Light On Dark Water

Remarkable Insight On My Part

A quick post from Fairhope Brewing, where they are actually encouraging people to come in and use their Wi-Fi, even opening in the mornings just for that purpose. Thank you, FBC.

I have a new computer, and have taken the occasion to go through a lot of old files and discard, organize, etc. In the process I ran across a draft of this post from ten years ago, "Firemen and the Gnostic Economy." The last few paragraphs seem, if I may say so, somewhat prescient about the conditions which could produce a phenomenon like Donald Trump.

There is a practical disdain in the upper reaches of our society for anybody so slow-witted and naïve as to make a living with the actual work of his hands, a disdain that is independent of political categories. (If anything the active disdain is stronger in the “liberal” camp, which may give more lip service to the lower-class laborer but doesn’t actually think very highly of him—but that’s a topic for another day.)

Maclin Horton
, ,

5 responses to “Remarkable Insight On My Part”

  1. Mac

    Got in too much of a hurry there. Actually this is what I had intended to quote:
    “ There is a growing gap between the people who run the gnostic economy and those who have no direct role in it and are seen as existing only to serve and support those who do. I think this is one of the many forces pulling our country apart. It isn’t very visible yet, and the effects are slow to develop, but they may prove to be very powerfully destructive….”

    Reply
  2. Rob G

    Actually I think your two quotes fit rather well together. In many cases the people seen as having “no direct role” are those who work with their hands.

    Reply
  3. Rob G

    And yes, your observation was right on the mark. Significant reforms after the 2008 crash would have helped nipped it in the bud somewhat, but they never came, and the fact that the “have nots” saw that nothing was done made them angry, hence the Tea Party, Occupy, etc.

    Reply
  4. Robert Gotcher

    I never trust an academic who doesn’t have a garden or build shelves.

    Reply
  5. Mac

    Sound policy, though I would not get past it. But then I’m not an academic.
    Rob, yes, they ought to fit—I think they’re consecutive paragraphs. 🙂 I can’t or don’t want to look because it takes so dang long to load a page. Still waiting on internet repair. Heard a complaint today from someone who had called AT&T support and was told that their diagnostics showed her line was working and the problem must be her equipment. “But I can see the cable lying on the ground with a tree on it.” They sent her a new router.

    Reply

Leave a reply to Mac Cancel reply

Instagram / TikTok / X

Designed with WordPress