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OR NOT
Monday June 17, 2019
If you want to see the interview, I recommend it from several perspectives if for no other reason than ‘a great writer at 80 feeling he has not yet done his best work’ is inspiring.
Mailer was talking then about U.S. involvement in Iraq which, at that time, appeared imminent. He postulated an invasion there would ‘change the country’ (meaning the U.S.) and the world. His explanation was to pose that same question about whether the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war changed the country, or not? His concerns about how long the U.S. might be mired in Iraq, about whether or not there really were WMD’s there and the consequences are quire prophetic.
As the U.S. grapples with its upcoming mid-term elections – with Trump or not, impeach or not, re-think Roe v. Wade or not – I can’t help but wonder what would have happened for the U.S., for the world, for democracy … if Bush had not taken the U.S. into Iraq.
My curiosity extends to social media – its influence, or not, on governance, politics and democracy, or not, in the future. As I write this after re-watching that video, I wonder about the future of democracy and politics in U.S., here in Canada and ‘everywhere’ on heels of this Trump-phase of American history, Brexit or not, and changes of the world we’ll watch in over 20-50 years – or not.
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