There's not really anything I could add to satirize this weird equivalence of governmental structure, with "culture." In fact, it's about what you'd expect from a guy who seems to consistently think "standard of living" means "GDP per capita" -- after all, nothing measures quality of life like the mean amount of money in a place! But I mean, sure, everybody knows that "culture" means the same thing as "governance," right? I mean, when someone asks you about, say, "Japanese culture," the first thing you think of is their Parliament, no? All praise the political system that produced Shostakovich and Solzhenitsyn! Great culture, must've been great politics!
What can I say: that's what makes a PILM, a PILM. These are people beyond even Mencken's concept of a booboisie - ignorant, yes, but proud of it. This is "economic analysis" -- what do people want? what makes them happy? - from a source displays little ability to identify a Joe Henderson riff or a Schoenberg theme. These are folk who don't know Paul Auster from Paul Anka, William Gaddis from William Tell, Alvin Ailey from Alvin and the Chipmunks, Andrew Wyeth from Andy Griffith, Horace Silver from Mr. Ed, Washington Irving from Dr. J. (get it? Of course you do. Know where it's from? I know, I love y'all.) These are people so frickin' knowledgeable that they have probably never even felt the need to leave US shores, dammit. So, boy oh boy, that's some quality commentary.
No comments:
Post a Comment