In his Wall Street Journal article of May 9, 2018, What's Wrong With the Broadway Musical, Terry Teachout argues that a splintering of American culture caused the seemingly moribund state of the Broadway musical, and the recent notably weak season. His reasoning is questionable. In order to perpetuate the notion that we once had a common culture, Teachout …
Wise Fool, Vulgar Politician: Civility in the Clowns’ Regime
We decry Trump's assault on civility. We (sometimes) decry actual politicians' and lawmakers' abandonment of civility in response to Trump, and even preceding Trump, but why is the response to Wolf so much more vociferous than the response to Joe Wilson shouting "you lie" in the midst of Obama's State of the Union address? It's not just that Trump has changed the rules. Countless awkward attempts at going low have proven that Trump is a master of his unholy artform and his political adversaries won't out-paint Kahlo. Wolf's transgression is more specific than any perceived limits of civil discourse because she's working in an incredibly specific form, but the form she delivered was not that which was expected.
Empower
The question of power gets to the root of civilization. To my mind, civilization is marked by the elimination of suffering through communication, planning, and a preference for actions contributing to the common good over those for oneself. Power has complex roles in these dynamics. The challenge in distributing power is the need to ensure …
Connect
The notion of connection implies that we begin with distance, and one may argue that the minimum connection is self-awareness. Self-perception both connects experience with selfhood and creates the need to connect with the other. Though theologians speak of reconciliation with the divine, such mystical connection may be, in part, a defense against isolation. We …
Communicate
What happens when we try to communicate? An action occurs. An observation is made. We may try to share an idea. We may try to understand an idea. We may suddenly feel we understand something we weren't seeking. We may seek information about events, how others experience the world, how others perceive us. We may discover …
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