
Loving Latin at the End of the World - diodorus
http://bostonreview.net/politics/joel-christensen-loving-latin-end-world
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dr_dshiv
What I don't understand is this binary, black/white view of the oppressed Vs
oppressor, where the powerful are always wrong. Classical civilization is
amazing for its achievements in a world that was filled with oppression, rape,
cruelty, horror, etc. It did not invent these things. It showed a way out.

This freedom, initially for the few, has grown measurably to encompass nearly
the entire globe. Never before in all of history has there been such real
support for the plight of the underprivileged. Far from being in opposition to
classical civilization, it is the extension of its ideas, to create a more
beautiful and harmonious world. Beauty is not unity or totalitarian, but, in a
classical sense, diversity in unity.

~~~
Vesuvium
The powerful are always wrong when they are white men. Otherwise, they are
always right.

~~~
dr_dshiv
That's not the issue I'm referring to. While I agree that prejudice against
white men exists, it's not really a terrible burden and doesn't really matter
in my view.

But, if we believe that the philosophical ideals underlying modern society are
fundamentally evil or rejectable -- that is a serious deal to me.

I reject the idea we should be born with shame for the whole of western human
civilization as an evil upon the earth. We need to appreciate what we've all
come from.

When we know that we come from societies that are thousands of years old, we
can better prepare for a positive future, thousands of years in the future.

Taking white dudes down a notch, I have no issue with that. But I take issue
with associating the classics with fascism -- and promoting the idea that
reading and loving the classics is a sort of fascist act. No way. For
instance, I think that if more people read Plato and understand his role in
history, they would be happier -- and happier about the world they live in.

~~~
Vesuvium
For ages fascists have tried to propagate the idea that classics support their
views; everyone dismissed them as preposterous.

Now, it's the left that says it, to promote the idea that they are just, and
no one is else, ever, even 2000 years ago.

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waynecochran
> but all the while it has remained a totemic language—attractive to religious
> schools, nationalists, and traditionalists alike for its implicit cultural
> but all the while it has remained a totemic language—attractive to religious
> schools, nationalists, and traditionalists alike for its implicit cultural
> authority, its tradition of exclusivity, power, and prestige.authority, its
> tradition of exclusivity, power, and prestige.

There is an author who has never spent a minute in any of these schools or
talked with anyone in them. What ignorant trash.

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guscost
It’s the end of the world, and deep in the apocalyptic hell-scape of 2019
Massachusetts, some random professor whines that Latin is problematic.

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youareawesome
Joel is a family friend. I personally don't know him very well but I remember
a great demonstration of his encyclopedic knowledge of the classics at my bar
mitzvah. Great to see him getting published.

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tgv
Edgy drivel mixed with guilt by association: how pathetically needy of
recognition the writer must be.

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baked_ziti
> There is a real-world danger to this aestheticizing attitude toward
> linguistic study, this appeal to “beauty” and “pleasure.”

I can't imagine feeling this way and being a classicist. Like, why even
bother?

> Brexit

> Trump

> Boris Johnson

> Nazis

Ugh. It's like bingo at this point.

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mirimir
Much of my writing style comes from Caesar's _Commentarii de Bello Gallico_ ;)

~~~
schoen
With many of your posts having been read by me, I don't notice much use of the
ablative absolute.

~~~
mirimir
I meant that I strive to write simply and directly. Using short sentences.

More recently, though, I owe a lot to Abercrombie and Stover. Who also write
like that.

