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Strategies & Market Trends : Booms, Busts, and Recoveries -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (35945)	7/10/2003 6:17:50 PM
From: Oblomov	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

Writers today who are prescient? We will find out. Your list reflects your political ideology. Nothing wrong with that, and I happen to think that Krugman and Lind are good writers regardless of their political orientation. This doesn't mean that they will be regarded as prescient 70 years hence. Let's face it, regardless of our convictions, we do not know the truth. As Nietzsche put it, "convictions are greater enemies of the truth than lies". The very nature of our convictions blinds us to truth. We selectively filter information and our imaginations fill in gaps. I think that prescience comes about when one takes a transhistorical and transpolitical perspective. It takes a little practice, and most people are uncomfortable with abandoning convenient modes of thought and continue using faulty mental shortcuts that are nonetheless accepted within their social group or target readership. But, I still think it is possible and worthwhile. In 70 years, few will know the cultural millieu in which our sloppy reasoning is given credence. As soon as the cultural backdrop changes, the arguments lose their luster and become dated. I'd rather leave a legacy if I can. I suggest that you find some conservative and libertarian writers that you can respect, whether or not you agree with them. Speaking for myself, I would consider my intellectual life incomplete if I did not subscribe to and read (the left-liberal) Harper's, Left Business Observer and New Yorker. Lewis Lapham, Doug Henwood, and Paul Krugman argue brilliantly, and to disagree with them ,one must have a sharp wit and a deep knowledge of history. JMHO