I don’t know if this is entirely fair to Tolkien’s “On Fairy Stories,” but one of my recollections from that essay is that a fairy story is a result of the clash of two civilizations — e.g., when someone from one world finds himself in another.
England became the home of several waves of immigrants, who generally pushed the previous inhabitants west or north. At any given time you might have two cultures bumping into one another. E.g., Angles living next to Jutes. If a Jute teenager wandered into Angle territory, he’d find himself in a completely different world. Strange languages. Strange clothing. Strange customs.
A “fairy story” is about falling into that other world.
I believe that concept describes the left and the right in America today. We live in completely different worlds, where words have different meanings, there are different facts, different news, and different “narratives.” (That word in that context annoys me, and I’m not sure why. Perhaps because it seems to imply there is no truth, only story.)
A serious conversation on any political or cultural topic would require a patient disassembling of assumptions, alleged facts, and so on. After that soul-crushing, mind-numbing exercise, you might be able to back up to something like a common starting point. But I think that’s becoming more elusive every day.
I don’t want to do it. I have no patience for the people who get their “information” from the other side. The “narrative” in that world — the woke world, the world of the legacy media — is shaped by people who believe it’s okay to flood the country with illegal immigrants, that it’s possible for a boy to become a girl, that speech is violence, that social media not only can, but should suppress certain views, that we should blindly trust government science and silence anyone who dissents, that climate change is a bigger threat than China, that we should ship oil and gas to Europe while New England gets ready to freeze this winter ….
Such people — that is, the “narrative” creators on that side — are either crazy, sniveling cowards, or both. I have no time for them.
In most areas of life, it’s a good thing to listen to both sides. But when one side is insane, that doesn’t apply.
Unfortunately, a lot of people who don’t accept the insane propositions I mention above, nevertheless drink from that well and get “information” from these clowns. Maybe out of habit. Maybe out of a misguided attempt to “get both sides.” I don’t know.
It’s a fool’s errand. The other side might as well be flat Earthers. They’re that far gone. And their insanity infuses everything they say. (I’ve never been a fan of “presuppositionalism,” but there is clearly some merit to the idea.)
There is hope for the people who drink that poisoned draught. There are plenty of examples of people waking up and seeing the light, and there are plenty of people who have the time and the energy to help those poor souls out of the slough. Ben Shapiro. Prager University. Etc.
I don’t have the time, the energy, or the patience to do that work. And probably not the talent either.
In today’s environment, expressing simple and obvious things like “we should not get rid of energy that works until we have something else that works to replace it” make you some sort of criminal, a hater, and probably a Nazi. It’s wearisome beyond belief.
When I was a younger lad, I had the patience to try to explain things. I’m not young any more, and I’m done with it. Other people are doing a fine job in that space. I’ll follow and support them in their efforts.
I will continue to listen to the remaining sane people. Pigweed and I will continue to opine on topics that interest us over at the “beer and conversation” podcast. But blogging doesn’t have any appeal any longer.
This is site is officially closed. I’ll leave it up for a couple weeks, but after that, I’ll probably delete the whole thing.
It’s been a fun ride, and I appreciate all of you who have participated over the years. But it’s time to close this chapter.
I would urge you not to close this site, but my reasons for saying so are very selfish. The part of the USA where I am from is now deep (extremely deep) red. I haven’t been there for a few years and will very likely never go there again.
I, too, am getting way too old for engaging in that insane cultural war. When people disagree with you only by repeating your words in a goofy voice or reformulate your statements in a stupid way, when they make faces and laugh at you while your talking, when they pigeonhole you in a grotesquely inaccurate way, you come to realize that you just don’t belong in that social environment. You may have no other choice but to divorce some friends and even family members. They will think that you have done so because you are one of “them” on the other side, but let them spew forth their nonsense! You don’t have to hear it.
I have never lived in a deep blue area, but the closest I have come to that has not yielded that kind of response. The worst I can think of is when I told a leftist (really a leftist, not what Ben Shapiro – that sophistical motormouth – calls a leftist) that we are stuck with capitalism because it is the only thing that works. He said in a loud voice that it does not work and walked out of the room. That occurred in Belgium during the time of George W. Bush’s presidency.
It would be an interesting experience to go to a place like NYC with all those liberals (a substantial portion of whom are interestingly secular Jews) and see how they react if I say such a thing or if I say, for example, that environmentalism has gone a bit too far (although it has had and continues to have a sensible aspect). I would say that words can quite obviously prompt violence (as of course Trump has done and apparently continues to do), but it is over the top to say the words themselves are violence. But the “leftists” might take exception to such qualifications. Not everyone is on a “side,” but the fanatics on either side just don’t see that way. If you are not on their side, they will pigeonhole you on the other side.
I don’t see anyone participating in the Crowhill discussions as coming down hard on a leftist side. What I find interesting, however, is that Crowhill and some of his affiliates concede a good part of Trumpism and still hang on to part of it. So they will say, for example, that Trump should be imprisoned if he has violated the law, but will add that any of the official investigative agencies must refrain from investigating him. Down in Reckneckville where I have family they absolutely stand by Trump and call you a leftist if you point out his obvious criminality.
So the interesting thing about this blog is that it gives me an opportunity to see how someone conflicted about Trump, Trumpism, and the whole neo-fascist movement in the USA mildly concedes the evils of such things and still pushes back bit by bit. I have kept some Facebook friends who like that movement, but they are not conflicted. They are out-and-out MAGA (= neo-fascist). I have a need to keep my finger on the pulse, as it helps me to see such psychological conflicts at play. If the blog is canceled, I might listen to Crowhill & Pigweed sometimes, but that format is a bit too much like Ben Shapiro. I need to pause and dismantle the sophistries which are constantly whizzing by my ears.
Best wishes to you Crowhill and in your future endeavors. As well, to all who have participated here over the years. Be blessed.
I’ve said in the past that I’d hate for you to do this, but more recently I’ve come to realize it’s inevitable. Please just keep the comments open on the podcast page (and if you wouldn’t mind figuring out the glitch that keeps sending all my comments into moderation on that site, I’d appreciate it! I’ll make a new account if that helps.) I don’t want to lose all ability to interact with your thoughts.
All the best! Life is indeed too short for some things, and lots of other hobbies are probably healthier. I’ll continue to enjoy listening, both for the current event discussion and the book reviews.
If I finish either of my current projects I might ask for your editorial insight 😉 but until then, take care!
Prediction: You can’t keep a good blogger down. You’ll be back.