As the primary season winds down the chasm opening up in conservative ranks is more surprising and distressing than any refinement of the Right/Left distinction.
I have three degrees and a teaching certificate. I paid my way through college at every stage after my parents bankrolled the Bachelors degree (which Id earned by the age of twenty by attending summer school). Despite all of this preparation I have never come close to making half of a six-figure annual incomeand at this late date I never will. My being a straight white male Texan has had something perhaps much to do with my limited employment opportunities in academe. A member of more than one search committee has confidentially informed me that my non-minority" status was a major liability.
Nevertheless I have usually managed to scrounge up some kind of work and to enjoy some substantial portion of my job. Ive also found ways to save money. Ive cut my own hair for twenty-five years. Ive walked to work and/or taken a homemade lunch at most of my jobs. I probably wear old clothes far too long: I certainly dont concern myself about fashion statements. I avoid doctors unless I run out of duct tape. (If you eat properly and exercise then whatever death awaits you is the one youre due: thats my view.) My wife and I have taken all of two vacations in twenty years that had nothing to do with our sons traveling to baseball tournaments.
And speaking of baseball… my son and I managed to develop a special skill in him that will have put him through college in another year (God willing) without any debt.
I might add that I grow about $300 worth of food in the back yard during a good year. Im still learning the finer points of truck farming. Its hard hard work but it leads to a feeling of independence.
Why this self-gratulatory ramble? Because Im tired of being styled an elitist white-collar snob sometimes implicitly and sometimes in direct attacks by Trump supporters. Many of them seem to think that they have some righteous claim to moral high ground because their jobs were outsourced and because they couldnt afford years of education. The Donald they say is going to bring their jobs back; and for Cruz-ers like me to question his honesty or competence is just the smug condescension of someone who has never had dirt under his fingernails.
Allow me to point out the following:
1) I dont like the way our nations industrial backbone was surgically removed either. If we should go to war with China on some dark day of the twenty-first century we would have to figure out how we might still import our ships and tanks from our adversarybecause all the parts in such assemblies currently come from the PRC. Yet as for job loss outsourcing only accelerated the demise of the industrial laborer which contemporary high tech has made inevitable. Those manual laborers who still have employment in todays world get paid so little that they undercut the manufacture and operational costs of the machine poised to replace them. Once they demand a raise theyre gone. This isnt the description of the typical American workers dream-gig.
2) Our unions actually forced the hand of many industries that would as soon have kept their factories in the USA. How many steelworkers I wonder would show up in the morning for my salary? Trump cant turn the technological clock back and he cant make a job worth $15 an hour on the open market pay $30. But he can apparently buy votes by promising otherwise.
3) Finally Im not inclined to apologize either for what Ive studied or because Ive studied. If there were more teachers of literature like me our colleges wouldnt be indoctrinating enemies of Western culture by defaming and mutilating literary classics. If more young people had more exposure to more great books then there might be a more general understanding that all lives have a beginning and an end with lots of intermediate chapters that what you choose to do in chapter 14 or 23 of your life will impact the finale and that human tragedies are always eventually the fruit of human character. There might be fewer people who believe in some incoherent superhero" personality constructed by popular media or in some comic-book salvation-scenario impossible in real-world events.
To those who sneer that I wouldnt have time to study such gibberish if I werent a pampered darling of the leisure class I say that they might not need smartphones widescreen TVs extended-cab pick-ups hot off the line tickets to Cowboy games PlayStation upgrades (or Play Stations) hunting leases Caribbean cruises air fare to Vegas or new trophy wives if they knew how to live each day with a regard for its contribution to all previous and subsequent days. They might even along the way learn some of the deeper dimensions of that Christian faith whose name is being swatted about now like a badminton birdie at a family picnic.
To those who smirk because I use words like subsequent" I say that I wasnt born knowing any words at all. I began where they did and I worked my way up. I dont boast about my learning because I know how much ignorance still clouds my view; but I might boast of not being fool enough to boast of my ignorance if the former boast were not as foolish as the latter.
Why would a person curse and damn another for treating him like a dummy then proceed to attack that other for showing signs of brain activity? Isnt that pretty dumb?
An angry veteran called Limbaugh a few weeks ago. He defended a man who has publicly derided POWs and has crowed about getting soldiers to commit cold-blooded murder of non-combatants at his bidding; yet the same caller disparaged a man who champions the Constitution that all military personnel are sworn to uphold. Of this veteran I would simply ask Why?"
Another radio/television host persistently labels as an outsider" and an insurgent" a man who attended Penn State and rode his fathers millions into a career of dubious promotions while the implied insider is the son of a refugee from Castros Cuba who worked his way through Harvard and proceeded to alienate the likes of Mitch McConnell by speaking truth on the floor of the US Senate. Of this celebrated host I would ask So what are you staking in this bet? If you turn out to have misadvised the American people what money is behind your mouth? Ill lose my job if my students learn nothing. My son will be bumped from the team if he cant retire hitters. What happens if within one year your maverick cuts sordid deals on every major promise? Will you resign? Will you denounce yourself to your listeners? No: youll scream Traitor! as if you had no warning and were perfectly innocent. Youll flip like a weathervane."
