Nicholas Lemann and Judith Shulevitz
Dear Nick,
Terence M. Brewer does sound hapless, doesn't he? You can see why the guards would have mistaken him for a civilian when they came across him in a miserable heap on the ground. It's clear from the story, from the way the Trenton Times reporter fell for the guy, that he emanates something sweet and helpless. Of course he wanted to go back! How could he possibly survive outside? Of course, all that may be no more than the deceptive affect of a compulsive sociopath. Did you read how Brewer decided to turn himself in because he knew his father had to go in for surgery, and he didn't want his father to worry that his son was dead? His father seemed more astonished than touched when the reporter conveyed this token of his son's considerateness to him, and you thought, poor Terence, even his dad distrusts his motives--until you remembered that, duh, the reason he turned himself in was because his buddy the bail bondsman nabbed him and wouldn't let him go free.
Let's call it a draw on the Microsoft breakup, cuz I don't know enough about the alternatives to argue effectively on their behalf. I'm not disputing Microsoft's past sins. I don't doubt that its programmers wrote "hooks" or whatever they're called into the code so that non-MS applications wouldn't run as well. We know the company did everything it could to leverage its monopoly on operating systems into greater market share on browsers. The courts have called its behavior monopolistic, and who am I to question that? I just wonder whether you really need a break-up--as opposed to stern, intrusive, annoying court supervision--to prevent such leverage and nasty tricks with code. You said it yourself: MSFT writes decent software. I have some programmer friends who would dispute the "good," but let's say it's good enough. Why put it in a position where it might not be able to do that?
And sure, I'll take your deal. I'll sip my Kool-Aid quietly and go gently into that good night, the one into which all Breakfast Tables must inevitably disappear. At least we have each other.
Love,
Judith
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Reader Comments From The Fray
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[Notes from the Fray Editor: Don't like restaurants? Then let's discuss home cooking, and get some ideas for tonight's dinner, in this thread here. One of the cooks, Will Allen, has this to say elsewhere (context not really important, but he had been accused of pre-judging people): "I nearly always allow someone to clearly display their banal, wooden-headed, nature before denouncing it." There was an interesting thread on prison officers, the word 'perversely', and insults, starting here. Everyone was in cheerful mood in the Fray: Ex-Fed was able to start joke threads here and here (warning: this one was considered tasteless by another poster.) Ex-Fed also proposed marriage to one of the Breakfast Tablers, here: we're being a little circumspect because this involved being rude about the other BT-er. And there was a fan letter from Zeitguy to Judith Shulevitz here.]
If there's anything "unique" about American society, it's the amazing extent of our ability to think that we're somehow different from every other civilization in history. Maybe it's because our particular culture has only been around for a few hundred years, in a land where we are cut off almost completely from the ancient civilizations that have been around significantly longer. I don't know. But bored, whiny rich people? That's nothing new
--Mangar
(To reply, click here.)
It's not the self-pity that bothers me so much, though it's bad enough, but the truculence and righteous indignation and desire to grind the faces of the poor it seems to lead to.
To put it another way--what, exactly, are the rich and powerful so pissed off about? What is it that they want that they're not getting? 100% of the wealth instead of a mere 90%?
--Kassandra
(To reply, click here.)
(9/5)