel bad for all the fine journalists at CNN, but Zucker is a man of our times, lured by the sirens of simplicity and ratings. The passage of Brexit and the presence of Donald Trump are the results of a massive lowering of standards that has been promulgated over the past 20 years by the media and the leadership of political parties in both countries, in the pursuit of popularity. This is what happens when democracy grows flabby. The people, when uninterested, must be entertained, and if they can’t be entertained, their fears must be exploited."
This passage made me grin. This is the sort of prose I wish would come easily to me; instead I labor over getting this across painfully, using actually twice as many words. By the way, "promulgated" is a little offputting; it means, here, essentially "achieved".
Garrison Keillor: 9 Things We Can Fix Right Now. In another piece in the same issue of Time, the star of A Prairie Home Companion (a humorist and comedian, but also an astute cultural commentator, with a very specific point of view) suggests:
26. Kill the airport announcements about reporting any person who asks you to carry something aboard the aircraft. Nobody has ever done this.
27. Likewise the flight attendants’ demonstration of how to fasten a seat belt. We know how.
28. Stop making pennies, nickels and dimes. Nobody bends down to pick up even a dime anymore. They’re not worth the trouble.
29. Change the seating in Congress to mix Democrats and Republicans together. Teachers know that you break up gangs by keeping them apart in the cafeteria. Seat politicians by seniority, with the old ones in the back and the new ones down front, so they get the idea that their time is brief.
30. Raise the minimum wage. It makes no sense that people working full-time must live in a dank basement and eat dog food for breakfast.
31. Radio and TV are making the country dumber, and we have enough of that already. Bring back the Fairness Doctrine, requiring broadcasters to present a range of opinions on controversial issues. Otherwise, wear a big red nose and a fright wig.
32. The California drought is God’s way of telling us we can’t have beautiful lawns and golf courses and raise vast almond, avocado and orange crops in a desert. Learn to love aridity.
33. Stop the sale of assault weapons. There are thousands of deranged people dressing up in camo and marching around in the woods, blasting away with automatic rifles, rehearsing for a showdown with the FBI. More people are going to get hurt. Let them use water pistols.
34. Let’s give the words diversity and multicultural a rest. We are diverse, as diverse as can be. Race, gender, ethnic origin and sexual orientation are descriptive but not indicative. We respect individual dignity because we know that each person is mysterious, capable of astonishing things. And speaking for my fellow WASPs, I say vanilla is a complex flavor, rich, interesting. So let’s let up a little with harassing each other and enjoy each other more.
OK, these are all funny, and some of them we ourselves could have proposed years ago. But the last item is the one that is unexpected. Give the words diversity and multicultural a rest?
After a little thought, I think I might agree. These words have been chanted so often by the Politically Correct Publicity Machine that it stinks of hype. As Keillor says, we're as multicultural as it is possible to get, certainly in the larger cities. This constant onslaught of the prospect of further diversification of the population only serves to alarm older white folks who have not been to college, in the words of Joe Kline. There is yet another piece in the same issue of Time by a Vietnamese immigrant, which describes American ethnic diversity from the point of view of an immigrant, a refugee, and a political observer quite eloquently.
This issue of Time contains an extraordinary richness of insights, well worth reading, though I would not go so far as to give an unqualified endorsement of the publication, as it exists today. But perhaps we had better read it while people of talent are still writing for the print medium; soon everything will begin to look like Internet blogs, more's the pity.
Arch
P.S. I just stumbled on an awesome article I wrote some years ago, about the musical themes of Star Wars! I can't believe I had forgotten that post!
This passage made me grin. This is the sort of prose I wish would come easily to me; instead I labor over getting this across painfully, using actually twice as many words. By the way, "promulgated" is a little offputting; it means, here, essentially "achieved".
Garrison Keillor: 9 Things We Can Fix Right Now. In another piece in the same issue of Time, the star of A Prairie Home Companion (a humorist and comedian, but also an astute cultural commentator, with a very specific point of view) suggests:
26. Kill the airport announcements about reporting any person who asks you to carry something aboard the aircraft. Nobody has ever done this.
27. Likewise the flight attendants’ demonstration of how to fasten a seat belt. We know how.
28. Stop making pennies, nickels and dimes. Nobody bends down to pick up even a dime anymore. They’re not worth the trouble.
29. Change the seating in Congress to mix Democrats and Republicans together. Teachers know that you break up gangs by keeping them apart in the cafeteria. Seat politicians by seniority, with the old ones in the back and the new ones down front, so they get the idea that their time is brief.
30. Raise the minimum wage. It makes no sense that people working full-time must live in a dank basement and eat dog food for breakfast.
31. Radio and TV are making the country dumber, and we have enough of that already. Bring back the Fairness Doctrine, requiring broadcasters to present a range of opinions on controversial issues. Otherwise, wear a big red nose and a fright wig.
32. The California drought is God’s way of telling us we can’t have beautiful lawns and golf courses and raise vast almond, avocado and orange crops in a desert. Learn to love aridity.
33. Stop the sale of assault weapons. There are thousands of deranged people dressing up in camo and marching around in the woods, blasting away with automatic rifles, rehearsing for a showdown with the FBI. More people are going to get hurt. Let them use water pistols.
34. Let’s give the words diversity and multicultural a rest. We are diverse, as diverse as can be. Race, gender, ethnic origin and sexual orientation are descriptive but not indicative. We respect individual dignity because we know that each person is mysterious, capable of astonishing things. And speaking for my fellow WASPs, I say vanilla is a complex flavor, rich, interesting. So let’s let up a little with harassing each other and enjoy each other more.
OK, these are all funny, and some of them we ourselves could have proposed years ago. But the last item is the one that is unexpected. Give the words diversity and multicultural a rest?
After a little thought, I think I might agree. These words have been chanted so often by the Politically Correct Publicity Machine that it stinks of hype. As Keillor says, we're as multicultural as it is possible to get, certainly in the larger cities. This constant onslaught of the prospect of further diversification of the population only serves to alarm older white folks who have not been to college, in the words of Joe Kline. There is yet another piece in the same issue of Time by a Vietnamese immigrant, which describes American ethnic diversity from the point of view of an immigrant, a refugee, and a political observer quite eloquently.
This issue of Time contains an extraordinary richness of insights, well worth reading, though I would not go so far as to give an unqualified endorsement of the publication, as it exists today. But perhaps we had better read it while people of talent are still writing for the print medium; soon everything will begin to look like Internet blogs, more's the pity.
Arch
P.S. I just stumbled on an awesome article I wrote some years ago, about the musical themes of Star Wars! I can't believe I had forgotten that post!
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