Thralldom of the Moment

Madame:

We of modern America (and often the world) are interconnected, but not integrated.  We are technological neighbors, but rarely sociological ones.  And that brings big risks from the disaffected and disconnected or malconnected.

The quote you reference, like many attributed to Jefferson (and Einstein, Twain, Churchill, and other famous personages) is a little problematic.  Like many such quotes, it cannot be proven that he said it firstly, or even that he ever said it.  Nor can it be proven that he didn’t say it.  For years, historians and presidential specialists gave the quote you listed a pass because Jefferson was for the time period a well-connected man to political thought, and the quote WAS uttered during the time when Jefferson was alive.  Jefferson was not above absorbing and disseminating things he found valuable and failing to attribute (Locke and the Declaration of Independence anyone?).  However, he conversed with other educated individuals, who would know from whence something came, and therefore would not recognize it as “plagiarism.”  Therefore, the thinking was that it was plausible that he uttered it, even if not original to him, especially as there was close to period evidence.  The thinking in recent times has begun to shift however, and now if a quote is not discovered in hard contemporary evidence as attributed to someone, it is “undetermined,” or even “questionable.”  Depending on how important the subject, or how dedicated the scholar, additional techniques, including, “period” speak/writing and others, are used to help assess the plausibility of a quote.  There has also been a great deal more challenging of myths and “old-saws,” which has contributed to this new trend.

Therefore, purists will say he never uttered it, those in the middle will say he might have uttered it, but almost certainly not first, and the average American who is at all familiar with it will say of course he said it.  And someone with a political point to make it and in need of Jefferson’s weight will attribute it solely to him. :)

The tragedy you well describe and evaluate is one that meets our psychological criteria of urgent and actionable.  Unlike so much in life, in those situations the people feel they can do something effective, and RIGHT THEN. 

Of course, part of all the focus and attention arises from our spectacle culture, as Hedges explained.  One magnified by a ratings hungry media.  Our attention, our focus, our energies get captured, enraptured, and we are galvanized, albeit temporarily.

Where is that energy, that focus, for far more meaningful, lasting, and impactful challenges that are eating us to our core?

Last week I probably sounded quite upbeat.  Looks like I’ve restored balance this week with this Grump Master special! LOL