"The Collapse of the Dream Palaces"

A remarkable essay, insightful, imaginative, and (I think) prescient, by David Brooks at The Weekly Standard, dated Apr. 28:

.... Now that the war in Iraq is over, we'll find out how many people around the world are capable of facing unpleasant facts. For the events of recent months confirm that millions of human beings are living in dream palaces, to use Fouad Ajami's phrase. They are living with versions of reality that simply do not comport with the way things are. They circulate and recirculate conspiracy theories, myths, and allegations with little regard for whether or not these fantasies are true. And the events of the past month have exposed them as the falsehoods they are....

These dream palaces have taken a beating over the past month. As the scientists would say, they are conceptual models that failed to predict events. But as we try to understand the political and cultural importance of the war in Iraq, the question is this: Will they crumble under the weight of undeniable facts? Will the illusions fall, and the political landscape change?...

Many of his thoughts are many of mine, frankly, though as yet largely inchoate; I am delighted to see them so well expressed.

(Thanks, Steven.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Tue. 04/22/03 08:28:17 PM
Categorized as Social/Cultural.