Thoughtful, fair piece. Death often stirs remembrance, grief and, in the case of public figures, at least, some degree of legitimate accountability needs to be part of that reckoning of a life. RIP
I'm having a lot of trouble with your comments about Scott Adams. Would you also say that anyone (or maybe anyone with a platform) who supported Joe Biden is responsible for the death of Iryna Zarutska? People can legitimately support different policies - all of which have some plusses and minuses since we live in a real world - without being maligned.
I am with the Canadian who posted that in a way she blames all Americans for Trump. I blame all Trump supporters from January 6 2020 up until today for Trump whether they have passed on or are still with us. Your words hit the mark, were objective yet sensitive. We Americans who have not lost our minds are living daily in a hell made possible by Trump supporters. It is nearly impossible to forgive his enablers for the immense number of people who have suffered the loss of health care, the loss of jobs, the loss of food security and the yet untold loss of the end of research, the end of climate change mitigation, the end of financial and banking protections, the end of relationships with European allies, the end of personal freedom. The end of respect. These people have taken a lot and I cannot be happy about them in life or death.
Somewhere along the line he shed whatever love he had for humanity and despoiled his legacy in the process. Compare him to beloved Charles Shultz. In this way I feel sorry for him. A cautionary tale of loveless talent.
I was a faithful,Dilbert reader until I wasn’t. After plots began repeating, I noticed the shift in tone and just got bored. Later I learned how complicit he was and it made me sad, but it did not surprise me. “Disappointed” is not strong enough, but saddened may be better. Essentially he dies a long time ago. Thanks for articulating it so well. I doubt too many others will.
For me, Adams most completely destroyed his legacy when he helped spread the pseudoscientific narrative that ivermectin was a cure for every ill and had been suppressed by "Big Pharma." So he took it to cure his prostate cancer, and of course, it didn't work. Once he realized his mistake, he asked Trump to use his (illegitimate) power to jump him to the front of the line for a drug -- produced by "Big Pharma" -- that might have saved his life had he been in the protocol sooner.
How many people died because they listened to Adams amplify such MAHA nonsense rather than seeking real medical care? And how many of them could ask the President to help them when they realized their mistake?
Scott Adams was perhaps a light version of a fascinating Russian contemporary figure,
Vladyslav Yuriyovych Surkov.
Surkov was describing (books, theatre plays) the absurdity of Russian stage-managed and scripted official and society life. Russian opposition, elite intellectuals, were attending and clapping enthusiastically at those theater performances. Reportedly Surkov's writing is very keen and humorous, describing and eviscerating the absurdities of Russian society. Top-notch great Russian literary tradition, say Gogol's league.
At the same time, Surkov was THE guy who designed and engineered all this Putin-led system of "the State, what the populace is led to believe in, is just a professional stage performance". For years he was the chief Kremlin ideologue and animator, "Grey Cardinal". He holds the highest rank in the Russian civil service system.
I cannot fit the notion of someone like Scott Adams into my head - he could be two very different people, this would be understandable. Surkov is in the same category - human characters I would think are impossible to exist, as they are, to me, internally contradictory.
But the fact that such people DO exist, maybe says that my own understanding of the world is drastically divorced from reality.
Thoughtful, fair piece. Death often stirs remembrance, grief and, in the case of public figures, at least, some degree of legitimate accountability needs to be part of that reckoning of a life. RIP
I appreciate your perspective; gently worded yet impactful. Our actions (or inactions) today are indeed forming our personal legacies.
I'm with you all the way Mike..thanks for saying it all out loud!
I'm having a lot of trouble with your comments about Scott Adams. Would you also say that anyone (or maybe anyone with a platform) who supported Joe Biden is responsible for the death of Iryna Zarutska? People can legitimately support different policies - all of which have some plusses and minuses since we live in a real world - without being maligned.
Thanks for this post, Mike. It is so very timely in so many ways. Your words shine truth...
I am with the Canadian who posted that in a way she blames all Americans for Trump. I blame all Trump supporters from January 6 2020 up until today for Trump whether they have passed on or are still with us. Your words hit the mark, were objective yet sensitive. We Americans who have not lost our minds are living daily in a hell made possible by Trump supporters. It is nearly impossible to forgive his enablers for the immense number of people who have suffered the loss of health care, the loss of jobs, the loss of food security and the yet untold loss of the end of research, the end of climate change mitigation, the end of financial and banking protections, the end of relationships with European allies, the end of personal freedom. The end of respect. These people have taken a lot and I cannot be happy about them in life or death.
Somewhere along the line he shed whatever love he had for humanity and despoiled his legacy in the process. Compare him to beloved Charles Shultz. In this way I feel sorry for him. A cautionary tale of loveless talent.
I was a faithful,Dilbert reader until I wasn’t. After plots began repeating, I noticed the shift in tone and just got bored. Later I learned how complicit he was and it made me sad, but it did not surprise me. “Disappointed” is not strong enough, but saddened may be better. Essentially he dies a long time ago. Thanks for articulating it so well. I doubt too many others will.
For me, Adams most completely destroyed his legacy when he helped spread the pseudoscientific narrative that ivermectin was a cure for every ill and had been suppressed by "Big Pharma." So he took it to cure his prostate cancer, and of course, it didn't work. Once he realized his mistake, he asked Trump to use his (illegitimate) power to jump him to the front of the line for a drug -- produced by "Big Pharma" -- that might have saved his life had he been in the protocol sooner.
How many people died because they listened to Adams amplify such MAHA nonsense rather than seeking real medical care? And how many of them could ask the President to help them when they realized their mistake?
Scott Adams was perhaps a light version of a fascinating Russian contemporary figure,
Vladyslav Yuriyovych Surkov.
Surkov was describing (books, theatre plays) the absurdity of Russian stage-managed and scripted official and society life. Russian opposition, elite intellectuals, were attending and clapping enthusiastically at those theater performances. Reportedly Surkov's writing is very keen and humorous, describing and eviscerating the absurdities of Russian society. Top-notch great Russian literary tradition, say Gogol's league.
At the same time, Surkov was THE guy who designed and engineered all this Putin-led system of "the State, what the populace is led to believe in, is just a professional stage performance". For years he was the chief Kremlin ideologue and animator, "Grey Cardinal". He holds the highest rank in the Russian civil service system.
I cannot fit the notion of someone like Scott Adams into my head - he could be two very different people, this would be understandable. Surkov is in the same category - human characters I would think are impossible to exist, as they are, to me, internally contradictory.
But the fact that such people DO exist, maybe says that my own understanding of the world is drastically divorced from reality.