By now everyone’s heard about Gerard over at American Digest. I would hang out there sporadically and even pooped in the comments a few times. God…he was a good man. Guys like BP and BCE broke the news and I just sat back and shook my head. They both did beautiful eulogies and gave Gerard a simple elegant send-off that the man would appreciate. Gerard wrote in a simple, elegant fashion that you rarely see these days. He was a courageous writer, as far as that went too. Unlike a lot of elderly boomers, he was willing to face a lot of hard truths and realities - unlike say, someone like Claire Wolfe... who was so set in her mind and ways that she couldn't face certain narratives reliably. Not to knock Claire, I love her and her work, and she was a really good egg...but she and Gerard were products of their times - and those times were certainly better than these in all respects. Their voices will reflect their times. As such, they are priceless.
Barnhardt did one too and raised a spectacular question that Gerard would almost certainly have loved. Does beauty and high art hinge on that of the artist that creates it? It raises the old debate: You-Know-Who is loathed and hated throughout the halls of power and prestige and annals of history because he gathered the collected works of the period’s shittiest people, threw their books into a great big pile…and set them on fire. Commonly left out of that narrative was the fact that he burned books on pedophilia, homosexuality, class envy as pushed by communism, and other rot pushed by a certain (((nameless))) ethnic-religious tribe and other cudgels and black hearts.
You nailed it, 1000%.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, it's still not OK to deal with them appropriately.
The time is coming.
He would have praised and criticized both ends for what they were. Dude was grounded as fuck for a Boomer.
ReplyDeleteAs another old boomer, I will miss his writings immensely. As for Miss Ann, I have read her for many years and don't always agree with her. But I admire her passion. Without passion, there would be no free speech. And that is precious. - Boomer
ReplyDeleteI don’t agree with her on everything either… but she can defend herself well when we disagree. She addresses questions that most of us don’t even think about… but seriously need to.
DeleteThe novelette “Anthem” was a beautiful piece of writing. But Ayn Rand wad an objectively (heh) terrible person. This is not coming from someone who always hated Rand. I was into all that from about age 14/15 through 18. Then I met actual Objectivists when I went off to college (adults that is, not my teenaged friends who had also fallen under the spell), and I rapidly understood that most of them were high-IQ but very lost and damaged people, and not at all people to be around, much less emulate.
ReplyDeleteThis piece (linked) will say it better than I can or am willing to do here. It’s worth a read. I will say that the scene in Atlas Shrugged that lost me was where Dagny’s assistant is abandoned by the side of the tracks in the middle of nowhere. Not because the man betrayed her, or was evil, or anything he did wrong. He simply was not allowed to make it to Galt’s Gulch because he wasn’t one of the Elect, the Selected, the Chosen, call it what you will. That is bullshit. Any system without loyalty up and down the chain of command is an immoral and un-human system. But that was Rand’s world view.
https://web.archive.org/web/20080307075258/http://home.att.net/~bob.wallace/rand1.html
Mike_C
Agreed, Mike. She was out to lunch on altruism and elitism. But she is correct to a certain point: all men are NOT created equal… and our altruism IS killing us. We now have entire generations, communities and demographics that are addicted to welfare. All efforts to deal with them altruistically have only produced more ungrateful slobs addicted to welfare.
DeleteLikewise, objectivism is bang on the money when it stipulates that the truth of any issue is what it is, and not necessarily the way you wish to perceive it. Nowadays we have actual scientists that think science is a matter of opinion, that sexuality and race are bigoted social constructs, and everything required for a good life is a human right. Our govts can no longer balance a cheque book. This is why we are headed for domestic race war, why the flu turned into a pandemic killer, and it’s miracle vaccine is killing young people in the thousands.
She got a lot more right than she got wrong. She accurately predicted the rise (and eventual fall) of clown world.
Filthie