Too Much Noise

And then today I read yet another lovely piece of cultural criticism from David Foster Wallace, written the year before he died (2007) in his essay "Deciderization 2007 - A Special Report." To rip a chunk of DFW out of a larger piece is a sort of small crime, but I'm going to do it anyway because this just perfectly sums up how I feel about the current politico-entertainment complex.

"It's amazing to me that no one much talks about this—about the fact that whatever our founders and framers thought of as a literate, informed citizenry can no longer exist, at least not without a whole new modern degree of subcontracting and dependence packed into what we mean by 'informed' ... Hence, by the way, the seduction of partisan dogma. You can drown in dogmatism now ... whether hard right or new left or whatever, the seduction and mentality are the same. You don't have to feel confused or inundated or ignorant. You don't even have to think, for you already Know, and whatever you choose to learn confirms what you Know."

What a brill-yunt (and depressing) diagnosis. 

Thanks, DFW.