Thursday, June 24, 2004
Enjoying the Oncoming Collapse of Society
From Greg's blog:
Enjoy the onrushing atrophy. Is the United States going to Hell, western civilization being subverted, knaves scuttling like fetid crabs through the corridors of power and nitwits ravaging the schools in the manner of monkeys in a fruit store? (Yes, actually.) Relish it for the splendid historical theater that it is. A better spectacle there cannot be.
Greg:
I say this seriously. If you regard yourself as audience rather than participant, the accelerating collapse becomes entertainment. You read each morning’s headlines with zest to see what new and preposterous clownishness erupts from Washington. It is high comedy. Just now Mr. Bush wants to tighten the embargo on Cuba because of its violations of human rights; meanwhile Mr. Bush is running a torture camp at Guantanamo (I don't believe this is true of Gitmo-Geoff). We have a war on poverty that perpetuates poverty, a war on drugs that guarantees availability by keeping prices up.
Me: It is time to rethink the war on povery and on drugs. If you don't kill demand you will never win the drug war. Either get Turkey on everybody's butt or start legalizing drugs. Btw, I have no desire to use those drugs.
But to the overall point: I think they are right about enjoying the stupidity of life. You either enjoy it (at one level) or you get agitated all the time. I choose to be amused by stupidity and irony. Sometimes. Sometimes I get angry. I guess it depends on my mood.
From Greg's blog:
Enjoy the onrushing atrophy. Is the United States going to Hell, western civilization being subverted, knaves scuttling like fetid crabs through the corridors of power and nitwits ravaging the schools in the manner of monkeys in a fruit store? (Yes, actually.) Relish it for the splendid historical theater that it is. A better spectacle there cannot be.
Greg:
I say this seriously. If you regard yourself as audience rather than participant, the accelerating collapse becomes entertainment. You read each morning’s headlines with zest to see what new and preposterous clownishness erupts from Washington. It is high comedy. Just now Mr. Bush wants to tighten the embargo on Cuba because of its violations of human rights; meanwhile Mr. Bush is running a torture camp at Guantanamo (I don't believe this is true of Gitmo-Geoff). We have a war on poverty that perpetuates poverty, a war on drugs that guarantees availability by keeping prices up.
Me: It is time to rethink the war on povery and on drugs. If you don't kill demand you will never win the drug war. Either get Turkey on everybody's butt or start legalizing drugs. Btw, I have no desire to use those drugs.
But to the overall point: I think they are right about enjoying the stupidity of life. You either enjoy it (at one level) or you get agitated all the time. I choose to be amused by stupidity and irony. Sometimes. Sometimes I get angry. I guess it depends on my mood.
