Mike. It is difficult to say how much yr writting means to me. In these times where meaning and moral intent has been so desecrated. The daily assult - I think we all have PTST. (Is there a word for living in the time before the actual PTST event has occured, knowing that it is going to occur - is that Pre TST). Reading u is so nourishing, in a good / bad type of way. Good thoughts to you Mike.
"He was no angel." The modern puritans of the left rightly and categorically rejected this when it was said about Michael Brown by the cynics of the right. And yet...
"Freely you have received; freely give," is the motto of the college I attended for undergrad. It's a motto I've always tried to take to heart.
Mike Brock, you are a fine thinker and writer, and your essays are a giving-back. I wish, though, that you had an editor or could be your own editor in order to cut out the redundancies, the re-statements of what you have already stated. Less is more. I would often like to share your pieces because they are so good, but don't because they are too long. Long is fine, if it is needed, but it often seems you could cut quite a lot without diminishing your message.
Tastes differ, no doubt. My editorial philosophy that if you can say the same thing in fewer words, do, is shaped by newspaper and trade publication writing. Certainly not the most highbrow or erudite of genres. And that from a more print-dominant time when column inches cost paper and ink, and going from 16 pages to 20 was a meaningful jump. I found it to be a great exercise to have to cut a quarter of the words in a piece and still retain what mattered. Sometimes some pretty phrases were cut, but usually what was left was stronger. In this time of essentially free publishing one is less constrained by cost or practicalities, but attention is an even scarcer resource than it used to be. I don't suppose everybody is the same, but I think a lot of people won't start reading a long essay or will give up on it partway through—especially if they feel they are indulging the writer's private joy in using language without any extra benefit to them—and I hesitate to "share" long essays for this reason, although I may read them. There is an undeniable tension between dumbing down for accessibility and giving an idea room to spread its wings. Publications like The New Yorker and The Atlantic provide examples of the feasibility (for a few elite outlets) of producing long-form journalism that at least a certain part of the population will read, but examining the work they publish it is hard to find much fat that could be cut without harm. Their editorial practices are disciplined. No doubt there is sometimes a tussle between writer and editor over keeping or cutting this or that; that struggle usually results, I suspect, in a tighter, less repetitive and ultimately more effective piece of work.
If there is some explanation of “what it means to be American,” it most certainly includes a deep belief in the importance and righteousness of second chances. This essay is a wonderful testament to second chances.
I love this so much. My poor walking companions get to hear me rant and rave about this sort of thing all the time.
I'm exhausted by many things:
people who have no appreciation for the medical scientists who spent their lives in research and study so that other humans may have a longer, healthier life, and claim that "doing their own research" is just as valid;
the climate-change deniers with zero scientific background who say that it's cold today, so it's just "common sense" that climate change is a hoax;
the religious zealots who claim their book of magical thinking is more important to human flourishing than science, even as they use the products and services made possible by science to spread their brand of supernatural mythology;
people who know nothing about the drudgery, time and talent demanded by serious investigative journalism and claim that "the news" is nothing but lies, while believing the lazy, stomach-churning propaganda that Fox cranks out every day.
Gratitude is in short supply in this spoiled, decadent world, so thanks to Mr. Jobs for expressing his own so well and to you, Mike, for sharing and expounding on it.
Mike. It is difficult to say how much yr writting means to me. In these times where meaning and moral intent has been so desecrated. The daily assult - I think we all have PTST. (Is there a word for living in the time before the actual PTST event has occured, knowing that it is going to occur - is that Pre TST). Reading u is so nourishing, in a good / bad type of way. Good thoughts to you Mike.
🙏
Beautiful peice. The work is the purpose.
"He could be petty in ways that would have been ordinary in a less powerful man and were grotesque in him because of his power."
Well said. I have been blessed to be a less powerful man, who most likely would have been grotesque given the opportunity.
Compassion for self. Compassion for all others. No excuses
"He was no angel." The modern puritans of the left rightly and categorically rejected this when it was said about Michael Brown by the cynics of the right. And yet...
"Freely you have received; freely give," is the motto of the college I attended for undergrad. It's a motto I've always tried to take to heart.
This goes into my stash of things to ead, re-read, and think about.
Thank you for this.
Thank you for this beautiful essay.
Mike Brock, you are a fine thinker and writer, and your essays are a giving-back. I wish, though, that you had an editor or could be your own editor in order to cut out the redundancies, the re-statements of what you have already stated. Less is more. I would often like to share your pieces because they are so good, but don't because they are too long. Long is fine, if it is needed, but it often seems you could cut quite a lot without diminishing your message.
Maybe not everybody has the same preference for condensed brevity that you do?
Tastes differ, no doubt. My editorial philosophy that if you can say the same thing in fewer words, do, is shaped by newspaper and trade publication writing. Certainly not the most highbrow or erudite of genres. And that from a more print-dominant time when column inches cost paper and ink, and going from 16 pages to 20 was a meaningful jump. I found it to be a great exercise to have to cut a quarter of the words in a piece and still retain what mattered. Sometimes some pretty phrases were cut, but usually what was left was stronger. In this time of essentially free publishing one is less constrained by cost or practicalities, but attention is an even scarcer resource than it used to be. I don't suppose everybody is the same, but I think a lot of people won't start reading a long essay or will give up on it partway through—especially if they feel they are indulging the writer's private joy in using language without any extra benefit to them—and I hesitate to "share" long essays for this reason, although I may read them. There is an undeniable tension between dumbing down for accessibility and giving an idea room to spread its wings. Publications like The New Yorker and The Atlantic provide examples of the feasibility (for a few elite outlets) of producing long-form journalism that at least a certain part of the population will read, but examining the work they publish it is hard to find much fat that could be cut without harm. Their editorial practices are disciplined. No doubt there is sometimes a tussle between writer and editor over keeping or cutting this or that; that struggle usually results, I suspect, in a tighter, less repetitive and ultimately more effective piece of work.
But, of course, you do you.
Repetitions — poetic rhetoric and or hypnosis?
Bravo, sir!
I’ve been a reader for a while. Became a paying subscriber from this column. Outstanding work.
If there is some explanation of “what it means to be American,” it most certainly includes a deep belief in the importance and righteousness of second chances. This essay is a wonderful testament to second chances.
Beautiful!
I love this so much. My poor walking companions get to hear me rant and rave about this sort of thing all the time.
I'm exhausted by many things:
people who have no appreciation for the medical scientists who spent their lives in research and study so that other humans may have a longer, healthier life, and claim that "doing their own research" is just as valid;
the climate-change deniers with zero scientific background who say that it's cold today, so it's just "common sense" that climate change is a hoax;
the religious zealots who claim their book of magical thinking is more important to human flourishing than science, even as they use the products and services made possible by science to spread their brand of supernatural mythology;
people who know nothing about the drudgery, time and talent demanded by serious investigative journalism and claim that "the news" is nothing but lies, while believing the lazy, stomach-churning propaganda that Fox cranks out every day.
Gratitude is in short supply in this spoiled, decadent world, so thanks to Mr. Jobs for expressing his own so well and to you, Mike, for sharing and expounding on it.
This is beautiful. I really admire your clarity and perspective. Thank you for highlighting this man.
This is so good, so important. Thank you.