Saw these over at Another Substack today. Thanks to the posters who put them up. “Picture to yourself a man who has risen to wealth or power by a continued course of treachery and cruelty, by exploiting for purely selfish ends the noble motions of his victims, laughing the while at their simplicity; who, having thus attained success, uses it for the gratification of lust and hatred and finally parts with the last rag of honour among thieves by betraying his own accomplices and jeering at their last moments of bewildered disillusionment. Suppose, further, that he does all this, not (as we like to imagine) tormented by remorse or even misgiving, but eating like a schoolboy and sleeping like a healthy infant — a jolly, ruddy-cheeked man, without a care in the world, unshakably confident to the very end that he alone has found the answer to the riddle of life, that God and man are fools whom he has got the better of, that his way of life is utterly successful, satisfactory, unassailable….”
After living through the "student -68" - years I was thinking of political ideologies as stages of development belonging to different ages: conservatives are 10-year old, good age for developing selfishness. Liberals are 15-year old, good age for trying out the limits. Socialists are in their 20-ies, good age to discover that there are other people around, with same needs and wishes as yourself. After that you have to grow up, and remember all of your stages without getting stuck in any of them.
Does this mean I can ignore the newly arrived email from Frump Social Media whose title is "We emailed you 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 times"? (Spoiler Alert: It came in the mail only once)
Or the one from the FLA guy whose title is "Holly Woke Punches Florida"?
Plus, I've received several other GOP emails this past week. They must be hurting for $$ as I rarely hear from them.
Fits TFG up to a point. He’s not a jolly man, has probably known any true joy in his life, has never experienced the awe that overwhelms one in the presence of true beauty. Art, music, literature mean nothing to him.
See, Tom, this is why I'm here and still on Facebook, for references from my FB friends like this..... I like the C.S. Lewis quote, but the Santayana one is gold.....
Thank you TC for my Good Friday reflection. And , per TS Eliot, may tfg, the hollowest of men, have his world end "...not with a bang but a whimper."
Interesting how the more things change, the more they stay the same.
After living through the "student -68" - years I was thinking of political ideologies as stages of development belonging to different ages: conservatives are 10-year old, good age for developing selfishness. Liberals are 15-year old, good age for trying out the limits. Socialists are in their 20-ies, good age to discover that there are other people around, with same needs and wishes as yourself. After that you have to grow up, and remember all of your stages without getting stuck in any of them.
Does this mean I can ignore the newly arrived email from Frump Social Media whose title is "We emailed you 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 times"? (Spoiler Alert: It came in the mail only once)
Or the one from the FLA guy whose title is "Holly Woke Punches Florida"?
Plus, I've received several other GOP emails this past week. They must be hurting for $$ as I rarely hear from them.
Fits TFG up to a point. He’s not a jolly man, has probably known any true joy in his life, has never experienced the awe that overwhelms one in the presence of true beauty. Art, music, literature mean nothing to him.
Thanks for these excerpts. The descriptions certainly fit - and they likely fit a few others as well.
Good ones. I wish Mary Trump would add her own in writing. She certainly has him figured out!
I love excellence.
See, Tom, this is why I'm here and still on Facebook, for references from my FB friends like this..... I like the C.S. Lewis quote, but the Santayana one is gold.....