Oct 05 2007
THE HEROIC MUST BECOME THINKABLE (AGAIN)
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“The flabby underside of American liberalism, and why the Corporados needn’t worry about a thing…”
By Patrice Greanville
10/6/07
As Americans we are so conditioned to avoid pain and inconvenience, so pansified by the endless mendacious ministrations of the system, and so unthinkingly devoted first to matters of home and the pacification of the insatiable “me, me, me” instead of principle (whose very “abstract” quality is clearly sheer pain to most of our fellow citizens), that even something as basic and risk-free as an article on progressive politics has to be formatted and spoon-fed in a way suitable for advanced hedonists, or chances are it won’t be read. Not even by people who define themselves as activists.
The acceptance of this realization —of which I have been in denial for years if not decades—came after talking to a dear friend whose noble and empathetic character is beyond doubt, and whose political leanings are impeccably on the left…and yet, not even this excellent human being could escape being an unplugged American. Her suggestion, if she was to read Cyrano’s materials [or any publication, blog or text that requires a bit of investment and true dedication to the subject], was to make them more “like People Magazine.” “Make the type larger. Make the articles shorter, so anyone can read them.” Well-meaning, she was also apparently oblivious to the oxymoronic implication of that very sentence. In other words, write like the system if you want an audience. Produce soundbites. Otherwise, don’t count EVEN on me to read the stuff, as my attention will drift elsewhere.