There is something spiritually profound in the works of Theodore Dalrymple and even though he is an avowed atheist, I believe his interactions with people from all works of life and from such an 'exposed' perspective has provided him with an unconscious/unacknowledged (?) grasp of a deeper reality.
The following quote has nothing to do (directly) with my musings of his work above, but it does reflect a noticeable cognitive dissonance amongst the 'progressive' classes (the chatteratti or perhaps these days more fittingly; the twitteratti) in Australia today and is contributing towards a polarisation of 'tribal' loyalties amongst young people in the country.
On the one hand we observe young, urban dwelling, university left-wing indoctrinated (except the engineers yet!) morally superior (in their eyes), eco-fanatical, 'stolen-generation/invasion' believing, latte sipping, vegan eating, multi-sexually-identifying, pacifist loons and on the other we observe a burgeoning nationalistic movement with kids flocking to Gallipoli, the Kokoda trail and remembrance day ceremonies. How much of this exploding 'nationalism' is actually the result of true-blue, based on reality and well researched facts or is a direct result of the 'Oprahfication' of life, only history will tell.
One thing is for sure, the left's capture of the educational and media high grounds has enabled it to sow dangerous myths into the lives of many people and in the schools; at their most vulnerable.
“A belief that one’s
history contains nothing good or worthwhile leads either to utopian dreams of a
new beginning, or a failure to resist those utopian dreams: in other words to fanaticism
or apathy. Fanaticism is resentment in search of power; consumerism is apathy
in search of happiness. [Theodore Dalrymple, p.xi, THE NEW VICHY SYNDROME]
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