Peggy Noonan with some thoughts on...???
"To me, one of the signal signs of the times is the number of people surfing the Internet looking for . . . something. One friend looks for small farms in distressed rural areas. Another logs on late at night looking for a house to buy in a small town out West, or down South, or in the Deep South. She is moving all around America in her imagination. I asked if she had a picture in her head of what she was looking for, and she joked that she wanted to go where Atticus Finch made his summation to the jury. I don't think it was really a joke. She's not looking for a new place, she's looking for the old days."
Could it be as simple as...people are surrounded by things they don't understand. Like you said...data data everywhere and no one knows a thing. How long would people have to live this way before the biology of it all caught up?
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In the last paragraph Noonan says, "We are actors in a moment of history, taking part in it, moving it this way or that as we move forward or back. The moment we are living now is a strange one, a disquieting one, a time that seems full of endings." Shakespeare said something similar I believe, but on a stage, no? I think the difference between the two is instructive. Peggers thinks we are "part" of history: that old "we're making history!!" cliche. It seems to have a kind of Hegelian strand in it. "What is this moment in history!??! Where do we fit!? OMG!?" For Shakespeare, us actors, presumably directed in some fashion, end as the play ends. It's all about the "parts" we play as individuals - as witnessed. It leaves the reader with a sense of the finite, and our role in making the play. For Noony it's all about the now. There isn't a hint of history or wisdom in her article, just decent observation. No actors, all screenwriters. No instruction, no action - all waiting on the world to change (yes, I hate myself for that reference)
ReplyDeleteSo when will biology kick in? It never stopped, obviously, so I'm not really sure what you mean. When will people realize that talking about stuff (not "debate" or "dialogue") is where answers come from? Or do you mean when will people realize that their anxiety may actually be related to WHAT they "know". Or do you mean our biological tendency for unity and harmony forcing us to seek out some reconciliation?
Anyhow, I think Pegs is just making a cheap point about how bad the economy is by dabbling with psychology. If her "old days" represent the years between, say 1995 and 2007, I couldn't care less about what she has to say about a "pandemic of fear."
I guess I just meant, I have no fucking clue anymore. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteI think I meant we're not happy surrounded by technology basically, so when will we lose our 'comfort in a forest' for our 'comfort with technology. Do I make any sense?
I wanted to drag Kunstler into this...when peggers friend says she is looking for a 'small farm in a distressed rural area'...she is doing it online. So instead of hitting the highway to get away from the city..they are hitting the superhwy. I thought it was funny how we are not even leaving the places we despise to look for the "train in the distance" (Yes, I love myself for that Paul Simon reference).
Oh and I assumed the old days is Atticus Finch's day.
And as for the playing our part bit...do you think we are hurt by the fact that people have lost some of (Paine or Smith's?) Self interest? Maybe we should just stop worrying about everybody else. I know technology makes this impossible, but I think it would ease the anxiety a little.
How Ayn Randian of you! The problem I see with that (as a moral philosophy per se) is it's simple impracticality. At what point does not worrying about other people become pathological?
ReplyDeleteI don't even know what we're talking about anymore... I need a drink.
ReplyDeleteI think Victor Davis Hanson reads our blog.... http://pajamasmedia.com/victordavishanson/thoughts-about-depressed-americans/
ReplyDeleteThe "What is good/bad?" section is best, imho.