I grew up in Nova Scotia, a backwater by the sea. A place where we talked to anybody and pretty much everybody. You help your neighbour there too, just because it's the right thing to do.
Then I came here to Ottawa where nobody talks to anybody, and your neighbour is someone that you avoid eye contact with for decades if necessary.
And yes it sucks.
Great article Walt. I would like to say that I would share your pickle anytime - but there is no way to write that in the proper spirit. LOL
The article was written before or inspired by the Hamilton 68 conversation you just had with Matt Taibbi?
I thought it was a brilliant insight of the new American relationship in the conversation, and I'm wondering if it was already on your mind for a piece, or all written since Friday.
The world is a more interesting place with you in it Walter.
As a Texan, I can say that young man is representative of our best. So glad you two met, but especially that he met the great Walter Kirn. One day he will realize that.
I love Walter's work whether it be an article or his "America This Week" podcast with Matt Taibbi because he puts into words what many of us are seeing and experiencing on a daily basis in a country that's seems to have gone nuts. Keep up the great work!
That’s probably about the only place it’s still safe to do that - every online search or comment is being scrutinized by big tech to see if it contains any “subversive” thoughts - then either removed or passed on to the authorities.
I fear free speech is now a relic of the past - it’s not coming back.
Why do you think they want everyone using mobile phones (they carry with them all time time) for everything? Do you really think it’s about our convenience or theirs? Every single thing you do on it is tied to your name - even if you’re just using wi-fi.
Imagine that even TheFreePress (Bari Weiss) is not exactly free. Some commentators were censored (deleted) for unexplained reasons, some TFP editors/writers still are infected by TDS. For these reasons we left or in the process of unsubscribing and joining other blogs (Matt and Walter) or Jotting in Purple by Celia Paddock specifically home for the refugees from TFP.
I agree free speech is a thing of the past. I self censored for a while because I thought it was polite, but when Matt Taibbi said “i’m a MF American..that shit don’t work on me.” The spell was broken. I’m too old to care what progressives think of me anymore. The worlds a mess because people are afraid of being called bad names, but I know in my heart that I mean nobody no harm, so I’ll speak freely till my time is over.
I like this essay very much. It's kind of a priceless precious moment from my years as a teen growing up in central California, a place full of transplanted Texans and "Okies," with descendants of Armenian Genocide survivors and a huge slice of Mexican culture thrown in. My European born spouse says it's really the Midwest in California. But we natives still recognize Wild West in our roots. People are polite by custom because once upon a time being rude to the wrong person at the drinking fountain might have gotten your foot shot off.
My only problem now is that there are two Walter Kirn Substack publications now besides your wonderful weekly chat with Matt and a column in Bari's Free Press. I'm a paid subscriber to 3 out of 4, keep this up and there will soon be another. You have many fans out here, some I know would surprise you.
As a resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico, I read this article with the kind of longing a fat kid on a diet looks at a wholly untouched chocolate cake. It reminds us that the United States isn't merely a collection of the willfully ignorant, and that while we may be a people who "just want to live our lives", fully understand just how deeply rotten an aspect of our culture is just underneath the surface.. and, if there's one single theme of the next four years, I truly believe it's going to be that "Sunlight is still the best disinfectant."
It’s writing like this that turned me into a voracious reader 40 years ago. Thanks for keeping the tradition alive and reminding me that all the great writers aren’t dead yet.
I grew up and live in Toronto. It's a bastion of capital D diversity, where there's a good mix of new-etiquette strivers and normie live and let livers. Professionally and socially I tend to walk amidst the former, and increasingly I find it hard to be unguarded even around my extended family.
And I completely relate to Kirn's keen description of "probing" a stranger's ideological temperaments with ambiguous statements about the "state of things."
It makes me think of the cryptic slang gays used to use to suss out fellow travellers in public, when being outed could prove fatal.
When so-and-so who got "cancelled" comes up in conversation with a new acquaintance, I'll sometimes lob that, that person was merely "postponed", to see the reaction if it's safe to continue. If it's grim agreement, that's a NO. If they crack a smile, there might be an opening for genuine conversation.
Grew up in a politically divided x family of 2 brothers born into poverty in the late 1920s in Lake City, MN. My uncle became a devote liberal of the Clergy. My physician father chose to move us to Phoenix, AZ in 1953 to get some breathing room from brutal MN winters, play golf and solidified his conservative beliefs in "Goldwater Country". But each summer vacation we migrated back to MN Lake Country. Together "the brothers" fished for walleye fondly regaling their great boyhood stories. However the early evening beachside gathering for "Happy Hour" was anything but.... the inevitable political debates ensued interspersed w hurtful personal jibes. They got along just fine in the boat why not on land?
I have carried this conflict in my head & heart. Painful cancel culture has severed longstanding friendships from my education years. For the first time ever the triumphant union of MAHA & MAGA has offered a place of belonging in safe acceptance.
I grew up in Nova Scotia, a backwater by the sea. A place where we talked to anybody and pretty much everybody. You help your neighbour there too, just because it's the right thing to do.
Then I came here to Ottawa where nobody talks to anybody, and your neighbour is someone that you avoid eye contact with for decades if necessary.
And yes it sucks.
Great article Walt. I would like to say that I would share your pickle anytime - but there is no way to write that in the proper spirit. LOL
Yes, same here. I am from Maine and in Chicago
Maine and us Bluenosers have a deep bond.
