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"A work can become modern only if it is first postmodern. Postmodernism thus understood is not modernism at its end but in the nascent state, and this state is constant." -Jean-Francois Lyotard "Oh, yeah, absabalutely." -me
Dear (eventual) Stickies & Great-Grandstickies,
Dear (eventual) Stickies & Great-Grandstickies,
Let's review. Last week I discussed the importance of picking a college you can more or less afford and majoring in something that will pay off. I also warned you that Communism, the dogma behind a 100,000,000 (more or less...) H. sapiens being rendered into compost, is alive and well on campus.
This week we're going to explore Communism's partner in crime, Postmodernism. This dastardly duos goal is nothing less than a takedown of Western Civilization; to be replaced by a utopia wherein everyone will be exactly, painstakingly equal. Everyone will own the latest iPhone and it, like designer t-shirts and Starbucks coffee (all flavors and sizes) will be free.
But before I forget, permit me to mention something I forgot to include in last week's letter. When I talked about the importance of choosing some form of higher education that won't saddle you with crippling debt and learning how to do something that will get you a Job job, I meant it.
However, while I'm somewhat hard-headed/realistic/cynical/etceterical, or at least strive to be, this is more the result of having been too long at the fair (I'm old, well, at least from your perspective) than it is by temperament.
[Gentlereaders: Clicking on the link above will give you access to the musical entertainment portion of our program featuring the musical stylings of Ms. Bonnie Raitt, a woman I've never met, much less had a passionate affair with back in the 70s. Although I wish I had, and I wish I had.]
In a better world, it would be possible, if you were so inclined, to easily obtain a broad-based liberal arts degree based on the fundamentals and achievements of Western Civilization* without having lead water wings of debt permanently affixed to your body and soul. But the economics of higher education are severely warped by the involvement of The Gummit and bloated school administrations.
Also, given that there's no shortage of students and professors actively working to discredit/destroy Western Civilization (a.k.a., the hand that feeds them) caveat emptor, babies, caveat emptor.
[*My cranky, happily heterosexual old white dude side is currently in control of my psyche and is writing this missive. Coco, the sassy, African-American lesbian H. sapien trapped inside my pasty body, says to say hello. ]
Postmodernism
Postmodernists maintain that there are an infinite number of ways to explain the world and how to live in it, and that none should be considered better than any other. In my semi-humble opinion, this is one of the tenets of Hippieism masquerading as a viable intellectual notion.
Call: It's like, all relative, man.
Response: Far out, man. (while slowing bobbing one's head and looking thoughtful).Call: It's like, all relative, man.
Hippieism: Everyday is like spending a weekend at your friend's rich parents house when you were in high school/college, and they're out of the country. There's a hot tub, and an indoor pool. And dope. Source: me.
Warning: Historical Digression/Boring Old Man Story
[My Dear Stickies, some details concerning my hippie with a job period, age 19 to the age of 31 (and a half). From 27 to 30 I made a sincere effort to join the real world inspired by boredom/disenchantment with the hippie ethos and a blond, blue-eyed girl next door type. Unfortunately, she ran my heart through a paper shredder.
After that, it was more lost soul/less hippie with a job until I met your mothers/grandmothers mother and subsequently married her and I've been trying to finish growing up ever since.]
Wikipedia has a...
[Poppa, if you weren't a hippie till you were 19, what were you like when you were in high school? Did you party?]
I was boring, Iggy. But in my defense, at the time (late 60s), although we were listening to the music and looking at the pictures of hippies in Look magazine (look it up), the smell of Weed was just starting to occasionally waft its way through the lives of me and my fellow Flyoverland High School students. Knowing what we know now I wish I had never even heard of weed till I was at least 25.
Wikipedia has a lengthy entry about postmodernism as applied to this, that, and the other. Reading it will tell you everything you need to know about Postmodernism. Truth be told, I couldn't make much sense of it. This either means that my 39 certified college credits are insufficient to the task at hand or that attempting to read it will tell you everything you need to know about Postmodernism.
One thing that caught my eye -- in the course of my research, not speaking fluent Academese, but curious about what Postmodernism had to say about writing, I was forced to seek translations and this word comes up a lot -- was a paragraph or two about the word deconstruction.
"A deconstructive approach further depends on the techniques of close reading without reference to cultural, ideological, moral opinions or information derived from an authority over the text such as the author."
Right. Moving on...
Heavy Sigh...
Lookit. It occurs to me, after a good deal of research, that attempting to analyze (deconstruct?) Postmodernism would require multiple letters and that since I find most of it to be absurd/incomprehensible/not worth the time, etc., I'm out.
[Gentlereaders: The web is chock full of info about Postmodern(ists/ism). First, read this,* and then try to read this** (I double dog dare you to read the second one). After reading both if you're not laughing or/and crying, google on.]
Stickies and dead trees readers: Veeery long story short, it appears that college campuses are lousy with unrepentant Communists (homegrown useful eejits, not Boris Badenov types) and Postmodernists.
It would appear that (apparent) opposites do attract. Postmodernism rejects all types of dogma (**"Suspicion and rejection of Master Narratives for history and culture..." ). Communism is all dogma, all the time.
It would appear that combining of the two by the Social Justice types makes no logical sense, However, *"Traditional logic and objectivity are spurned by postmodernists." So...
Caveat emptor, babies, caveat emptor. Poppa loves you.
Have an OK day.
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©2017 Mark Mehlmauer (The Flyoverland Crank)
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