The View From The Top

In her continuing effort to justify her lack of a soul, Megan McArdle published yet another post saying that the other side must understand her side, since we are all good fellows, and jolly well met. But some foolish, unpleasant people will insist that McArdle listen to them complain and whine about doing without health care. You see, McArdle had just written an exceedingly callous and insulting post about mental health, and then (inevitably) had to publish another post supporting her first when she was criticized. The blogosphere recoiled in disgust but McArdle is accustomed to that, and her second post merely reinforced her lack of feeling. Usually that will be the end of the matter, barring more public criticism and further desperate posts claiming justification. Let's see what she says.

Empathy by Analogy
01 Feb 2010 11:29 am

A friend suggests that the best way for those who opposed the health care reform bill to understand how the other side may be feeling is to read this article.

On the other hand, this suggests that the denouement[*] may actually be ours in the end.

"This article" is an article on how sad sports fans get when their team loses.

It's a game to her. Winners and losers. Rich and poor. You lose, you're poor, too bad, so sad. But you lost because we're better than you. Our money proves that.

When Ross Douthat weeps over The Holy Fetus or David Brooks do his damndest to protect the poor or McArdle pretends to care about any other creature in existence, they are merely rooting for the home team, utterly oblivious of anyone else's concerns. They don't care if we live or die. They say so, quite plainly. They are defending their tribe and obeying their authority and for that they are being richly rewarded. That is all they know, and all they need to know.



*Denouement means the conclusion, or unraveling, of the plot. This is like saying the ending might be hers in the end.

She has an Ivy League English degree, by the way.