10 Comments

Great piece. I wonder if the harm-terrified are being Newtonian along with Baconian: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. We live in scary times. Maybe the more scared you are and the more fear is top of mind every waking moment, the more dedicated you are to erasing the possibility of any kind of harm just to get through the day. And since we are social beings, and need one another, you have to try to make sure that others don’t experience harm, either, because ultimately, you need them to keep you safe. Is altriusm and sensitivity really just selfish fear?

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I hate blurbs. Don't plan on using them for my books. (maybe if Salman Rushdie reads them and says they're cool?) The idea of a writer begging for adulation doesn't sit right with me. As the Warsaw Courier wrote in the early 19th century once they discovered a local pianist making a name for himself: "Mr. Chopin must not hide [his genius and talent] and must let himself be heard publicly; but he must also be prepared to hear voices of envy, which usually spare only mediocrity."

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These articles are so good. I really look forward to them. You have an analytical eye.

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Well written as all your essays are. I definitely 100% disagree with the young woke far-left argument here though. But that would require an essay in response...which maybe I should write!

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