The Noblest Savage

Today’s ranty Ruminant features killer whales, hunter-gatherers, and a special appearance by Jonah’s importunate dingo. ...

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Today’s ranty Ruminant features killer whales, hunter-gatherers, and a special appearance by Jonah’s importunate dingo. It also includes as much kvetching about partisan craziness and misunderstood aspects of intellectual history as you’d expect. Jonah begins by discussing the latest Trump tax scandal, the root cause of Tucker Carlson’s apparent insanity, and the GOP brouhaha over the Janury 6 commission. He then reflects on Donald Rumsfeld’s time in the White House. The show concludes with a mini-commercial for Suicide of the West, gratuitous shots at Rousseau and Marx, and reflections on the Fourth of July. It’s a veritable Goldbergian greatest hits.

Show Notes:

– Andy McCarthy on Manhattan’s Ahab

– Scott Gottleib’s new book, Uncontrolled Spread

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    Really enjoyed the latter half and the closing of this episode, especially Coolidge’s speech. I’ll have to go and read the full speech - we never learned about it in school. One beef: the word Fascism comes from the Latin word Fasces, the bundle of sticks and rods that was a symbol of the Roman state. Maybe I missed something but what was the reference to the origin of fascism about?

    I like making jokes about the whole idea of tribal ancestors in the jungle having better lives than us: more free time, better food, plenty of exercise and time outdoors, why did we ever leave? But I get Jonah’s point. It wasn’t exactly paradise.

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    Calvin S.

    Hey Jonah. I just listened to Ezra Klein's interview with Heather McGhee. One of the central theses of discussion was that progressive era policies, particularly the New Deal and the GI bill, created the "white middle class", but that when these programs began to be applied to black people and people of color that there was a racially motivated roll back of government benefits. I think that this would make an interesting topic for a Remnant "Supplemental" where you talk about the racialized aspects of progressivist policies and how many black leaders at the time saw the NRA as a "run around".

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  3. ROBERT

    I did get a chance to listen on July 4th and the closing segment was a perfect Independence Day tribute! Loved this dissertation- especially the comments regarding the Gettysburg Address.

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  4. Michael Kliegman

    First 10 minutes or so was Jonah clearing his throat, saying nothing substantive, informed or useful about the Trump organization prosecution, baby boomer retirement should have been edited out - mainly by Jonah not thinking he had to comment on stuff as to which he has nothing much to contribute. Get on to the stuff you know something about (beginning with the Tucker stuff, then Strauss etc).

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    1. Avatar photo
      Torsius

      The Ruminant is like a Jim Morrison acid trip. If you follow the naked Indian, you can’t complain about where you end up.

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      1. Michael Kliegman

        Great analogy (not sure Jonah would sign on). I do get the impression that he pays a bit more attention to "constructive feedback" than Jim Morrison. :-)

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  5. linda

    Well, I'm going to dissent from my fellow commenters about my favorite part. I love the candid way Jonah discussed the Tucker Carlson mash up. I have read Tucker for years and he is not a stupid guy. I have never found him real interesting but never as stupid as he appears on his show. It will be interesting to see if he's just dumbing himself down for viewership or he has gone off the edge. More and more I think it's the later.

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    Adicesa14

    More than an hour of continuous discourse on shifting topics of ‘in the weeds’ erudition. Thank you. More, please.

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    Tom Self

    Amen and thank you. Happy 4th of July!

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  8. Avatar photo
    Mark Bingham

    Noble Savage and Declaration stuff is well said! Safe Happy 4th everyone!

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    1. Avatar photo
      Narwhal

      Agreed. The section on the noble savage and the idealization/romanticization of hunter-gathering was solid. Though you know what one rebuttal to it is already or will be: modern humans don’t live in harmony with nature and are destroying the planet. While there is some merit to that rebuttal it doesn’t acknowledge that once we humans began using fire we weren’t really living in harmony with nature anymore.

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        Calvin S.

        I havn't listen to the Klein interview, but the idea that hunter gatherer societies possessed a greater degree of leisure is a very odd distortion of the facts - even more so than the claims of early European explorers that indigenous peoples were "lazy". hunter gatherer societies would often have periods where food supplies were low and they would be forced into sedentary habits as a way of conserving calorie expenditure. They were sitting around "doing nothing" because they were undernourished and had a limited food supply.

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        Man-Eating Cow

        There was a theory a few years back that the Great Plains were the work of Paleoindians burning off the forest cover.

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          Narwhal

          I’m unaware of that theory. Though I’m not unfamiliar with the concept of slash and burn agriculture. So, it doesn’t sound entirely implausible.

          Do you have any link about the theory.

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            Man-Eating Cow

            https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr176/rmrs_gtr176_063_070.pdf

            Looks like a pretty old publication. I suspec the idea has fallen out of fashion.

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  9. Avatar photo
    Dan Jett

    No link to the Calvin Coolidge speech?? Great discussion on the Declaration! Thank you!

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      Nick B

      https://coolidgefoundation.org/resources/inspiration-of-the-declaration-of-independence/

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      1. Avatar photo
        Tracie

        Thought that was odd too.

        Found the excerpt JG read here:
        https://havechanged.blogspot.com/2020/07/an-exceedingly-restful-finality.html?m=1

        Shared part of it on my social media. Also checked to see how much fits in a tweet:

        "If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny..."

        Actually cuts off halfway through "deny." Guess you could do a thread.

        Ending a series of sentences with a single phrase is effective oratory with a captive audience. Know this well from growing up listening to sermons.

        It's easy to be petty or witty in a tweet. Making grand statements about complex truths requires more time and headspace.

        Maybe as I sip my sangria in my co-workers backyard or kitchen tomorrow, I can say: y'know Calvin Coolidge gave a speech nobody ever talks about. They expect that sort of thing from me.

        Happy 4th ya'll.




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    BWG

    Jonah, thanks for the full-throated advocacy for the DoI, and its significance, and how after 245 yr it's still the freshest take on what the individual's relationship with government should be.
    Somehow I missed the killer whales. :-(

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