Almost every election cycle now, media pundits go through the rounds of talking about Democrats being at X%, Republicans being at Y%, and Independents seemingly getting larger. Outside of the media pundits, political activists and enthusiasts (for lack of a quick word) hypothesize that all that Americans need is someone to "listen to them" and someone to "rally them up".
Yeah, I know, I put in a cute comment about arendt's use of "Mr. Burns" -- standard academic writing would have been "Burns" or "Ken Burns." Apologies to arendt.
Over at Facebook my screen registered a piece from Medium, only three weeks old, titled "The End of the American Experiment." Author's name: Umair Haque. Don't know him. Point of the piece: well here's a quote:
Where would we be without Chuck Berry?
I grew up in a small town. If you traveled in one direction, it was predominantly rural and the other direction was predominantly suburban and urban center. The rural versus urban divide has always fascinated me. There is a racial component, an economic component, an ego/pride component and the influence of social interaction.
There's a particular brand of cowardice that's uniquely American.
There have been many versions of cowardice over the years, but throughout history, it's never been presented and accomplished in this wholly American and incredibly hypocritical manner. It may perhaps end up being our lasting legacy to the world, something that truly has not been present in the human psyche before the rise of our empire.
