Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

March 12, 2008

David Mamet Sees the Light

For those of you not familiar with playwright David Mamet, two of his more well-known plays are Glengarry Glen Ross and Speed-the-Plow. He also, until recently, was a flaming brain-dead liberal, but he's apparently had a change of heart. He writes about it in the Village Voice. I don't usually read the Voice, but a friend sent me the link.

Here's a sample; but be sure to read the entire piece:

I took the liberal view for many decades, but I believe I have changed my mind.

And, I wondered, how could I have spent decades thinking that I thought everything was always wrong at the same time that I thought I thought that people were basically good at heart? Which was it? I began to question what I actually thought and found that I do not think that people are basically good at heart; indeed, that view of human nature has both prompted and informed my writing for the last 40 years. I think that people, in circumstances of stress, can behave like swine, and that this, indeed, is not only a fit subject, but the only subject, of drama.

As a former liberal who also saw the light, I applaud Mamet for putting his thoughts into print -- and so enchantingly. (He is, after all, a man who makes his living with his pen.)

To emphasize one of the points he touches on: People are not inherently good, but most of us all strive daily to do the right thing. Sometimes we fail, but we pick ourselves up and keep going as best we can. And I think most of us can agree that some people are not good at all -- they are evil. Sorry, but someone like Hitler simply does not deserve sympathy in the vein of, "Poor guy, he must have had a difficult childhood." I know a lot of people whose childhoods were less than golden, but they didn't become wannabe world dictators who began one of the biggest wars of modern history and killed millions because they didn't fit into a particular idea of a "perfect society."

Liberals believe that if we all just get in line with their ideals, we will have that utopia, that perfect society where everyone is happy and no one wants for anything. But that will never happen for one reason: we are humans, not robots. Everyone has different wants, needs, desires, and abilities. No matter how "fair" you try to make things, there is always going to be someone who wants more than his "fair share." That someone can either be someone who works his butt off to get it, or someone who sits back and waits for someone to hand it to him at the expense of others.

I know who I'd rather be.

Think of the Soviets. They were all supposed to be equals with an equal share in everything, but some were more equal than others. Party elites had access to the finest food, accommodations, cars and other luxury items while the everyday "comrade" had to stand in line for hours to buy a stale loaf of bread or a rough roll of toilet paper.

Some of the things Mamet said in comparing President Bush to JFK were way off the mark (he said Bush outed a CIA agent, lied about his military service, stole the 2000 election, etc.), but as one commenter said, perhaps he's "just spouting the former party line for effect." Considering the general tone of his piece, I'll give him the beneift of the doubt.

Mamet said he has read books by conservatives including Thomas Sowell, a man I consider to be an American treasure. If you haven't read him, you should. Start with Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy. It's written for the layman, and I believe should be required reading for every American.

David Mamet may have just gotten himself blackballed by many of the liberal elites with whom he socializes, but obviously that is less important to him than being true to his newfound ideals. Welcome to the club, Mr. Mamet.