Wednesday, June 15, 2005
(9:28 AM) | Adam Kotsko:
"Democracy" as Self-Righteousness
Mark Kaplan quotes a guy in the pub:Now see this is how it works: true democratic subjects, yes, ceaselessly question and hold to account their own ‘polity’ and its allies, on account of the fact that this ‘polity’ is accountable to them; that’s what democracy entails, see. Meanwhile others, who have failed to comprehend this, will ceaselessly urge you to concentrate your attention on other regimes which are not accountable to you and over which your influence is zero or at 29 removes. For them, liberal democracy is about ritual impotent cursing directed at tyrannical third world regimes - not so as to effect change in those regimes but so as, by contrast, to exculpate one’s own.A few days ago, he also posted this life-changing quote:
'Few projects are as rewarding or challenging as finding the right partner for building or maintaining your pipe organ.'Mr. Kaplan is, of course, looking for sponsors. I would be jealous if one of my readers chose him over me, but I would get over it for the sake of establishing the principle that bloggers, like Renaissance painters or classical composers, should have patrons.
I only turn to the private sector because the NEH has declined my grant proposal and because, after some research, it turns out that blogging does not count as "performance art" for the purposes of the NEA.