What I expected to be a time of relief if not of joy and celebration has become a renewal of an eight-year nightmare. That a president even worse than Barack Obama looms over our futureand that he will be foisted upon us not by progressive ideologues but by class warriors who hate education and reason as venomously as any of the drivers of Maos Cultural Revolution"isnt a possibility I had ever imagined. Some of the most cherished constellations in my universe of trusted informantseditorialists commentators and fundraisers whom I viewed as personal friends though I had never met any of themare now dead to me for this life. These few months of 2016 have brought unforeseen and incalculable loss. I cant believe what Im living through.
The Roman poet Virgil always associates bursts of irrational destructive passion with a female animus in the Aeneid. Virgils men and women alike have both a stable male half and a volatile female half; and the latter as in the Old Testament always seems to win. (Naturally all of this is far too politically incorrect to write or even whisper about in the Ivory Towera contributive cause no doubt to the Aeneids disappearance from the standard curriculum.) Juno detests the Trojans with an implacable maniacal lust for vengeance; the prudent Greek Athena in her Virgilian morph as Minerva is just as vindictive though less visible. Warriors are driven to mad slaughter in battle by various feminine inspirations from the hellish Allecto to the innocent Lavinia whose blushes fan Turnuss passion. Hecate ministers to Didos suicide after a disappointed love; and the Trojan matrons desperate after so much wandering set much of the fleet afire in Sicily hoping nonsensically to find build a home from the smoldering ashes. Even the admirably level-headed Amazon Camilla meets her doom because of a momentary surrender to a womanish love of baubles". To ancient Stoics and to most Greco-Roman philosophers after the days of Socrates the essential manly attribute was rational self-control. The ability to dominate surging impulses with abiding principles and to draw egoistic responsesperhaps kicking and screamingunder the umbrella of the Golden Rule sat at the core of virtus: virtue" literally manliness".
But this of course is a thinking personsand probably an educated personsargument. Now we display our manhood apparently by dropping the reins and letting the horses run where they will. A guy who cuts his own hair is a loser" and self-sufficiency" is a flattering way of denominating the cowardice of the short-maned lion whos been chased off by the alpha male.
Were back to jungle law just in time for a new Spring.
As the primary season winds down the chasm opening up in conservative ranks is more surprising and distressing than any refinement of the Right/Left distinction.
I have three degrees and a teaching certificate. I paid my way through college at every stage after my parents bankrolled the Bachelors degree (which Id earned by the age of twenty by attending summer school). Despite all of this preparation I have never come close to making half of a six-figure annual incomeand at this late date I never will. My being a straight white male Texan has had something perhaps much to do with my limited employment opportunities in academe. A member of more than one search committee has confidentially informed me that my non-minority" status was a major liability.
Nevertheless I have usually managed to scrounge up some kind of work and to enjoy some substantial portion of my job. Ive also found ways to save money. Ive cut my own hair for twenty-five years. Ive walked to work and/or taken a homemade lunch at most of my jobs. I probably wear old clothes far too long: I certainly dont concern myself about fashion statements. I avoid doctors unless I run out of duct tape. (If you eat properly and exercise then whatever death awaits you is the one youre due: thats my view.) My wife and I have taken all of two vacations in twenty years that had nothing to do with our sons traveling to baseball tournaments.
And speaking of baseball… my son and I managed to develop a special skill in him that will have put him through college in another year (God willing) without any debt.
I might add that I grow about $300 worth of food in the back yard during a good year. Im still learning the finer points of truck farming. Its hard hard work but it leads to a feeling of independence.
Why this self-gratulatory ramble? Because Im tired of being styled an elitist white-collar snob sometimes implicitly and sometimes in direct attacks by Trump supporters. Many of them seem to think that they have some righteous claim to moral high ground because their jobs were outsourced and because they couldnt afford years of education. The Donald they say is going to bring their jobs back; and for Cruz-ers like me to question his honesty or competence is just the smug condescension of someone who has never had dirt under his fingernails.
Allow me to point out the following:
1) I dont like the way our nations industrial backbone was surgically removed either. If we should go to war with China on some dark day of the twenty-first century we would have to figure out how we might still import our ships and tanks from our adversarybecause all the parts in such assemblies currently come from the PRC. Yet as for job loss outsourcing only accelerated the demise of the industrial laborer which contemporary high tech has made inevitable. Those manual laborers who still have employment in todays world get paid so little that they undercut the manufacture and operational costs of the machine poised to replace them. Once they demand a raise theyre gone. This isnt the description of the typical American workers dream-gig.
