#113 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Tuesday August 10)
Good morning!
TIME FOR A NEW AGE OF REASON?
A friend and distinguished real estate lawyer (and for many years one of the leaders of the USC Real Estate Law and Business Forum) Tony Canzoneri has provided one of the best long-essay response to the Musings of late.
Tony is arguing for a “new age of reason.” He riffs off of my line, "One should learn the myriad ways of looking at the world—from different perspectives and lenses—rather than a single dogmatic lens.”
Yet while he agrees with the notion that we all must eschew a single dogma, he is concerned about my call for greater religious affiliation as helping bring greater sense of community and communitarian impulses to do good. Tony believes religion offers up the danger in group dogmatic thinking in we are experiencing in our political sphere. Tony says:
“I am not an advocate of atheism and appreciate the social and cultural benefits of religion in the context of families and individuals who practice it with a good faith belief in living a good, honest and humanitarian life. In fact, as one who found catholic dogma unacceptable, I have embraced and praised the Jewish values that my many friends hold and practice. But things have changed for some who have supported Trumpism in the name of a misplaced Darwinian sense of survival of the fittest. Darwin’s more critical finding and message was about the survival of species adept at adapting to their environment; not a killer take all mentality…”
Tony concludes, “my bottom line is that we should abhor dogma and seek a New Age of Reason focused on laws that order a civil society. We must shake off the persisting flood of slime and disinformation. [Many people] continue to follow Trump as he doubles down by mocking truth, justice, law and elections. If a return to pure values, whether religious or not, can assist us in finding a New Age of Reason, then I am for it. But please spare me group dogmatic thinking. It’s too easy for the evil side of every faith to misuse it. Reason is the key to avoiding the big fall after our generation's incredible rise…with honest rational thinking and actions we can do it, we can do it…”
SOME REASONABLE PEOPLE SWIMMING AGAINST THE TIDE
A new age of reason. From Tony and Neil deGrasse Tyson, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and so many others, we are hearing reason from many quarters. Whether their voices can stand up to the Laura Ingrahams and Tucker Carlsons of the world—spewers of invective and unproven conspiracies—may determine the future of the American experiment.
TELL THE TRUTH
I just got off the Peloton, truly satisfied that I had finished in the top quartile and left a bunch of 30 and 40-somethings in the dust. Come on now…how many of you 50 and 60-somethings aren’t motivated by beating the youngsters? We still got game!
Have a great day,
Glenn
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