Attention, all you myrmidons toiling distractedly in your little cubes, or struggling to shut out the bustle of the ant-heap as you type with your thumbs in some noisy cyber-cafe: thanks to the ingenuity of the Japanese, you can now equip yourself with horse-blinkers. And it gets even better: they will deafen you as well.
Learn more here. Are we loving modernity yet?
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This made me think of a brief conversation I had recently, when a gentleman noted the spectacles case I put my glasses in. I responded that I liked it because (1) my stepfather had given it to me and (2) it’s old-fashioned. “We should always value anything that suggests the past,” I somewhat piously intoned, although I very strongly believe that. As Winston Smith does with O’Brian and Julia in Orwell’s 1984 when drinking wine for the first time, we should always try to offer a toast to the past. That may be one of the best ways to combat the pernicious effects of modernity.
Jacques, if you’re out there, I thought I would drop a line about a book I recently read. Perhaps you’re not really of French lineage, but if you are you might enjoy perusing Julian Jackson’s recent biography of de Gaulle. I found it a great source for reflection, especially in the stress Jackson puts on the General’s mystical attachment to his nation. While de Gaulle eventually became more amenable to republicanism due notably to the influence of the Resistance, that was always secondary to his profound love for the patrie: France’s unique and inimitable history, religion, culture, people. Obviously this has a relevance today, when national identity, versus affinity for liberalism and democracy, is becoming paramount in the minds of many in both the West and East.
Horse blinkers you say? A feed bag with earth friendly food around the neck would complete the package.
Jason,
Gratitude for the past, and for those who labored to build all that we have inherited, is itself a thing of the past.
Thanks for the suggestion Jason. I have a mystical attachment to France myself :) It’s hard to witness what’s being done to her.