Re "As in all myths, the “normal world” that precedes the story is disquieting, stagnant, and heavy with the sense that something is wrong. It needs to change. And whether we like it or not, the myth rips that world away from us"
Amusing performative contradiction/enaction: not all myths are bleak. Many speak to hope, faith, valour, and our ineffable capacity to endure. Myths make civilizations. We've just become deaf to those ones
"I know some of you reached for your tin hats at the first mention of ‘mainstream,’ but don’t worry, I’ve got you."
I love this languaging
Re "Intuitively it makes more sense to me that some random kid wanted to kill Trump, security was disorganized, and things went off in the random, chaotic, lucky way that life so often does."
YES. The world turns on curious rolls of dice sometimes. Collectively we must confabulate explanatory mechanisms within the frames of the structures that support our collective's existence. Ie render them intelligible to the constituents of the collective. All very cute. But sometimes it's just dice
Re "It is myth in action. What we call ‘politics’ is always a manifestation of what is happening in the depths, but in the depths move forces that are beyond us. Sometimes you see images that make this clear to you"
Thanks Zsolt! I agree that not all myths are bleak. The pattern's more like "down in the middle —> up at the end / up in the middle —> down at the end." Kinda prefiguring the tragedy/comedy arc. Narratively a "midnight of the soul" moment actually bodes well.
Some notes:
Re "As in all myths, the “normal world” that precedes the story is disquieting, stagnant, and heavy with the sense that something is wrong. It needs to change. And whether we like it or not, the myth rips that world away from us"
Amusing performative contradiction/enaction: not all myths are bleak. Many speak to hope, faith, valour, and our ineffable capacity to endure. Myths make civilizations. We've just become deaf to those ones
"I know some of you reached for your tin hats at the first mention of ‘mainstream,’ but don’t worry, I’ve got you."
I love this languaging
Re "Intuitively it makes more sense to me that some random kid wanted to kill Trump, security was disorganized, and things went off in the random, chaotic, lucky way that life so often does."
YES. The world turns on curious rolls of dice sometimes. Collectively we must confabulate explanatory mechanisms within the frames of the structures that support our collective's existence. Ie render them intelligible to the constituents of the collective. All very cute. But sometimes it's just dice
Re "It is myth in action. What we call ‘politics’ is always a manifestation of what is happening in the depths, but in the depths move forces that are beyond us. Sometimes you see images that make this clear to you"
Yes. I love this
Thanks Zsolt! I agree that not all myths are bleak. The pattern's more like "down in the middle —> up at the end / up in the middle —> down at the end." Kinda prefiguring the tragedy/comedy arc. Narratively a "midnight of the soul" moment actually bodes well.
Narratively a "midnight of the soul" moment actually bodes well
this rules, I love it