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NYT OpEd on Shunning - An Arrogant Non-Apology

Ekosj
@Ekosj
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The talking heads were a-buzz yesterday concerning a NYT opinion piece by David Litt: Is It Time to Stop Snubbing Your Right-Wing Family? It is being heralded as the Left finally admitting they were wrong and opening the door to political detente. I was anxious to read it. I shouldn’t have been. It’s nothing but arrogant condescension from start to finish. The opening paragraph drips with it:

I met Matt Kappler in 2012, and it was immediately clear we had nothing in common. He lifted weights to death metal; I jogged to Sondheim. I was one of President Barack Obama’s speechwriters and had an Ivy League degree; he was a huge Joe Rogan fan and went on to get his electrician’s license.

Not that that makes Litt superior or anything of the sort. Of course not.

And when the pandemic came and Matt declined the vaccine, Litt turned cold.

My frostiness wasn’t personal. It was strategic. Being unfriendly to people who turned down the vaccine felt like the right thing to do.

He goes on to give a brief history of ostracizing as a corrective measure, bringing the wayward back to the side of righteousness. It's been a successful strategy for centuries. But then came the Internet.

Few people who lost friends over the vaccine changed their minds. They just got new friends. Those exiled from one version of society were quickly welcomed by another — an alternate universe full of grievance peddlers and conspiracy theorists who thrived on stories of victimized conservatives.

See, those Cretans didn’t learn a thing. Too dumb to realize the horror they should feel at losing the company of right-thinking society; they just banded together and formed an alternate reality.

But our hero has had an epiphany!!!

These days, ostracism might just hurt the ostracizer more than the ostracizee.

Is this a real awakening? A genuine acceptance that an error was made...like the beginnings of a 12-step program? Not hardly. It's just greed. Litt wants something, and Matt has it.

I wish I could say I learned this through self-reflection and study. What actually happened is that I started surfing.

And guess who is the only surfer Litt knows? Matt. Matt is very, very good. And surprise, surprise, Matt doesn't seem to be shunning Litt. He generously helps Litt learn to surf. Litt, for his part, now thinks that his ostracizing Matt was counterproductive. Why? Because if he didn't let it go, he wouldn't have learned to surf! He still thinks Matt is unhinged and lives in a bubble of misinformation, but he's getting what he wants from their relationship, so all is well.


And just to prove that he has indeed learned nothing, it turns out that what comes around...like Matt's generosity with his surf lessons...does not go around.

There are, of course, some people so committed to odiousness that it defines them. If Stephen Miller wants a surf lesson, I’ll decline.

See, Litt admits the Cretans are Cretans after all. They are indeed odious. But it's OK to associate with the ones you can get something from. The rest you can cheerfully shun. And good riddance to them.


This is what passes for the big reveal...the deep self-reflection...the baring of souls...the admission of wrong. Who could have predicted that an Ivy League-educated Obama speechwriter was such a self-centered, arrogant, condescending schmuck?


This post was promoted to the Main Feed at the recommendation of Ricochet's members.

Discussion (42)

  • Columbo@Columbo

    The 'big reveal' for a democrat. Look at me - I am smarter, more caring and enlightened than those other schmucks. I have been right all along. I'm righteous and the world/system is bigoted and unjust.

  • Bob Thompson@BobThompson
    Ekosj (View Post):
    He goes on to give a brief history of ostracizing as a corrective measure…bringing the wayward back to the side of righteousness. It’s been a successful strategy for centuries. But then came the Internet…

    This is one where those who see themselves as Christians or living Christian values need to increase their awareness of the negative version of the golden rule:

    Do not treat others in ways that you would not like to be treated.

  • Django@Django

    Read his opening paragraph; thought of this.

    This is what passes for the big reveal … the deep self-reflection …

    Deep self-reflection is impossible when one is as shallow as a parking lot puddle.

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