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| TCS’s Lee Harris: The Meaning of the Unipolar Moment |
| 2004-03-06 |
| EFL and Fair Use This time Harris has an interesting ’ploy’ (trivial reality-shows) to make a couple of heavyweight points... Long, deep, and thorough, as his readers have come to expect. I have often wished that some Hollywood mogul would put me in charge of the philosophical genre known as reality TV -- not that I mean to imply any criticism of their current level of excellence, at least not after the profound Hegelian meditations known as The Simple Life. But still I have a program or two up my sleeve, guaranteed not only to draw curious viewers week after week, but also to pique the interest of the political philosopher in all of us. Here’s my first suggestion. The setting is the typical topical island so beloved of the survivor genre -- long white beaches and swaying palm trees, playful primates swinging from frond to frond, a coconut under each arm. And into this halcyon paradise we transport twenty absolutely normal American men, all young and hearty, and of fairly equal physical strength and stamina. Ten we provide with guns and with as much ammunition as they could possibly need, and ten we do not provide with guns. Now the challenge we present our ten men without guns is simple: Figure out some way to get the ten men with the guns to follow your orders, and to follow them not just occasionally, but always and in every case. [der mega schnippen-schnappen] Which leads to my second idea for a Reality TV show -- a kind of American Idol competition in which various historical nation states vie with each other for the title of "The World’s Safest and Most Reliable Source of Military Might." [der mini schnippen-schnappen] Good read for those willing to invest the time. |
| Posted by:.com |
| #3 It is unfortunate that in his discussion of Washington, Mr. Harris left out this episode. Nothing more clearly demonstrates his greatness and how much we owe him as his handling of this rebellion. As George III recognized, "he will be the greatest man in the world." |
| Posted by: Mr. Davis 2004-3-6 8:27:52 PM |
| #2 Matt you don't know katzenjapper kommer? Er spoken dem gut chermen. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-3-6 5:58:30 PM |
| #1 I didn't know you spoke German. |
| Posted by: Matt 2004-3-6 1:23:17 PM |