Excellent, again - but don’t neglect the through line of monetization and corruption. The spectacle is a valuable diversion. With DJT, it’s always about the $
"Science fiction nerds should be banned from running anything."
I Object! REAL Sci-fi nerds internalize these stories and understand them for the futuristic warnings and caveats they are. This is how I know Elon is an idiot. Sci-fi without philosophy is a fool's pastime.
This column is consistent with Dan McAdams' personality analysis of Trump in both his biography of Trump and his Atlantic piece from 2016. Trump lacks a narrative identity--a life story that connects his past with his present and his imagined future. From McAdams' perspective, Trump lives in the ever-present now. His political actions are aimed at bringing all of us into that non-narrative, chaotic present NOW!
the elderly father of a Parisian friend of mine recently had a surgery for a brain tumor, his first question on coming to was, "and the latest from Trump?"
I resent his general neediness so much more than any particular policy
With Trump, there is no vision. Just spectacle. You can’t look away, even if you wish you could. Behold it in all its glory. It’s coming at you all too fast, freezing you in the infinite present.
That's well written, well said. I have yet to find anyone who can address it, however, or even what that would look like, or feel like.
In the Emperor's New Clothes, or even with Sen. McCarthy, someone comes along and says or does something that breaks the spell. With bullies, we wait for someone to come along and give the bully a bloody nose. Who will it be in our country, who has the voice, the nerve, the wit, or the opportunity to break the curse?
Funnily, it's 40 years since Harry G. Frankfurt's 'On Bullshit' came out - it's hard not to see it as the quintessence of Trumpist communication (and in this case, communication is the essence, the medium is the message).
Excellent, again - but don’t neglect the through line of monetization and corruption. The spectacle is a valuable diversion. With DJT, it’s always about the $
"Science fiction nerds should be banned from running anything."
I Object! REAL Sci-fi nerds internalize these stories and understand them for the futuristic warnings and caveats they are. This is how I know Elon is an idiot. Sci-fi without philosophy is a fool's pastime.
Heh, I knew I'd needle at least one reader with this aside.
Also, did you swap the image from a movie (Space Odessey?) with AI slop?
Yeah, we don’t have rights. Slop has its uses.
Elon is not an idiot.
This column is consistent with Dan McAdams' personality analysis of Trump in both his biography of Trump and his Atlantic piece from 2016. Trump lacks a narrative identity--a life story that connects his past with his present and his imagined future. From McAdams' perspective, Trump lives in the ever-present now. His political actions are aimed at bringing all of us into that non-narrative, chaotic present NOW!
the elderly father of a Parisian friend of mine recently had a surgery for a brain tumor, his first question on coming to was, "and the latest from Trump?"
I resent his general neediness so much more than any particular policy
With Trump, there is no vision. Just spectacle. You can’t look away, even if you wish you could. Behold it in all its glory. It’s coming at you all too fast, freezing you in the infinite present.
That's well written, well said. I have yet to find anyone who can address it, however, or even what that would look like, or feel like.
In the Emperor's New Clothes, or even with Sen. McCarthy, someone comes along and says or does something that breaks the spell. With bullies, we wait for someone to come along and give the bully a bloody nose. Who will it be in our country, who has the voice, the nerve, the wit, or the opportunity to break the curse?
Funnily, it's 40 years since Harry G. Frankfurt's 'On Bullshit' came out - it's hard not to see it as the quintessence of Trumpist communication (and in this case, communication is the essence, the medium is the message).
Where is the rest of the essay?
It’s a note. Scribbled together in an hour.