First things first: The Uncomfortable Conversations LIVE touring empire is expanding, with live shows in Sydney and Melbourne in August with the inimitable Coleman Hughes.
Whenever this conversation comes up about being stopped in the airport, it's important to consider the alternatives. Should we:
1. Not have so much security.
2. Have the security, but stop every person of every description at an exactly equal rate.
3. Have the security, and select people for screening by profiling them.
Is there some other possibility here? Personally, I'm between 1 and 3, but the idea that you simply don't take into account what people look like when selecting them for "additional security screening" is absurd.
(If you haven’t read Tocqueville, think of the business card exchange in American Psycho, where you see the slightest difference between clones heightened to the cause of a complete mental breakdown)
Great work as always my man! Especially appreciated the nod to Tocqueville’s concept of “democratic envy” (the more equal we become, the more the tiny differences become “soul cleaving” as he says). I hammer my students with just how profound this idea is and what it means for our never-ending ideal of progress in a democracy. It’s why a billionaire with a private jet doesn’t really make us nearly as jealous as our neighbor with a SLIGHTLY nicer man cave. As we become hyper-individualistic and civil society and civic associations fade away, our animosity toward our oh-so-similar neighbors grows unchecked. Tocqueville would be hitting the panic button if he were around today!
Whenever this conversation comes up about being stopped in the airport, it's important to consider the alternatives. Should we:
1. Not have so much security.
2. Have the security, but stop every person of every description at an exactly equal rate.
3. Have the security, and select people for screening by profiling them.
Is there some other possibility here? Personally, I'm between 1 and 3, but the idea that you simply don't take into account what people look like when selecting them for "additional security screening" is absurd.
(If you haven’t read Tocqueville, think of the business card exchange in American Psycho, where you see the slightest difference between clones heightened to the cause of a complete mental breakdown)
Great work as always my man! Especially appreciated the nod to Tocqueville’s concept of “democratic envy” (the more equal we become, the more the tiny differences become “soul cleaving” as he says). I hammer my students with just how profound this idea is and what it means for our never-ending ideal of progress in a democracy. It’s why a billionaire with a private jet doesn’t really make us nearly as jealous as our neighbor with a SLIGHTLY nicer man cave. As we become hyper-individualistic and civil society and civic associations fade away, our animosity toward our oh-so-similar neighbors grows unchecked. Tocqueville would be hitting the panic button if he were around today!