1. This is a good thread and inspires some thoughts on Leo Strauss, James Burnham, the Simpsons, Lisa Simpson, Jebediah Springfield, & Carl Jung. https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1164297549869658112 …
-
-
5. Burnham, Congress and the American Tradition, 1959: "In ancient times, before the illusions of science had corrupted traditional wisdom, the founders of Cities were known to be gods or demigods." In other words, good societies are bound together by mythical foundings.
Show this thread -
6. All these issues were played out in the great but problematic Simpson's episode Lisa the Iconoclast. Lisa discovers that town founder Jebediah Springfield was in fact a vile pirate. Town resists her discovery so she embraces the liehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_the_Iconoclast …
Show this thread -
7. This is tangential but a large strand of rightwing thought in last century (the line from Jung to Campbell to Peterson) has pursued the argument that myths are essential for social life, It's not the natural law argument of past but explicit embrace of myth.
Show this thread -
8. But contra Strauss, Burnham & Lisa Simpson, I'm not sure that a noble lie is necessary. It's my democratic conviction that people are smart enough to have a complicated patriotism, that acknowledges both the achievements and crimes of the past.
Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
-
-
these guys are all wrong. you can't use deliberate lies to hold a society together. once people figure out they've been lied to they will be more mistrustful. just make a society that's good and you won't need to lie about it. it's simple.
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.