In his memoirs, U.S. Grant, one of the most sober men in American history, mentions that his father lived with the Brown family and had known the abolitionist John Brown when he, Brown, was a boy. He, the father, reported that although John was pure and sincere he was also a extreme fanatic about everything. U.S. Grant and his father agreed that Brown was insane. "One does not invade the South with twenty men" said the great tactician of the Civil War and then president (or words to that effect).
In any age, in every farm, village, and city there are those who exceed all taboos and trash all standards. To use that as a basis for any conclusion about a generation or era is silly. WC ________________________________ From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, May 31, 2009 11:08:56 AM Subject: Re: "...In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries[,]...for...the artists and the educated social classes...the exploration of all impulses became an aesthetic norm." In a message dated 5/30/09 8:24:05 PM, [email protected] writes: > Is what Daniel Bell said true? > Artsy6 asks: Is what Daniel Bell said true? "...In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries[,]...for...the artists and the educated social classes...the exploration of all impulses became an aesthetic norm." Too many undefined terms there: e.g. exploration, impulses, aesthetic, norms, class, all. In 1859 John Brown explored his impulse to use armed insurrection to end slavery. But surely that wasn't the norm, nor do I personally see any reason to call it 'aesthetic'. "Ah, but John Brown is not a class!" But no alleged class is anything other than a collection of individuals. Besides, he didn't go alone to Harper's Ferry. The 'class of all those who went to Harper's Ferry with Brown' had 21 members." Though the Bell quote is too vague to be worth grappling with, I have an intuition that it'd be a formidable job for him successfully to contrast this era-characteristic with that of many other centuries. ************** An Excellent Credit Score is 750. See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1221823251x1201398665/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072&hmpgID=62&; bcd=MayExcfooterNO62)
