All forms of dedication, devotion, loyalty and self-surrender [to mass movements] are in essence a desperate clinging to something which might give worth and meaning to our futile, spoiled selves.
Seeking struggle as a way to feel consequential. It was once a seemingly liberal phenomenon but now Extremists on both sides have engaged and are engaging in this behavior. Am I simply getting old resulting in my perception that there is more chaos now or is this a reality?
Rosemary, your comment was very concisely, accurately and perfectly stated. We seek struggle to simulate meaning. I wrote a piece in the archives a month or two ago, “Ah chaos, sweet chaos,” digging a little deeper into why some people crave chaos.
It makes sense, if you don’t have a destination. So does “The medium is the message”, if you don’t have a message. Arguably, the something reached its culmination in the American colleges and factories of the of the 50s. Every young man getting out of high school could get a job in a factory or could get into a college, and be assured of making a good living. But if humans must always strive for something more, then what was the next goal? Maybe we still have not identified it. So our society is lost in haze of malaise and a maze of nihilism.
So true, Michael. Many can't leave well-enough alone; new policies will always be better than old policies. Phonics worked great for learning to read. California tried "whole language," which was a dismal failure. But they felt good about themselves because they were i
Seeking struggle as a way to feel consequential. It was once a seemingly liberal phenomenon but now Extremists on both sides have engaged and are engaging in this behavior. Am I simply getting old resulting in my perception that there is more chaos now or is this a reality?
Rosemary, your comment was very concisely, accurately and perfectly stated. We seek struggle to simulate meaning. I wrote a piece in the archives a month or two ago, “Ah chaos, sweet chaos,” digging a little deeper into why some people crave chaos.
With apologies to Mike Tyson, everybody has a plan to save the world till they get punched in the face.
“The journey was the destination.”
It makes sense, if you don’t have a destination. So does “The medium is the message”, if you don’t have a message. Arguably, the something reached its culmination in the American colleges and factories of the of the 50s. Every young man getting out of high school could get a job in a factory or could get into a college, and be assured of making a good living. But if humans must always strive for something more, then what was the next goal? Maybe we still have not identified it. So our society is lost in haze of malaise and a maze of nihilism.
So true, Michael. Many can't leave well-enough alone; new policies will always be better than old policies. Phonics worked great for learning to read. California tried "whole language," which was a dismal failure. But they felt good about themselves because they were i
"innovators,"