The voluminous writings (nineteen books and thousands of essays, articles and reviews) of H. L. Mencken, one of America’s finest writers and perhaps its greatest journalist and chronicler of American English, are a virtually-forgotten treasure trove of sparkling wit and deep wisdom. Like knowledge of their own history and respect for their own Constitution, decades ago most · On July 26, , Mencken published an op-ed in the Baltimore Evening Sun titled “Bayard vs. Lionheart,” which was later included in a volume of his essays: On Politics: A Carnival of Buncombe. Mencken’s essay ponders how it is that political candidates are so often the worst of people—without honor or conviction. As Mencken puts it:Estimated Reading Time: 3 mins Henry Louis Mencken () was a controversial American journalist, essayist and literary critic. During the s, he became famous for his vitriolic attacks on what he considered to be the hypocrisy, stupidity, and bigotry of much of American blogger.comted Reading Time: 7 mins
Chiropractic: An Essay by H.L. Mencken | Quackwatch
We move toward a lofty ideal. Henry Louis Mencken — was an American journalist, satirist, cultural critic and scholar of American English. As Mencken puts it:. It is not often, in these later days of the democratic enlightenment, that positive merit lands a man in elective office in the United States; much more often it is a negative merit that gets him there. One of the main reasons that the voters often choose the worst people to lead them is that the masses fear thoughtful people, people with deep and sophisticated ideas:.
In the face of this singular passion for conformity, this dread of novelty and originality, it is obvious that the man of vigorous mind and stout convictions is gradually shouldered out of public life. And the voters have themselves to blame for the incompetent and immoral people they choose for public office. Voters are:. The larger the mob, hl mencken essays, hl mencken essays harder the test.
In small areas, before small electorates, a first-rate man occasionally fights his way through, carrying hl mencken essays the mob with him by the force of his personality. But when the field is nationwide, and the fight must be waged chiefly at second and third hand, and the force of personality cannot so readily make itself felt, then all the odds are on the man who is, hl mencken essays, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre—the man who can most adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum.
The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, hl mencken essays office represents, hl mencken essays, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people.
To be honest, I think that it is every bit as much moral vice as intellectual vice that will doom the American empire in our present moment. I truly fear that we are moving to an even more more fascist, plutocratic state than the one we are already in. But it is hard just so hard to see how the situation will change without radical intellectual and moral enhancement of human beings.
OMG, that quote is so perfect! Talk about being right, right, right! It could be argued that a truly free and fair election would have given the win to Ms. Clinton; it has been established beyond any doubt that Republican voter suppression schemes were crucial to Mr.
This would suggest a sliver of hope for democracy. But I do not believe that democracy can properly address the increasingly complex problems that our society faces, hl mencken essays. When I look at the huge chasm between reality and the beliefs of the Trump voters, hl mencken essays, I must conclude that they simply cannot comprehend reality. This leads to the conclusion you mention: that our society is hl mencken essays towards a darker future.
Yet I think it worthwhile to consider what hl mencken essays, if any, would work. One proposal I rather liked was a Constitutional Amendment requiring citizens to pass a basic citizenship test in order to be allowed to vote.
That test would be presented at a fairly advanced level. The flaw with this idea is that whomever writes the test controls the election. Presumably a bipartisan commission could draw it up, hl mencken essays, but administering it would be a huge pain. There are a million ways this could go wrong. Thanks for the comments Chris. I do think hl mencken essays should have to have some basic knowledge and, as you know, I definitely favor qualifications for holding public office.
Interesting you mention the Gini Coefficient. When I taught I found that most university students vastly underestimate the amount of wealth inequality in the USA. For instance the idea that most people are too stupid to vote therefore we should give them a test or that us elites should run things for them. Smacks of one thing.
Michalak, there are many forms of government; we are not forced to choose between Jeffersonian democracy and tyranny. Indeed, the writers of the Constitution clearly rejected Jefferson democracy for a republic with a number of layers protecting the government from popular crazes.
However, the election of Mr. Trump demonstrates that this system has failed. There are many ways to correct the problem; none of them are politically feasible. The USA is heading towards dissolution. Hey, love the Mencken quote. Got to your page looking for hl mencken essays advice from our mutual friend, Epictetus. Would visit the states often but now, not sincemy now dystopian home town, Atlantic City.
Pity that hl mencken essays enough alumni followed Hl mencken essays Burns advice though the alternative was hardly palatable. Hl mencken essays corruption is really Mickey Mouse compared to American legislation for the few, the clever, the….
Thanks for the comments Tom. You made a good move getting out of here. Your email address will not be published. Notify me of new posts by email. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Mencken Henry Louis Mencken — was an American journalist, satirist, cultural critic and scholar of American English.
As Mencken puts it: It is not often, in these later days of the democratic enlightenment, that positive merit lands a man in elective office in the United States; much more often it is a negative merit that gets him there.
One of the main reasons that the voters often choose the worst people to lead them is that the masses fear thoughtful people, people with deep and sophisticated ideas: In the face of this singular passion for conformity, this dread of novelty and originality, it is obvious that the man of vigorous mind and stout convictions is gradually shouldered out of public life. Voters are: … unreflective and timorous men, moved in vast herds by mob emotions. Liked it? Take a second to support Dr John Messerly on Patreon!
Share this: Facebook Reddit Twitter Tumblr More Pocket Pinterest WhatsApp, hl mencken essays. Mencken: On Politics Bayard vs. Sic transit gloria mundi. We must be careful that we do not become the thing we rail about. I believe we do have a serious moral problem, hl mencken essays, but the solution is not tyranny. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published.
H. L. Mencken Interview
, time: 57:44The Paris Review - H.L. Mencken, Unforgivable and Unforgettable
The voluminous writings (nineteen books and thousands of essays, articles and reviews) of H. L. Mencken, one of America’s finest writers and perhaps its greatest journalist and chronicler of American English, are a virtually-forgotten treasure trove of sparkling wit and deep wisdom. Like knowledge of their own history and respect for their own Constitution, decades ago most Hall edition, known as a treasure of johns hopkins university press collected essays. Collection of these essays, hl mencken quotes blogger.com a plagiarism free. Satirical remark of 15, mark about mencken wrote one of mencken. Forty-Seven brief stay there are essays about h · As shown in H.L. Mencken on the Writing Life, Mencken was an influential satirist as well as an editor, literary critic, and longtime journalist with The Baltimore Sun. As you read his arguments in favor of the death penalty, consider how (and why) Mencken injects humor into his discussion of a grim subject. His satirical use of the persuasive essay format uses irony and Estimated Reading Time: 6 mins
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