Monday, August 18, 2014

Sometimes hatred turns to pity

Sometimes hatred turns to pity. And I think that's kind of a Christian thing. I think Tolkien wrote something about that in one or two of his books.

A reader emails us:

A belated response to the Damon Linker suck-up post.

I've long since given up regular visits to Rod's blog (for reasons we all are familiar with) so it's good to drop in here and see the capsulized chronicle of Rod's decline and fall—something I do have the time for.

I used to hate Linker, seeing him as an opportunistic snake in the grass, a 21st century Maria Monk.

Then I saw a video of his wife, and now I think I just pity him. To imagine him picking up small change here and there as a freelancer and online "editor" but mostly surviving as a house-husband to a shrill, strident, man-jawed associate professor is to imagine something I would view as a living hell. As he writhes in the flames of this torment, I can understand if his cries are blasphemous and his shrieks are libelous.



The video is proof that even Ph. D.'s can be brainwashed.

Here's some supplemental reading material which might shed some light on the subject.

9 comments:

  1. The video is proof that even Ph. D.'s can be brainwashed.

    I'd say academics are the most easily brainwashed, because they are seldom accountable for their work. If an academic such as this screech turns out to be wrong, will it ever blow back on her? If Obamacare turns out not to ever insure the 40M she cites (which it hasn't -- remember the victory lap they took when 7M (gross, not net) signed up?), what difference does it make to her? She'll still have her gig, with tenure and health insurance paid for by others, and can go on to the next topic. For which her sage pronouncements will be greeted with the same plaudits by other academics (similarly unaccountable), and the circle goes round and round.

    Not to mention that academics are never shy about making pronouncements outside of their field of expertise. See Noam Chomsky, Paul Krugman, et al.

    I recommend Intellectuals and Society on this subject.

    It is wise to be very skeptical of the statements of any academic or other expert whose work does not go into an actual product that has to work. External measures are necessary for all of us.

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    1. David Mamet made a similar point about actors and acting in his book True and False. He noted that all the theories about acting were the product of idle men who didn't face the challenge of entertaining other men in an effort to avoid starvation.

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    2. My husband always says: The more education you have, the more indoctrinated you are. And the more indoctrinated you are, the less capable of critical thinking you are. (And he's a PhD, so he should know. ;))

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  2. She has good squat form, I'll give her that.

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  3. I shouldn't even be allowed to be doing this. I have to cop to Rush Limbaugh's confession "Having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have."

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  4. How clueless am I? I never even heard of Damon LInker. I take it he's a leftwing Cathjolic-basher?

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    1. Pauli was more into the topic than I, but he's that guy who made Dreher say mean things about Fr. Neuhaus after his death.

      And he's the guy who feared Fr. Neuhaus was turning the USofA into a theocracy, and wrote a book about it. After having cashed all of his First Things paychecks, of course.

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    2. I don't think I'd ever heard of him, either, before this post. Clearly I either don't get out much or, when I do, I don't travel in the "right" circles. :|

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