One of my brothers alerted me to this post over at IOZ. I was impressed, and I dislike Frank Rich's smarmy feel almost as much as IOZ, so it seemed like a reasonable thing to do to import the link and then cross-post my comment. Well, it seems like a reasonable and lazy thing to do. Visit Who is IOZ and check Monsieur's current bete noire...
My comment at IOZ:
I am always glad to take a dip into the cleansing waters of IOZ's thought. It's been stunning to me that Obama has been called socialist for embracing a number of positions somewhere to the right of JFK. Looking at the numbers, I find it equally amazing that materially, the world was far more equitable and hopeful in 1960 than it is today. There was a lot wrong, no doubt, but fellow alum's Michael Harrington's The Other America did get somethings to happen that were good for the poor. I think the problem is that the spiritual/existential/social is not directly tied to the material. Thus, a gay closeted man in 1957 might have felt more financially secure what with the social safety net and basic expectations of near lifetime employment; at the same time, looking at another guy could result in being beaten up, arrested and/or ruined by gossip and innuendo. I suppose the beating can still occur -- not being gay, I have no experience here; and, we all risk arrest anytime we step outside the police's acceptable range of deviance. Gossip and innuendo can still happen of course. So, basically, nothing has changed since 1956 except we're all in danger of being fired, dispossessed and driven to a life of migrant farm working in West Virgina...or some other fate that is merely a prelude to death.
So, fifty years on all we've lost is hope. Existentially, that is...
On a totally unrelated note, glad to see that while IOZ still leads in articulate insanity and argument, you have some of the same admirers like Mac Cosmetics grace the site. I'm glad to see he contributes as much to you as he does to The Defeatists on-going dialogue with a evil and unhappy multiverse.
I do want to acknowledge that MAC COSMETICS also seems to read and enjoy IOZ. I recommend, MAC, that you visit Protean Wisdom, the Guys from Area 51 and of course, Shakespeare's Sister as well as Monsieur's site and ours...
nice guitar selections
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