It seems an especially bad idea for people to feel moral, without actually acting moral.
He proceeds to talk about movies that allow us to feel moral by rooting for the good guy. But I was expecting him to take it in a different direction. Namely, theater. More specifically, political theater.
READER COMMENTS
sourcreamus
Jul 8 2011 at 3:06pm
In my more uncharitable moments I think what you are describing accounts for most of the appeal of liberalism. You can feel generous without giving away any money by voting to tax the rich. You can feel like a gentleman by being pro-abortion while acting like Ted Kennedy or Bill Clinton in your personal life. You can purchase a good self image with other people’s money.
Bryan Willman
Jul 9 2011 at 11:41am
Another sentence to ponder
“you can purchase a good self image with other people’s money”
david nh
Jul 12 2011 at 9:17am
I don’t think its being uncharitable. If you ask many liberals, they will cheerfully agree with you. They won’t use the same words that Arnold has quoted in his post or that you have used your characterization (” You can purchase a good self image with other people’s money”) but they will agree with you in substance.
What is rather sad and yet quite telling is that they don’t understand the extent to which they are condemning themselves ethically by agreeing with you.
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