Peggy Noonan seems quite depressed:
I think there is an unspoken subtext in our national political culture right now. In fact I think it’s a subtext to our society. I think that a lot of people are carrying around in their heads, unarticulated and even in some cases unnoticed, a sense that the wheels are coming off the trolley and the trolley off the tracks. That in some deep and fundamental way things have broken down and can’t be fixed, or won’t be fixed any time soon.
And that is one of the cheerier parts of the piece.
The thing is, I am not sure what she is talking about–i.e., what is going to go wrong and why does she feel that will be the case?
If you’re feeling depressed, please avoid this column.
And this is perhaps one of the gloomier things I have read in a while (if you really stop and think about the implications):
A few weeks ago I was chatting with friends about the sheer number of things parents now buy for teenage girls–bags and earrings and shoes. When I was young we didn’t wear earrings, but if we had, everyone would have had a pair or two. I know a 12-year-old with dozens of pairs. They’re thrown all over her desk and bureau. She’s not rich, and they’re inexpensive, but her parents buy her more when she wants them. Someone said, “It’s affluence,” and someone else nodded, but I said, “Yeah, but it’s also the fear parents have that we’re at the end of something, and they want their kids to have good memories. They’re buying them good memories, in this case the joy a kid feels right down to her stomach when the earrings are taken out of the case.”
Wow.
I thought it was great. Wrote a post about it earlier in the week.
In my opinion, she hits the nail on the head.
Comment by Dean — Sunday, October 30, 2024 @ 9:19 am
I read your post, and left the following comment:
I still do not see what the actual argument is and what the coming doom is supposed to be. It is all so very vague.
Casting all the “elites” in one big pot is over-simplistic. And even beyond that, where is the evidence that the elites of the past were somehow morally superior to the elites of the present? It isn’t as if our history (whether of the US or of the world) is all that impressive.
I am not comfortable with the idea that we have some homogenous elite that is exhibiting a particular set of behaviors.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Sunday, October 30, 2024 @ 9:37 am
Steven,
I agree, she is being over-simplistic. That said I think there is some truth to her statements.
In many parts of this country, people at the top end of the foodchain have taken a “I got mine” attitude. I think there is reason to be depressed when you look at that in contrast. Both inner cities as well as rural Americans have not had that luxury.
Comment by Dean — Sunday, October 30, 2024 @ 2:24 pm
I wouldn’t necessarily argue with that-however, I don’t see that as a new phenomenon that would result in the doom that Noonan is writing about.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Sunday, October 30, 2024 @ 2:36 pm
Steven, sitting in the airport today, I got my hands on the latest Time magazine - the one with the cover story about pension funds. There is no way to spin the story away. It’s ugly, it’s bad, and it’s only going to get worse. Ditto medicare and medicaid cuts, rising health care expenses, and wage rollbacks for blue-collar workers. And then I got to read about the Abramson/Reed/Rove connection.
And that’s just one part of the picture. I didn’t read Noonan’s piece, but I am in something of a funk myself these days, because the foxes have been given the keys to the chicken farm - by both parties.
Comment by bryan — Sunday, October 30, 2024 @ 7:22 pm
Bryan,
These are all legitimate concerns, for sure. However, none of them are in Noonan’s column. Perhaps that is what she is talking about, perhaps not.
There is plenty to be depressed and disgusted over, to be sure.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Sunday, October 30, 2024 @ 8:12 pm