WORDS OF WISDOM FOR THE NEW YEAR 2011
I have heard of HL Mencken but never really investigated his works. In today’s excerpt at Delanceyplace.com there is a brief but profound eulogy of sorts, to a magnificent mind belonging to a man of deep conviction and forethought. Hey, Mencken nailed it, didn't he? His thoughts back then in 1918 are exactly what’s happening in America Today i.e.
**grave concerns about anti-intellectualism in American society, which he viewed as being found most prominently in organized religion (from CHRISTIAN TO MUSLIM - the optimal word being 'organized') and political discourse (TEA PARTY comes to mind)**
Here's a suggestion, for a new year resolution why don’t we (those of us who think) try researching the great minds who saw the writing-on-the-wall. Perhaps, it won’t do much in the scheme of things but for sure it will remind us THAT WE ARE NOT ALONE. Happy New Year! thinkingblue
EXCERPTS FROM DELANCEYPLACE.COM - In today's excerpt - H.L. Mencken comments on the impact of crowd psychology. Mencken, known as "The Sage of Baltimore," was a popular journalist, essayist and satirist, and is regarded as one of the most influential American writers of the first half of the 20th century. A caustic critic of American life and culture, Mencken was one of the first in the U.S. to popularize such writers as Friedrich Nietzsche and Joseph Conrad.
He had grave concerns about anti-intellectualism in American society, which he viewed as being found most prominently in organized religion and political discourse. He was especially concerned about the role of the crowd in this anti-intellectualism. His reporting of the debate over the theory of evolution between William Jennings Bryan and legendary attorney Clarence Darrow (made famous in the movie and play Inherit the Wind) reflected his distaste for fervent belief rooted in faith rather than science:
"The individual man, cheek by jowl with the multitude, drops down an intellectual peg or two, and so tends to show the mental and emotional reactions of his inferiors. The crowd, as a crowd, performs acts that many of its members, as individuals, would never be guilty of. Its average intelligence is very low; it is inflammatory, vicious, idiotic, almost simian. Crowds, properly worked up by skillful demagogues, are ready to believe anything, and to do anything.
"The numskull runs amuck in a crowd, not because he has been inoculated with new rascality by the mysterious crowd influence, but because his habitual rascality now has its only chance to function safely.
"What happens when a crowd cuts loose? ... The few superior men in it are not straightway reduced to the level of the underlying stoneheads. On the contrary, they usually keep their heads, and make efforts to combat the crowd action. But the stoneheads are too many for them. ... And why? Because they are suddenly conscious of the power lying in their numbers. The third rate man, though he may wear the false whiskers of a first rate man, may always be detected by his inability to keep his head in the face of an appeal to his emotions. A whoop strips off his disguise." MORE HERE
Author: H. L. Mencken
Title: Damn! A Book of Calumny
Publisher: Philip Goodman Company
Date: 1918
Pages: 32-34
Henry Louis "H. L." Mencken (9/12/80 –1/29/56), an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, acerbic critic of American life and culture, and a student of American English. Mencken, known as the "Sage of Baltimore", is regarded as one of the most influential American writers and prose stylists of the first half of the 20th century.
Mencken is known for writing The American Language, a multi-volume study of how the English language is spoken in the US, and for his satirical reporting on the Scopes trial, which he named the "Monkey" trial. In addition to his literary accomplishments, Mencken was known for his controversial ideas. A critic of World War II and democracy, Mencken wrote a huge number of articles about current events, books, music, prominent politicians, pseudo-intellectuals, temperance and uplifters. He notably attacked ignorance, intolerance, frauds, fundamentalist Christianity, osteopathy, and chiropractic. from this sitePS: Why are we still in the dark...? The Enlightenment occurred during the 1600's yet we (the lost crowds) still fight against it. What keeps so many of us ignorant? Is it fear or are certain minds incapable of maturing? With advancements in science happening at any given moment, this unenlightenment and vagueness of mind, should have been eradicated years ago but yet it still continues. That is why I ask...WHY ARE WE STILL IN THE DARK? BTHOM???http://www.thethinkingblue.com
Previous Posts
Keith Olbermann Interview's Kevin Spacey
OLBERMANN - VOICE OF REASON, tax breaks for the rich
Repeal health care? Give up your
own first!
He's Back, Good Ole, Keith
Olbermann is back on MSNBC
Phil Griffin's Kangaroo Court
Suspends Keith Olbermann
DST Ends More Darkness Begins
Why Do Americans Have Amnesia At
Election Time
Chilean Miners Were Rescued But
The Truth Remains Entombed
Ahhh, a return to the Good Old
Days
Am I My Brother's Keeper?
Here's what a genuine rally looks
like.
AND
SO MUCH MORE
Hold
on to your hats while you watch an interview with some of
Glenn Beck's Followers.
Watch A Fracking Mess 'GASLAND' here
RNC Document Mocks Donors, Plays on 'Fear'
Thom Hartmann on Freespeech TV
Please sign this very important petition "demand question time" (of our political leaders) HERE.. We really need more dialog from those at the top... The Republicans have got to be made to realize they can't hide behind "NO" any longer! thinkingblue
Let's keep our heads, while we continue
to watch THE THEATER OF THE ABSURD!!!