Great piece of writing, David. I'd quibble with the individualised idea of hucksters delivering Brexit or MAGA; I'd say that masks the structural tendency of each that needs to be undone, and the front men as symptoms not causes. Also if you haven't read Dead Souls by Gogol you absolutely should; because it is wonderful but it also includes the most perfect page or so as we arrive at an old estate and Gogol describes that aesthetic of grandeur falling into the greater planning of nature.
Thanks Julian. I wouldn't deny there are structural reasons behind the rise of the so-called strongmen, but nor would I row back on identifying that (media-enabled) technique they use – saying the "unsayable" to trigger a sense of vicarious liberation, a feeling we're being freed from social constraints because they (evidently) are.
Wonderful piece. Thank you. I interviewed him face to face for The Independent in 2000, at the hotel in Hove, and have often thought of him since. Your writing captures the situation superbly.
Thanks very much, Cole – given your insight and direct experience of the man, that really means a lot. I've just read your interview; it's excellent – and stands apart from many NvH interviews, as you clearly weren't willing to laugh along or be dazzled by his bravado.
Great piece of writing, David. I'd quibble with the individualised idea of hucksters delivering Brexit or MAGA; I'd say that masks the structural tendency of each that needs to be undone, and the front men as symptoms not causes. Also if you haven't read Dead Souls by Gogol you absolutely should; because it is wonderful but it also includes the most perfect page or so as we arrive at an old estate and Gogol describes that aesthetic of grandeur falling into the greater planning of nature.
Thanks Julian. I wouldn't deny there are structural reasons behind the rise of the so-called strongmen, but nor would I row back on identifying that (media-enabled) technique they use – saying the "unsayable" to trigger a sense of vicarious liberation, a feeling we're being freed from social constraints because they (evidently) are.
Thanks for the Gogal rec – noted!
Also just a supreme book, particularly on the artificiality of capitalism and wealth. Jealous you get to read it for a first time.
Wonderful piece. Thank you. I interviewed him face to face for The Independent in 2000, at the hotel in Hove, and have often thought of him since. Your writing captures the situation superbly.
Thanks very much, Cole – given your insight and direct experience of the man, that really means a lot. I've just read your interview; it's excellent – and stands apart from many NvH interviews, as you clearly weren't willing to laugh along or be dazzled by his bravado.
Linking here: https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/landlord-condemns-ramblers-as-perverts-710459.html