The hysterical Harold Meyerson:
None of us have thought sufficiently about how the belief in untrammeled capitalism could lead to foreign governments, whatever their agendas, controlling more and more of the American economy.
God forbid foreign governments have a stake in the success of the American economy, aligning their incentives with ours. But if this becomes a serious problem, patriots can always band together and finance hostile takeovers! Perhaps the fine Americans who patrol our southern border between FoxNews segments can entice Michael Milken out of retirement to lead the charge against the dark overlords of Red China.
James Poulos comments on the same passage with this perplexity:
If John Gray is right, the last refuge of libertarians may be our culture (what's left of it). But, as Rorty could never quite admit, cultural libertarianism means publicizing our ironies and privatizing our truths. And the staggering volume of transactions that take place in an open identities market is the most untrammeled of capital markets yet.
(1) John Gray is wrong.
(2) It is a publicly accesible truth that “publicizing our ironies and privatizing our truths” doesn't actually mean anything.
(3) “After a brief mid-afternoon surge, 'postmodern conservatism' ends the day down 12 points on the untrammeled identity markets.” WTF?!
Nonsensically delicious!
Will Wilkinson 