A Slight Delay

I read an article recently that puts a magnifying glass up to a small chunk of the zeitgeist, wondering aloud (or on paper, at least) whether we’re living in the worst of times. Granted, these are not the best of times. Katrina, the Boxing Day tsunami, global warming, torrential downpours and flooding in the Midwest that match earlier torrential downpours and flooding in central Europe, and the recent China quake would all seem to indicate that we’re in a darker-than-usual period in our history, to the point where some are taking recent events as signs that we are, indeed, living in the End Times.

But then, a little perspective may be in order. After all, when have we ever lived in the best of times? The idea that we don’t live in the best of times is as central to American identity as, say, apple pie. Let me explain. (more…)

Nicholson Baker’s latest offering, Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization traces the devolution of humanity and human nature as weaponry and tactics evolve. War has never been civilized business, but Baker shows the dizzying speed at which it took on ever more barbaric aspects in the first half of the last century.

There is the same attention to detail in evidence that’s characterized such earlier works as Vox, A Box of Matches, and The Size of Thoughts. Individuals are captured at very specific moments in time, their words and actions rendered in miniature, the better to illuminate the larger picture. Just as important, Baker is not content to simply rehash the same arguments, or perpetuate the same myths, that now pass for received wisdom. Much of the book’s impact derives from the fact that it thrusts generally ignored or forgotten figures like Stefan Zweig or Henry Fosdick into the spotlight, while also not shirking the faults of the narrative’s traditional “heroes,” like FDR and Winston Churchill.

The protagonists and antagonists here are as likely to be ideas as people. Pacifism is presented, more or less unquestioningly, as an a priori good, as are its proponents, among them Zweig, Charles Lindbergh, A.J. Muste, Jeanette Rankin (who has the distinction of being the only person to cast a dissenting vote against both World Wars), Christopher Isherwood, Muriel Lester, and Gandhi. (more…)