The Blue-Themed Nightmare (Meta)
By anaesthetica
Tue Mar 18th, 2003 at 09:13:00 AM EST
This is not another political polemic. The way that Kuro5hin, and virtually every other forum in the world, is 'discussing' politics has become more than tiresome. It is damaging, relentless, and all-too-often it is mindless. What follows is a quote from a Henry Miller novel, and some reflection.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I suppose there is no region in America like the old South for good conversation. Here men talk rather than argue and dispute. Here there are more eccentric, bizarre characters, I imagine, than in any other part of the United States. The South breeds character, not sterile intellectualism. With certain individuals the fact that they are shut off from the world tends to bring about a forced bloom; they radiate power and magnetism, their talk is scintillating and stimulating. They live a rich, quiet life of their own, in harmony with their environment and free of the petty ambitions and rivalries of the man of the world. Usually they did not settle down without a struggle, for most of them possess talents and energies unsuspected by the curious invader. The real Southerner, in my opinion, is more gifted by nature, more far-seeing, more dynamic, more inventive and without a doubt more filled with the zest for life than the man of the North or West. When he elects to retire from the world it is not because of defeatism but because, as with the French and the Chinese, his very love of life instills him with a wisdom which expresses itself in renunciation. The most difficult adjustment an expatriate has to make, on returning to his native land, is in this realm of conversation. The impression one has, at first, is that there is no conversation. We do not talk--we bludgeon one another with facts and theories gleaned from cursory readings of newspapers, magazines and digests. Talk is personal and if of any value must be creative. I had to come to the South before I heard such talk. I had to meet men whose names are unknown, men living in almost inaccessible spots, before I could enjoy what I call a real conversation.
--Henry Miller, The Air-Conditioned Nightmare, written in 1945 upon his return to the United States.
Henry Miller's support of the Southerners is what struck me most about this paragraph. I don't post it here in support of Bush (although Texas really isn't Southern in the strictest sense). I don't post it in support of the French. But I think Miller's final point about the methods of discussion that we have are a more potent criticism of our entire climate of debate than anything else I've read since 9/11.
With that in view, there are some things I feel we should actually discuss here at k5. I think we do tend to browbeat one another with 'facts' we've picked up from perusing the internet. Too often this borders on the sterile intellectualism that Miller mentions. MLPs and our responses to them illustrate this more often than not. MLPs dealing with the war issue take for granted existing political polarization, take one small slice of what's been happening, and foment a stereotypical exchange of views. Recent editorials seem to be rather long-winded versions of the same, stringing together sensationalized non-sequiturs into an only semi-coherent polemic.
What's lacking in the stories and responses is time taken in fashioning a response that has been thought ought, deals with the actual subject matter in a subtle way, and includes a view to the gestalt of the topic. Gone missing is the altogether personal element: one rarely represents their opinion as bolstered by evidence, but rather presents evidence and adds an inflammatory quip by way of contribution.
The undue focus on every minor event within the current situation in world news aggravates this tendency. We find ourselves taking many quotes from other sources that we haven't taken the time to fully understand within their context. This doesn't really get fixed by responses or comment rating because most other people don't go research other people's claims for their veracity, but rather read and rate up those comments they agree with on instinct.
With this in mind, those who create stories, and those who post replies, ought to try and add something to the conversations, based on their personal experience--focusing on creating something of cultural insight rather than entering strict competition to see whose side can win the debate.
That being said, I'd like to hear what your thoughts on the state and quality of submissions to k5 are, and more importantly, how we can remind ourselves to keep responses well-thought out, constructive and perhaps even subtle in their points.
Also: please vote in the poll. Thanks.
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/3/17/152636/973Oh ya, have good one gents I'm outa here
