#infintejestbuddyread #week8
Marathe and Steeply have now had several discussions about choice and freedom and each one views the notion of choice very differently. What does each one think about he ways in which choice and freedom are connected? Who do you agree with? Who does DFW agree with?
Currey I am going to butcher the beauty of DFW's argument but Marathe believes that American's are childish and have not been taught to choose what to love and that they will therefore "freely", like the lab rats, watch an entertainment cartridge even onto starvation. Steeply believes temptation is part of a free society and that all humans are selfish but that it is society's responsibility to protect against temptation. #infinitejestbuddyread 8y
AshleyHoss820 I think Steeply is saying that freedom of choice is not freedom from consequences, but the freedom to choose is still a right and no one else's business. Also, that we shouldn't really be surprised when people "pull the lever", even to the detriment of their physical well-being. 8y
britt_brooke @Currey 👍🏻👍🏻 8y
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Currey I think you encapsulated Steeply better than I did, but don't you think his investigation of the "entertainment" is about protecting whatever it is he is supposed to protect (ONAN presumably). Or do you think he is just having a philosophical discussion with Marathe? Not easy stuff for me to parse. 8y
Mtroiano @Currey I think the conversation is mostly philosophical. Is freedom the absence of boundaries even if that means you can harm yourself or is freedom the ability to do what you want because boundaries have been established to keep you from harming yourself? 8y
Pippitypip On page 318 Marathe criticises the USA because its citizens no longer know how to choose. Other countries peoples can still choose some ideal beyond themselves. By implication, others have more freedom. Americans have not been taught to choose with care because they have been mollycoddled, and choose The Entertainment (whatever that is) which is a deathly pursuit of happiness to the detriment of all else. (edited) 8y
Pippitypip On the other hand, Steeply accuses the Québécois of being totalitarian "Cuba with snow". He says that being unable to choose is a hazard of being free, and that one cannot be human without freedom. I think DFW sides with Steeply. He goes on to have Steeply say that paternalism, however well meant, prevents people from being able to make their own choices, even if these choices are detrimental to them. 8y
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