If a fictional Japanese board game master had lectured the Clintons, Obama or Schiff at graduation

[DFW]

In an old (ca. 1979) novel, the master of the Japanese board game of Gō, dying of cancer, calls each of his students in for a final individual lecture. One of his most brilliant students, the only occidental by birth, but now Japanese by culture, gets a particular lecture. In this age of Fox and Frauds, I came to read it again, and thought how prescient it was.

At the time, the author, Rodney Whitaker, was accused of taking a haughty, elitist attitude, but after 22 years of this century, including 12 years of Republican presidencies, I am not so sure.

Though both the teacher, Otake-san, and his student, Nicholai Hel, are fictitious, I could almost imagine Otake-san giving this lecture to Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Barack Obama, Adam Schiff or Eric Swalwell, warning them about the Republicans they will face as soon as they gain prominence:

“Your scorn for mediocrity blinds you to its vast primitive power. You stand in the glare of your own brilliance, unable to see into the dim corners of the room, to dilate your eyes and see the potential dangers of the mass, the wad of humanity. Even as I tell you this, dear student, you cannot quite believe that lesser men, in whatever numbers, can really defeat you. But we are in the age of the mediocre man. He is dull, colorless, boring — but inevitably victorious. The amoeba outlives the tiger because it divides and continues in its immortal monotony. The masses are the final tyrants. See how, in the arts, Kabuki wanes and withers while popular novels of violence and mindless action swamp the mind of the mass reader. And even in that timid genre, no author dares to produce a genuinely superior man as his hero, for in his rage of shame the mass man will send his yojimbo, the critic, to defend him. The roar of the plodders is inarticulate, but deafening. They have no brain, but they have a thousand arms to grasp and clutch at you, drag you down.”

I read this again as I ponder the prospect of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House and MTG as his most prominent (if not favorite) alter ego. I think that the fictional student wasn't the only one that Whitaker was trying to warn.

[cachukis]

1. On point.

[Irish_Dem]

2. Spot on.

Everyone in our party should read this once a month.

[republianmushroom]

3. LIKE

[erronis]

4. Very astute. But it has been thus forever in the past and will be into the future.

And not to forget that those plodding sobs are directed with cunning by those that don't get their hands dirty - just a nod of the head and perhaps some untraceable cash to facilitate the deeds.

[Escurumbele]

5. Excellent, thank you for posting

[dalton99a]

6. Kick

[Roy Rolling]

7. It is also said

In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king.

[DFW]

8. These people are not blind

Their eyes work, and are wide open, and they STILL choose not to see.

[calimary]

9. "The roar of the plodders..."

“…The roar of the plodders is inarticulate, but deafening. They have no brain, but they have a thousand arms to grasp and clutch at you, drag you down.”

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=post&forum=1002&pid=17432221

[iluvtennis]

10. KnR. n/t

[ancianita]

11. Bag man McCarthy can have no scorn for mediocrity; only fear of the unity of a diverse society.

He does not represent the mediocre man, but the fearful, boring, dull, colorless, mindless, obedient man.

This diverse society of 83+ million is already moving beyond his bag man group's obedience, toward a future society so innovative and creative that even the best of us know we can't imagine it.

[DFW]

15. One can only hope!!

As the Germans say, "Dein Wort in Gottes Ohr."

As someone else once said, "I might not get there with you...."

[CaptainTruth]

12. Wow, thank you for posting that, it's great in a disturbing sort of way.

[58Sunliner]

13. Prescient indeed. Slimy Cruz posted a nude photo of HB the other day on Twitter.

The trenches are the gutters.

[DFW]

16. I heard about that today

The depths of the Mariana Trench are Himalayan peaks by comparison.

[Prairie_Seagull]

14. Wow, much deserving of concentrated consideration.

Thank you, DFW.

[betsuni]

17. Hillary Clinton never needed that lecture. "Lesser men ... can really defeat you."

Her whole career was lesser men trying to defeat her. Don't think the others do, either.

[Warpy]

18. Individually, we're all pretty stupid and part of that inarticulate, deafening roar

and I'm definitely right there with everybody else. It's only when we collaborate that we get smarter.

Dunning-Kruger is a thing because it's combined with supreme self confidence that doesn't feel a need for collaboration, only dictation. That's why so many of the rest of us see them for what they really are. What we need to do is outvote the ones who don't.