Project Management V

I do know who Osama bin Laden was. What I cannot do is understand him. Perhaps this is not remarkable. Why, though, can I only and ever misunderstand the meaning of this man's life?

Because, as Morrisey would say, tonight is just like every other night. That's why I have no insight into Osama bin Laden. Because it would be wholly unlike the truth of my life for me to comprehend somebody else's mind. Should I try to learn more, I could hope only to shift the sands under yet another blind step. No, information is of no use here; I need, rather, much less than that.

Time to slow things way, way down.
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Osama Who?

Via Matt Yglesias

Yglesias beat me to this, and comments "Oy!", but I say spare me the hand-wringing. Indeed, I'll do the those kids one better. Not only is it okay that plenty of young people don't know who Osama bin Laden was, but I'll also predict that those same kids aren't really improved for now knowing. Knowing about Osama bin Laden = politics. Most people = don't know and don't care about politics. This is not the big, and certainly not the new problem people suppose it to be. It really is okay. Put me down for this same conclusion about the mass of people you're not hearing about who know perfectly well who Osama was and yet aren't feeling the joy, catharsis, or anything else that t.v. and the internets are telling us we're feeling. For lots and lots of people, it was mostly just Monday, and it's bad history to act like this wasn't so.

Nothing really to add, except that I'll be watching the Yglesias comments thread on this one for the usual declensionist narratives of how we all used to know everything and now we don't know anything and any day now the Russians Japanese Chinese will be running laps around us. I call bullshit. People don't not care anymore than they already didn't care. I'm reminded of this nice little post by Jonathan Bernstein on same general topic. Makes me wanna go read about those Mugwumps!
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