For Election Day eve
There’s a beautiful line in Tom Stoppard’s new play, The Coast of Utopia. The frazzled Russian literary critic, Belinsky, in the midst of ranting lays it out:
When philosophers start talking like architects, get out while you can, chaos is coming. When they start laying down rules for beauty, blood in the streets is from that moment inevitable.
I can think of no more appropriate words for this Election Day eve. We remain embroiled in an intellectuals war in which reality continues to rebuke the hubris of strong ideas and poor perception.