One way of defining decadence is “when your elites really aren’t that good.”
America is filled with highly competent technicians. But very, very few of them ask themselves Life questions, and almost nobody working in the fields of Emotional Intelligence–Daniel Goleman certainly included–seem to be able to connect their own work to our national cultural decline, in which standards of rationality, accountability, self regulation, intellectual independence and a host of other virtues are in the toilet.
Do I need to look up who Daniel Goleman is voting for? I don’t think so.
Do I need to look up who Marianne Williamson is voting for? I don’t think so.
Our best and brightest are, in general, dim and dull. They shine perhaps in their own narrow field, but lack entirely the emotional and intellectual capacity to ask broader questions and come up with interesting and useful answers. They are talented ants, scurrying here and there, completely unable and unwilling to look at the Big Picture.
Culture, per se, has become a concern exclusively of conservatives, and conservatives do not own the culture. The Left does. And every year they make it more sadistic, less emotionally intelligent, more violent, more “grabby”, more conformist, and in all respects less interesting as other than a horror movie being played out in front of our eyes.
Are you old enough to remember when the Left opposed violence in movies, because they opposed John Wayne and the cowboys? Dirty Harry and effective if violent law enforcement? They were the ones creating the shows on PBS that were actually good. My own kids watched almost nothing but PBS growing up, and it was absolutely the right decision.
But I see these people posting with degrees from top tier schools, and they are ABYSMALLY stupid. It is embarrassing. How did this happen?
This is decadence.