Regarding Savage's piece, big-money Jewish donors should be very aware that no matter how avidly their largess is sought and accepted, which is bound to happen, that does not guarantee that the beneficiaries truly appreciate or respect them--especially if they play along with the prevailing game and wind up taken for granted as reliable moneybags who will not be so gauche as to be "unpleasant."
So former Harvard president Lawrence Summers (who is Jewish) expressed surprise over Harvard's weak pro forma response to the Hamas terror, wondering why it fell so far short of its response to George Floyd’s death or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Well might he ask, but since he surely knows the answer as well as anyone, the question is not only rhetorical but self-indulgent, not to say self-serving.
Alas, if one plays the PC "progressive" game well and long enough, one becomes, in a sense, its captive. Thus, Summers and others like him, no matter how clearly they may see the situation involving Israel and its enemies, cannot come clean without a figuratively violent withdrawal. A case in point is the current president of Yale, Peter Salovey, who is also Jewish, and whose response to the orgy of death unleashed by Hamas also falls notably short of his response to the death of George Floyd (though it's considerably better than Harvard's, relatively speaking, but that's not saying much).
If even some Jews will do this (and no, I am not a Jew), what can one expect of "progressive" non-Jews in academia and the art world, for instance? Well, pretty much what we have seen, which is no surprise.
Representational sculpture has always had a story, and anyone who dismisses it on that account, let alone claim that only abstract sculpture is worthwhile, is beneath consideration, not to mention very, uh, limited. Bernini's Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, for instance, is inseparable from its story and literally shaped by it, which makes it no less a masterpiece than any abstract work. Of course, the form Bernini gave to that story is critical and makes all the difference, but it is not all one or the other.
Regarding Dreher's piece: Never ignore evidence of fundamental perversity, no matter how it may be packaged or camouflaged. Never mistake an intrinsic feature for a fixable bug. When people tell you reasonably clearly that they are badly twisted, not to say seriously fucked up, take their word for it. Trust me, I know whereof I speak from personal experience, better than most people in this country.
Bless you, Franklin, for these important ideas and opinions. They are vital at this time!
Regarding Savage's piece, big-money Jewish donors should be very aware that no matter how avidly their largess is sought and accepted, which is bound to happen, that does not guarantee that the beneficiaries truly appreciate or respect them--especially if they play along with the prevailing game and wind up taken for granted as reliable moneybags who will not be so gauche as to be "unpleasant."
Thank you for including all of these links - really helping me to make sense of what I'm seeing.
So former Harvard president Lawrence Summers (who is Jewish) expressed surprise over Harvard's weak pro forma response to the Hamas terror, wondering why it fell so far short of its response to George Floyd’s death or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Well might he ask, but since he surely knows the answer as well as anyone, the question is not only rhetorical but self-indulgent, not to say self-serving.
Alas, if one plays the PC "progressive" game well and long enough, one becomes, in a sense, its captive. Thus, Summers and others like him, no matter how clearly they may see the situation involving Israel and its enemies, cannot come clean without a figuratively violent withdrawal. A case in point is the current president of Yale, Peter Salovey, who is also Jewish, and whose response to the orgy of death unleashed by Hamas also falls notably short of his response to the death of George Floyd (though it's considerably better than Harvard's, relatively speaking, but that's not saying much).
If even some Jews will do this (and no, I am not a Jew), what can one expect of "progressive" non-Jews in academia and the art world, for instance? Well, pretty much what we have seen, which is no surprise.
Representational sculpture has always had a story, and anyone who dismisses it on that account, let alone claim that only abstract sculpture is worthwhile, is beneath consideration, not to mention very, uh, limited. Bernini's Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, for instance, is inseparable from its story and literally shaped by it, which makes it no less a masterpiece than any abstract work. Of course, the form Bernini gave to that story is critical and makes all the difference, but it is not all one or the other.
Regarding Dreher's piece: Never ignore evidence of fundamental perversity, no matter how it may be packaged or camouflaged. Never mistake an intrinsic feature for a fixable bug. When people tell you reasonably clearly that they are badly twisted, not to say seriously fucked up, take their word for it. Trust me, I know whereof I speak from personal experience, better than most people in this country.