tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-980951139270141970.post7269715352495002132..comments2023-11-30T10:43:33.130-06:00Comments on Reading Freely: Unsettled AmericaStephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15097908023032528200noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-980951139270141970.post-5794547727976009042017-07-20T08:39:57.982-05:002017-07-20T08:39:57.982-05:00The figure described by Berry makes me think of &#...The figure described by Berry makes me think of 'mediated man' -- a figure sitting in front of the television, not really living his life but constantly and passively absorbing messages from the television, radio, etc. This figure is nervous, easy to manipulate -- he is constantly uneasy. I think those of us engaged in the search for truth, constantly grounding our lives in literature, may be more removed from this mediated man. We are interested in life and active in searching for it.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15097908023032528200noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-980951139270141970.post-507847462068593242017-07-20T06:32:39.000-05:002017-07-20T06:32:39.000-05:00I know about Wendell Berry from his fiction, which...I know about Wendell Berry from his fiction, which in its themes depicts some of what you have noted in your review of this book of cultural criticism. The quote reminded me of the sort of alienation described by Marx in his rantings against Capitalism. I do not share Berry's anxiety.Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00561320676355168336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-980951139270141970.post-65585432362734254282017-07-19T19:04:09.809-05:002017-07-19T19:04:09.809-05:00I tend to like thinkers who try to look at "b...I tend to like thinkers who try to look at "bog picture stuff". Berry sounds like he does. I agree that humans need to start acting like we are stewards of the planet. We are getting into serious trouble that might mean our end.<br /><br />I do not really agree with the main message contained in that quotation. While it is certainly true for some, I think that most people have it more together then that passage implies. Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-980951139270141970.post-61053816747865848772017-07-19T17:17:20.685-05:002017-07-19T17:17:20.685-05:00imo, WB is one of the few people who actually thin...imo, WB is one of the few people who actually think about the things that everyone should be thinking about... it's totally irrational to sit in a burning house without trying to put out the flames...<br /> but that's the hallmark of the human race; i've come to feel, in my declining years, that human behavior is not rational in any accurate sense, but merely an extension over time of the operation of evolutionary and environmental forces... what the future holds will come, regardless of anything an unaware species may do to try to avert it...Mudpuddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17194891656971454279noreply@blogger.com