I would kill for a good clam chowdah today! :)
Another fantastic missive, Walter. You write like a river streams: smoothly, and with crackle.
Bravo.
The article was written before or inspired by the Hamilton 68 conversation you just had with Matt Taibbi?
I thought it was a brilliant insight of the new American relationship in the conversation, and I'm wondering if it was already on your mind for a piece, or all written since Friday.
The world is a more interesting place with you in it Walter.
As a Texan, I can say that young man is representative of our best. So glad you two met, but especially that he met the great Walter Kirn. One day he will realize that.
I love Walter's work whether it be an article or his "America This Week" podcast with Matt Taibbi because he puts into words what many of us are seeing and experiencing on a daily basis in a country that's seems to have gone nuts. Keep up the great work!
Walter,
That’s probably about the only place it’s still safe to do that - every online search or comment is being scrutinized by big tech to see if it contains any “subversive” thoughts - then either removed or passed on to the authorities.
I fear free speech is now a relic of the past - it’s not coming back.
It's like a scene out of the 1980's film "They Live" where you're in constant fear one of the aliens is going to say "I've got one that can see!"
The AIs have already identified you and put you on the "malcontents" list.
Good luck!
Why do you think they want everyone using mobile phones (they carry with them all time time) for everything? Do you really think it’s about our convenience or theirs? Every single thing you do on it is tied to your name - even if you’re just using wi-fi.
Imagine that even TheFreePress (Bari Weiss) is not exactly free. Some commentators were censored (deleted) for unexplained reasons, some TFP editors/writers still are infected by TDS. For these reasons we left or in the process of unsubscribing and joining other blogs (Matt and Walter) or Jotting in Purple by Celia Paddock specifically home for the refugees from TFP.
I agree free speech is a thing of the past. I self censored for a while because I thought it was polite, but when Matt Taibbi said “i’m a MF American..that shit don’t work on me.” The spell was broken. I’m too old to care what progressives think of me anymore. The worlds a mess because people are afraid of being called bad names, but I know in my heart that I mean nobody no harm, so I’ll speak freely till my time is over.
Well no. For one there’s too much of it and for another Trump won.
I like this essay very much. It's kind of a priceless precious moment from my years as a teen growing up in central California, a place full of transplanted Texans and "Okies," with descendants of Armenian Genocide survivors and a huge slice of Mexican culture thrown in. My European born spouse says it's really the Midwest in California. But we natives still recognize Wild West in our roots. People are polite by custom because once upon a time being rude to the wrong person at the drinking fountain might have gotten your foot shot off.
My only problem now is that there are two Walter Kirn Substack publications now besides your wonderful weekly chat with Matt and a column in Bari's Free Press. I'm a paid subscriber to 3 out of 4, keep this up and there will soon be another. You have many fans out here, some I know would surprise you.
What a lovely, rhythmic piece this is. Thanks for sharing it here.
As a resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico, I read this article with the kind of longing a fat kid on a diet looks at a wholly untouched chocolate cake. It reminds us that the United States isn't merely a collection of the willfully ignorant, and that while we may be a people who "just want to live our lives", fully understand just how deeply rotten an aspect of our culture is just underneath the surface.. and, if there's one single theme of the next four years, I truly believe it's going to be that "Sunlight is still the best disinfectant."
Thanks for this. We all need more wit and stories like yours. The best compliment I can give is that your pieces, short or long, are so readable.
It’s writing like this that turned me into a voracious reader 40 years ago. Thanks for keeping the tradition alive and reminding me that all the great writers aren’t dead yet.
I grew up and live in Toronto. It's a bastion of capital D diversity, where there's a good mix of new-etiquette strivers and normie live and let livers. Professionally and socially I tend to walk amidst the former, and increasingly I find it hard to be unguarded even around my extended family.
And I completely relate to Kirn's keen description of "probing" a stranger's ideological temperaments with ambiguous statements about the "state of things."
It makes me think of the cryptic slang gays used to use to suss out fellow travellers in public, when being outed could prove fatal.
When so-and-so who got "cancelled" comes up in conversation with a new acquaintance, I'll sometimes lob that, that person was merely "postponed", to see the reaction if it's safe to continue. If it's grim agreement, that's a NO. If they crack a smile, there might be an opening for genuine conversation.
Love this man. He keeps me sane and laughing in insane times. Excellent writer and excellent podcast buddy on ATW.
A great American voice: hopeful, yet tempered.
Grew up in a politically divided x family of 2 brothers born into poverty in the late 1920s in Lake City, MN. My uncle became a devote liberal of the Clergy. My physician father chose to move us to Phoenix, AZ in 1953 to get some breathing room from brutal MN winters, play golf and solidified his conservative beliefs in "Goldwater Country". But each summer vacation we migrated back to MN Lake Country. Together "the brothers" fished for walleye fondly regaling their great boyhood stories. However the early evening beachside gathering for "Happy Hour" was anything but.... the inevitable political debates ensued interspersed w hurtful personal jibes. They got along just fine in the boat why not on land?
I have carried this conflict in my head & heart. Painful cancel culture has severed longstanding friendships from my education years. For the first time ever the triumphant union of MAHA & MAGA has offered a place of belonging in safe acceptance.
BTW Walter....
ATW is my weekly "radio hour".
Great writing, thanks!