It’s interesting that if you look up David Mamet at Wikipedia, there is no mention of his new book The Secret Knowledge on the Dismantling of American Culture. There’s no mention of his 2008 op-ed piece in the Village Voice where he ‘comes out’ as a former “brain dead liberal” and says:
I’d observed that lust, greed, envy, sloth, and their pals are giving the world a good run for its money, but that nonetheless, people in general seem to get from day to day; and that we in the United States get from day to day under rather wonderful and privileged circumstances—that we are not and never have been the villains that some of the world and some of our citizens make us out to be, but that we are a confection of normal (greedy, lustful, duplicitous, corrupt, inspired—in short, human) individuals living under a spectacularly effective compact called the Constitution, and lucky to get it.
It’s interesting and telling that the liberal Wikipedia, as well as other liberal outlets, is trying to ignore Mamet’s conservative epiphany. I hope that conservative media jump on this opportunity to showcase another David Horowitz or Andrew Breitbart conservative convert.
Mamet’s a practicing Jew who sees the world through different eyes now than he did 10 or even 5 years ago. He’s the Pulitzer Prize winning author of GlenGarry Glen Ross and his screenplays for movies such as The Untouchables, The Verdict and Wag the Dog have been nominated for Academy Awards.
He’s one of the few (now former) liberals who chose to look at other sides and read other ideas. His new heros are now conservative giants like Milton Freidman, Thomas Sowell and Shelby Steele. In the process, his eyes have been opened.
I examined my Liberalism and found it like an addiction to roulette. Here, though the odds are plain, and the certainty of loss apparent to anyone with a knowledge of arithmetic, the addict, failing time and again, is convinced he yet is graced with the power to contravene natural laws. The roulette addict, when he inevitably comes to grief, does not examine either the nature of roulette or of his delusion, but retires to develop a new system, and to scheme for more funds.
The great wickedness of Liberalism, I saw, was that those who devise the ever new State Utopias, whether crooks or fools, set out to bankrupt not themselves but others.**President Obama said, “The individual at some point must be able to say, ‘I have enough money.'” But will Mr. Obama out of office, say this to himself, and the vast riches he will enjoy? One must doubt it.
I started reading his new book yesterday. It’s only 223 pages long (minus his acknowledgments, bibliography and index) but every page, every paragraph is quotable. It’s an amazingly interesting, entertaining and educational book written in a playwright’s lyrical style.
I highly recommend it.
June 6th, 2011 at 7:21 PM
Sadly, he is right…I don’t think we’ve evolved yet to the point where a successful progressive society is possible. We are pretty much just human.
June 7th, 2011 at 2:41 AM
If I understand you right, I agree with you.
Liberals seek for perfection in everything: law, justice, the individual, society as a whole.
As mere Human beings, we will never evolve to the level of perfection that liberals seek. We will never be perfect.
In fact, the last guy I know of who was perfect was crucified and ascended into heaven.
June 7th, 2011 at 6:35 PM
I agree with you as far as the present goes, but hope the “never” part isn’t true. I have to say I’m still hopeful that we will one day spiritually evolve to the point where we can live in that kind of society. I know the perfect guy ascended into heaven, but he left us with some pretty good guidelines for what we should be shooting for here on Earth.
June 6th, 2011 at 3:48 PM
Thanks for the recommendation, Roxy. Always looking for good reads.
June 6th, 2011 at 1:15 PM
I always like reading about those who have ‘seen the light’. Especially telling was his analogy of liberalism to roulette.
June 7th, 2011 at 2:42 AM
I hope you and Freedom get a chance to read his book and Breitbart’s too. Both are under 300 pages and really entertaining.