Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Q&Ass

A reader askes Megan: "I think Jonah Goldberg once said the invention of the automobile did more to disrupt traditional societies than any political or legal change. Do you agree?"

Megan replies:

Probably true. Certainly, it was the first step towards the sexual revolution. It also disaggregated communities, separating peoples' business interests from their residential interests. In my opinion, the latter was not a salutory development, and should have (but was not) been matched by larger regional government bodies to bring those interests back into alignment.
For one, Jonah Goldberg is fucking retarded. As to how the invention of the automobile (not the proliferation, use, or ubquity of the automobile) was the 'first step' in the sexual revolution, well...I'm not so sure that the invention of Road Head was that impactful.

The separation of peoples' business interests from their residential interests, or to simplify it, the fact that people didn't work entirely out of their fucking house, did not start because the automobile was invented. THAT was a product of bureaucritzation, which was a product of the industrial revolution, so Megan is about a decade off. And bureacratization was more impactful and important to the lives of people that it affected than anything else. Because people didn't work and live in the same space, and because children were young enough to work but not old enough to travel to work, they had to invent a word to describe this time period in a child's life. Hence, adolescence. And this.

2 comments:

spencer said...

I hate words like "impactful."

Other than that, great point.

Ellis Weiner said...

Ditto re "impactful." Or impact as a verb except w/ regard to wisdom teeth.

Oh, and:

"In my opinion, the latter was not a salutory development, and should have (but was not) been matched by larger regional government bodies to bring those interests back into alignment."

Huh? "governmental bodies" to interfere with the workings of capital and the market? Is that the libertarian response? Color me confused.