Light On Dark Water

Ahmari and French Debate

It's perhaps a bit wrong of me to post this--or inappropriate, or ill-mannered, or something--because I probably won't actually watch the debate. Well, maybe I'll find a transcript and read it. But I'm posting it for one reason. I guess all conservatives and some others are aware of the intra-conservative argument which is represented by these two; if you're not, see this. For my part I don't really want to take a side, as I think both have pretty strong arguments.

The two met for an in-person debate a couple of weeks ago. Here's a report on it from a reader of Rod Dreher's blog. That page also includes a video of the event. But here is the one thing that really struck me, from the reader who was there:

There seemed to be something of an age divide. The older folks in the room seemed to more likely to be in French’s corner, whereas all of the Millennials and Gen Zers I talked to instinctually agreed with Ahmari....

I think that's very significant. The times they are a-changing. Again. I myself have noticed that people of more or less my generation, and maybe a bit younger--let's say people over fifty--tend to see our current politics in more or less classically liberal and constitutionalist terms, as David French does. That framework has less purchase on the minds of younger people. Of course that could be only an effect of age itself; the younger people may change their minds as they get older. And I emphasize "tend to"; I can certainly think of plenty of exceptions, in both directions. 

OMG! This is SO AWESOME!!

Those were not my words, but I used them a week or two ago to describe to a friend my reaction to hearing Das Rheingold again (this making the third time): inwardly squealing like a teenaged girl. And they were even more apropos yesterday, at the end of Die Walküre. It seems I have become a Wagner enthusiast. 

Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while may remember that back in 2012 I saw the Metropolitan Opera production of The Ring in a local theater. That was six years after my first attempt to get to know the work; you can read about that here. Also in 2006, I said "...I'm coming to like the music more and more, and Wagner as a visionary artist/prophet less and less. The Ring is clearly a stupendous achievement, but there's something rotten at the core of it."

Here are my 2012 reports: Rheingold, Walküre, Siegfried, and I'll just quote my one-line review of Götterdämmerung: "At just under five hours, it seemed a little too short." These notes don't amount to much, but they are decidedly more positive. I summed up my thoughts at the time in this post: Wagner: The State of the Question. Suffice to say that I was more positive then than I had been in 2006, but still had some major reservations.

This time around I have even fewer reservations. I've completely changed my mind about the "something rotten." Well, maybe not completely. But substantially. There's something rotten in most of 19th century romanticism, and I don't know that Wagner's particular failings were that much worse than those of some others. One of the things that produced the "something rotten" comment was no doubt the incestuous relationship of Siegmund and Sieglinde. I'm seeing it in a very different light now--not the relationship itself, which of course is as wrong as it ever was--but its significance in the context of the entire drama. I have a good many new thoughts about that (the entire drama) but they're scattered and only half-formed as yet. They may turn into some kind of longer piece in time. Or maybe not. If they do, the title will be something like "Wagner's Unpopular Virtues." I'd need to read some Wagner criticism first, though.

At any rate I'm eager to hear the remaining two operas now, though it's probably going to be a few weeks before I do. Coincidentally, I listened to an audio version of one of Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse detective novels a week or so ago. (I had to drive up and down the state of Alabama twice in one week--long story--a total of 1400 or so miles, and listened to two audiobooks in the process.) From it I learned that Siegfried is Morse's least favorite of the Ring. It will be interesting to see whether I agree.

More AI Nonsense

On stilts. At Vox: "Robot priests can bless you, advise you, and even perform your funeral".

I'm slightly surprised that the author is a former religion editor of The Atlantic. Sadly, I'm not at all surprised that a Catholic theologian--a Franciscan sister, no less--is on hand to add some extra touches of fatuousness. 

"So would I want a robot priest? Maybe!” she said. “A robot can be gender-neutral. It might be able to transcend some of those divides and be able to enhance community in a way that’s more liberating.”

A Nice Appreciation of Elizabeth Goudge

At Dappled Things. It's good to see her work getting this attention.