2) Our unions actually forced the hand of many industries that would as soon have kept their factories in the USA. How many steelworkers I wonder would show up in the morning for my salary? Trump cant turn the technological clock back and he cant make a job worth $15 an hour on the open market pay $30. But he can apparently buy votes by promising otherwise.
3) Finally Im not inclined to apologize either for what Ive studied or because Ive studied. If there were more teachers of literature like me our colleges wouldnt be indoctrinating enemies of Western culture by defaming and mutilating literary classics. If more young people had more exposure to more great books then there might be a more general understanding that all lives have a beginning and an end with lots of intermediate chapters that what you choose to do in chapter 14 or 23 of your life will impact the finale and that human tragedies are always eventually the fruit of human character. There might be fewer people who believe in some incoherent superhero" personality constructed by popular media or in some comic-book salvation-scenario impossible in real-world events.
To those who sneer that I wouldnt have time to study such gibberish if I werent a pampered darling of the leisure class I say that they might not need smartphones widescreen TVs extended-cab pick-ups hot off the line tickets to Cowboy games PlayStation upgrades (or Play Stations) hunting leases Caribbean cruises air fare to Vegas or new trophy wives if they knew how to live each day with a regard for its contribution to all previous and subsequent days. They might even along the way learn some of the deeper dimensions of that Christian faith whose name is being swatted about now like a badminton birdie at a family picnic.
To those who smirk because I use words like subsequent" I say that I wasnt born knowing any words at all. I began where they did and I worked my way up. I dont boast about my learning because I know how much ignorance still clouds my view; but I might boast of not being fool enough to boast of my ignorance if the former boast were not as foolish as the latter.
Why would a person curse and damn another for treating him like a dummy then proceed to attack that other for showing signs of brain activity? Isnt that pretty dumb?
An angry veteran called Limbaugh a few weeks ago. He defended a man who has publicly derided POWs and has crowed about getting soldiers to commit cold-blooded murder of non-combatants at his bidding; yet the same caller disparaged a man who champions the Constitution that all military personnel are sworn to uphold. Of this veteran I would simply ask Why?"
Another radio/television host persistently labels as an outsider" and an insurgent" a man who attended Penn State and rode his fathers millions into a career of dubious promotions while the implied insider is the son of a refugee from Castros Cuba who worked his way through Harvard and proceeded to alienate the likes of Mitch McConnell by speaking truth on the floor of the US Senate. Of this celebrated host I would ask So what are you staking in this bet? If you turn out to have misadvised the American people what money is behind your mouth? Ill lose my job if my students learn nothing. My son will be bumped from the team if he cant retire hitters. What happens if within one year your maverick cuts sordid deals on every major promise? Will you resign? Will you denounce yourself to your listeners? No: youll scream Traitor! as if you had no warning and were perfectly innocent. Youll flip like a weathervane."
What I expected to be a time of relief if not of joy and celebration has become a renewal of an eight-year nightmare. That a president even worse than Barack Obama looms over our futureand that he will be foisted upon us not by progressive ideologues but by class warriors who hate education and reason as venomously as any of the drivers of Maos Cultural Revolution"isnt a possibility I had ever imagined. Some of the most cherished constellations in my universe of trusted informantseditorialists commentators and fundraisers whom I viewed as personal friends though I had never met any of themare now dead to me for this life. These few months of 2016 have brought unforeseen and incalculable loss. I cant believe what Im living through.
The Roman poet Virgil always associates bursts of irrational destructive passion with a female animus in the Aeneid. Virgils men and women alike have both a stable male half and a volatile female half; and the latter as in the Old Testament always seems to win. (Naturally all of this is far too politically incorrect to write or even whisper about in the Ivory Towera contributive cause no doubt to the Aeneids disappearance from the standard curriculum.) Juno detests the Trojans with an implacable maniacal lust for vengeance; the prudent Greek Athena in her Virgilian morph as Minerva is just as vindictive though less visible. Warriors are driven to mad slaughter in battle by various feminine inspirations from the hellish Allecto to the innocent Lavinia whose blushes fan Turnuss passion. Hecate ministers to Didos suicide after a disappointed love; and the Trojan matrons desperate after so much wandering set much of the fleet afire in Sicily hoping nonsensically to find build a home from the smoldering ashes. Even the admirably level-headed Amazon Camilla meets her doom because of a momentary surrender to a womanish love of baubles". To ancient Stoics and to most Greco-Roman philosophers after the days of Socrates the essential manly attribute was rational self-control. The ability to dominate surging impulses with abiding principles and to draw egoistic responsesperhaps kicking and screamingunder the umbrella of the Golden Rule sat at the core of virtus: virtue" literally manliness".
But this of course is a thinking personsand probably an educated personsargument. Now we display our manhood apparently by dropping the reins and letting the horses run where they will. A guy who cuts his own hair is a loser" and self-sufficiency" is a flattering way of denominating the cowardice of the short-maned lion whos been chased off by the alpha male.
Were back to jungle law just in time for a new Spring.