One of the best articles on the insidiousness of the American right I have ever seen, with some good stuff on China and Korea as a bonus. Very long, very serious, very smart. My only complaint is a flawed analogy, used throughout the article, to Wagner’s opera Goetterdaemmerung, which the author doesn’t really understand, but no matter. It’s a masterpiece, especially if you are a student of 20th century European/American history.
July 15, 2006
The Discussion: 9 Comments
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1
By boo
I wish people wouldn’t do things like that to Goetterdaemmerung.
July 15, 2006 @ 7:56 am | Comment
2
By Ivan
Gutter-daemmerung.
July 15, 2006 @ 12:56 pm | Comment
3
By richard
Are you insulting Wagner? SOme things in here are sacred.
July 15, 2006 @ 8:04 pm | Comment
4
By Ivan
No, I’m thinking of the Bush administration sliding into the gutter…
July 15, 2006 @ 8:10 pm | Comment
5
By richard
I know. 🙂
July 15, 2006 @ 9:43 pm | Comment
6
By Ivan
Well, that said, I’ll admit that I just don’t get why some people like (let alone revere) Wagner so much. I suppose, culturally I belong too much to those islands across the Channel, and Wagner is just SO inconsistent with that.
I mean, whenever I try to imagine an English Wotan at the end of Goetterdaemerrung, when everything is collapsing in flames, I imagine an English Wotan would apologise: “Oh dear, terribly sorry. We’ll fix it tomorrow….”
July 15, 2006 @ 9:54 pm | Comment
7
By boo
Wagner’s art is an instrument of liberation: as such, my experience with it has nothing to do with liking or revering it. And the Norse mythology he builds on has influenced English culture deeply, so it isn’t that foreign. But you’re right, the English tend to giggle a lot at musical drama, hence the relative lack of accomplishment in that area in the 19th century.
July 16, 2006 @ 3:45 am | Comment
8
By richard
Wagner has enjoyed a huge wave of popularity in England lately, and in Russia, too. And yes, it’s an art of liberation. And much more.
July 16, 2006 @ 4:00 am | Comment
9
By Ivan
Eh, bloody Krauts. They’re good people as long as they’re not allowed to play with guns or politics or chemicals. But as long as they stick to making good cars and chocolate and bizarre music, eh, I say the Krauts are tolerable. 🙂
July 16, 2006 @ 7:50 am | Comment