enola gay, should have stayed at home yesterday

Some of our commenters have asked why we are not posting more frequently. I can only speak for myself, but I hope to address the question for myself.

One of our commenters (I hesitate to call him a "troll" at this point, though I won't promise to never call him such again) has brought Ayn Rand into the comments.

I'll have to admit that, at this point, I'm far more interested in discussing Atlas Shrugged than I am in discussing politics.

And I'm okay with that.

I am-- at bottom-- a lit and history geek. I'd much rather discuss and teach the history of ideas than fight for a momentary political win. The Bush era laid our differences on the table, and made half of Americans enemies with the other half. And that is the context in which our bloggery-- Ivory Dome's as well as PTS's-- began.

Let me not be over-charitable: I am vastly annoyed by the fact that large segments of the USA bitch constantly about their health insurance, but refuse to consider another option. I am frightened by the unwillingness of the citizenry to take even baby steps toward fixing our environmental problems.

But I have begun to accept that these things are facts of life-- facts which may well lead us to our collective grave-- but facts nonetheless.

Make no mistake: I do not, at this point, blame Bush. He squandered what was perhaps our last opportunity to fix things, but hypothetical future historians could argue that the Clinton administration (of which Al Gore was an influential member) understood some of the dangers we face to a greater degree, and did no more. And the problems from which we now reap the whirlwind began long before W.

President Obama, I believe, is a good man who might be a great President in another age, but who has been cursed with ours. Unless he is able to vastly exceed my expectations (in fairness and in hope, he has done so before), he cannot succeed. It is all too little, and far too late.

Ultimately, the only thing that civilizations leave behind is their art. And that's really all I'm interested in discussing at this point. Curious Texan was right to bring up Ayn Rand. She perhaps brings some context, some understanding of how we arrived at the end of our world. At the beginning of this post, and here at the end, I'm posting the establishment view (from the Ayn Rand Institute) of her writings.

Discuss among yourselves, if you want to. I, as the sibling of a disabled person, might focus on Rand's demonization of altruism. You might focus elsewhere. Discuss if you care to. Better yet, go spend some time with your families.

spacedark