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John O
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Jared got a gun

- James Howard Kunstler -

Jim C.:

I am saying that a society that no longer thinks pursuit of such truth as central to a meaningful existence is beyond salvation. The paradox is that a society that believes no definite conclusions can be made about ultimate truth is correct. And yet, as you point out, this is itself a declaration of an ultimate truth that denies ultimate truth. This is the Platonic paradox. We cannot find refuge either in relativism or absolutism.

I think there is more than a passing resemblance between these philosophical attitudes and the opposition between anarchy and despotism, or liberty and order. The pragmatic solution is some middle point. A "mixed republic" in politics, and a moral humanism in philosophy.

As for Kunstler's use of the word "despotic" in reference to working at a fast-food joint, I would pick perhaps a different word, but I still think there is an element of truth to this. Although I am not a Thoreau-style anarchist, I think there is far more dignity in shoveling manure on a farm for pennies a day than there is in shoveling fat-laden saltburgers with a fake grin to the mass customer. Stores like McDonald's utilize mass production, and the front-line worker, as well as piles of people up to the top, are cogs in that machine. It is not McDonald's fault or any single individual's, but there is something dehumanizing about it that resembles a socialist fairy tale. One must not merely perform one's job, but one must do so with a certain 'happiness' or be sacked for disloyalty. It is not enough to show that one is willing and capable to do a job, but to show a degree of commitment and loyalty from the beginning. Fast food is just a routine example, not an outlier.

Schumpeter pointed out the similarities between big business and socialism and how one morphs into the other. If he was right, then Kunstler may be more right than you give him credit for.

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