The past two times we've gone to the symphony, we've eaten at Max's Opera Cafe first but had a wait for our table and a chance to go to the next door book store. Both times I've opened a critically acclaimed book to a random chapter.
Thomas Frank (What's the Matter With Kansas) wasted several sentences pointing out that he usually wouldn't be caught dead listening to Gordon Liddy, then basically mailed in the part that was supposed to show exactly why Liddy was offensive.
Al Gore (The Assault on Reason) made the bizarre claim that it was once possible for basically anyone to get a universal soapbox for their expression -- Thomas Paine, for example. It should be obvious why this isn't true now -- we can all publish, but life is way too short for anyone to care what everyone else has to say, as opposed to whoever happens to interest them most. But even when a common forum existed, access wouldn't have been anywhere near universal. Most people would have been too busy subsisting.
You can make it easy for anyone to speak, or you can guarantee that everyone hears what is said, but shouldn't it be obvious why you can't achieve both at once?
Posted by Matt Bruce at May 6, 2008 02:49 AM