Evil in our times is so dull. There is so much about the Great Evils of history to admire. As longtime readers will know, I'm often to be found rooting for the Evil Emperors and Mings the Merciless. The bad guys of history are always so much more interesting than the gloopy saints and gusty heroes. There's a reason it is nearly always Grendel, and not the title hero, that gets on the cover of recent translations.
I find it somewhat disappointing from a literary standpoint that the evils of our times are so trite.
Banal.
In our times, the downfall of an entire culture is being played out not on the glorious battlefield, but in civil courts, complete with worn vinyl-clad furniture and sad little polyester-suited men. The disputes not over the great questions but about who gets to keep the stuff.
A quote from the Great Anne Muggeridge I heard often from her late husband John, is, I think, going to end up being a sad epitaph for the Anglos: "It is all going to end in court arguing over who gets to keep the altar plates."
A rather sorry whimper.
How far we have sunk.
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