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And the conversation has ended.
There you have it, in a nutshell.
When was the last time you observed two people saying, at the end of a long, contentious but relatively civil conversation, that they would have to 'agree to disagree'?
Tangentially --- sometimes I think about a line from an essay by Heidegger, his only real attempt at literary criticism, about the poetry of Holderlin. "We have been a conversation", was the line. It pains me to read that. These days, it's more like "We have been a series of colliding monologues that end in name-calling and vitriol which further our downward spiral of solipsism and narcissism."
But that's just when I'm feeling sour. Or when I'm paying close attention, one.
Some of our threads in here give me hope, though. Some of them.
Thanks for calling out the Alterman piece and linking to it --- I read his stuff about the media whenever I find it, and generally devour the NYer cover to cover, but I'm behind and appreciate your putting it at the head of my queue.
