The Obsession Continues

Aside from the continuing travesty of there being no arrest in the killing of Treyvon Martin, it is even more remarkable that the right cannot stop it's endless justifying of the unjustifiable. This is if not the most important thing, still a very important thing. It is a symptom worth consideration. One of the right wing's more erudite voices (allegedly), Victor Davis Hanson, weighed in. (It must be almost a homework assignment.) Sadly No responds. There is much to learn from such a detailed response. I salute the author for having the stomach for it.


http://www.sadlyno.com/archives/36869.html


I am beginning to believe the psychological thesis of Corey Robin's "Reactionary Mind" book, something I don't particularly want to believe--that there is an unconsidered yearning in large swathes of the body politic for domination, and that all historical "progress" towards a more democratic union simply inflames this need in those who haven't looked into themselves--or who simply accept as "natural" a world where some of us dominate the rest. I find this way of looking at the world odiously mechanistic--all of us, each and every one, have what used to be called "free will" in my "book." But then, that comfortable view and a buck-fifty might buy me a nice cup of coffee.


I had thought in my youth that this ancient point of view, the philosophical underpinning of kings and fascists, had been put finally in the tomb by World War II, in much the same way that slavery as part of our American heritage had been dispatched by the blood of Sharpsburg, Shiloh, and Gettysburg. Of course such an idea was pitifully naive, particularly in the face of the out right murder of Martin Luther King, Jr., followed by the election of Ronald Reagan.


Still, it was reasonably easy to think of less profound reasons for the various "setbacks" we have all experienced in our lifetime, and anyway, learning a new fiddle tune or a new skill was an absorbing pastime. At this late date, however, it would seem that deeper answers are almost demanded. Either that, or one must face the fact that slogging through the details is required. Here is what that task entails, for example:

http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/arithmetic-lessons-for-david-brooks