This is annoying to read because it makes unfounded assertions and then builds on them, as if they were true, repeatedly. When given the chance to uncritically construct an entire manifesto, it is very easy to get lost in one's on own narrative.
This happens many times:
"The national identity fragments under the assault of burgeoning subcultures. At last, the critic beholds the natural endpoint of this process: the long nightmare of nationalism falls like a weight from the minds of the living, as the nation becomes some lines on a map, some laws you follow. No one particularly cares."
This sounds grand, but it's flimsy because he just made it up with no evidence.
Then after the hypothetic money example:
"But what effect does this have on people? I can tell you: the average person is going to be miserable. If everyone genuinely buys into this culture, then they have to be. Their talents at piano playing, or cooking, or programming, or any form of artistry or scholarly pursuit are denigrated and count for naught. The world has become too big—it did not use to be so big, people so powerless12 of what is going on:"
Again, total fallacy based on anecdote. Sure there are plenty of cliches about money and happiness, but extrapolating to everyone is a naive approach to a manifesto.
I could go on, but this is just word salad masquerading as profundity.
This happens many times:
"The national identity fragments under the assault of burgeoning subcultures. At last, the critic beholds the natural endpoint of this process: the long nightmare of nationalism falls like a weight from the minds of the living, as the nation becomes some lines on a map, some laws you follow. No one particularly cares."
This sounds grand, but it's flimsy because he just made it up with no evidence.
Then after the hypothetic money example:
"But what effect does this have on people? I can tell you: the average person is going to be miserable. If everyone genuinely buys into this culture, then they have to be. Their talents at piano playing, or cooking, or programming, or any form of artistry or scholarly pursuit are denigrated and count for naught. The world has become too big—it did not use to be so big, people so powerless12 of what is going on:"
Again, total fallacy based on anecdote. Sure there are plenty of cliches about money and happiness, but extrapolating to everyone is a naive approach to a manifesto.
I could go on, but this is just word salad masquerading as profundity.
Nice HTML though.