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The joy of disputatiousness
Nov. 8th, 2016 05:16 pmWant to post something quick with the early east coast polls just closing.
I wrote this last night in about three minutes while waiting to see our therapist:
If Clinton wins I want to go forth with the joy of intellectual argument and dispute. If Trump wins, I may need to forgo this joy in favor of simple support for those engaging in intellectual and practical resistance. —Of course it's hardly either/or. Think of the joy of the intellectual dance step. Soldiers take time to dance. And support and resistance don't lose their pull even if Clinton wins, with danger not quite so pressing.
(Then our therapist ushered us in.)
What was on my mind was what a hero I think Matt Yglesias has been overall at Vox and on his twitter feed, but that he's kind of being a minor jerk whenever he gets snarky about theories of "economic anxiety" and such that are sometimes applied to Trump voters. It's like neither he nor anyone similar knows how to get to an intelligent conversation on the subject, or really knows how to want one. It's not an urgent conversation, but life would be more fun taking the Yglesias types to task than just supporting them shoulder-to-shoulder on the subjects of greater urgency (like urban density, which he's truly smart about, but poses no fun philosophical puzzles). —Really, I believe if done right disputatiousness is an important part of support. But if Clinton wins I'll feel a sigh of relief and think even if the disputatiousness is not done so right, it'll eventually right itself, or something.
But it's important to dance.
Dance to the beat of the living dead.
I wrote this last night in about three minutes while waiting to see our therapist:
If Clinton wins I want to go forth with the joy of intellectual argument and dispute. If Trump wins, I may need to forgo this joy in favor of simple support for those engaging in intellectual and practical resistance. —Of course it's hardly either/or. Think of the joy of the intellectual dance step. Soldiers take time to dance. And support and resistance don't lose their pull even if Clinton wins, with danger not quite so pressing.
(Then our therapist ushered us in.)
What was on my mind was what a hero I think Matt Yglesias has been overall at Vox and on his twitter feed, but that he's kind of being a minor jerk whenever he gets snarky about theories of "economic anxiety" and such that are sometimes applied to Trump voters. It's like neither he nor anyone similar knows how to get to an intelligent conversation on the subject, or really knows how to want one. It's not an urgent conversation, but life would be more fun taking the Yglesias types to task than just supporting them shoulder-to-shoulder on the subjects of greater urgency (like urban density, which he's truly smart about, but poses no fun philosophical puzzles). —Really, I believe if done right disputatiousness is an important part of support. But if Clinton wins I'll feel a sigh of relief and think even if the disputatiousness is not done so right, it'll eventually right itself, or something.
But it's important to dance.
Dance to the beat of the living dead.
