A fine interview. He said a number of scary things I didn't know about the patriot act. One thing gets under my skin, though.
I understand the poetry of "we have nothing to fear but fear itself," but it strikes me as a very silly saying. It wasn't true when Roosevelt said it, and it's not true today.
I'm all in favor of wooing the public with poetic words, and it's a benefit that the saying has the effect of calming people down when they would tend to overreact, but shouldn't we as intellectuals be able to admit that it's a dumb saying? There is quite a bit to fear. We shouldn't get so carried away we turn into fascists (passing patriot acts and such), but we shouldn't pretend that if we all just gain as much freedom as possible we'll be safe and secure.
FYI the links on the right hand side of the website don't work
ReplyDeleteA fine interview. He said a number of scary things I didn't know about the patriot act. One thing gets under my skin, though.
ReplyDeleteI understand the poetry of "we have nothing to fear but fear itself," but it strikes me as a very silly saying. It wasn't true when Roosevelt said it, and it's not true today.
I'm all in favor of wooing the public with poetic words, and it's a benefit that the saying has the effect of calming people down when they would tend to overreact, but shouldn't we as intellectuals be able to admit that it's a dumb saying? There is quite a bit to fear. We shouldn't get so carried away we turn into fascists (passing patriot acts and such), but we shouldn't pretend that if we all just gain as much freedom as possible we'll be safe and secure.