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Jan Peppler's avatar

Great essay with wonderful references. The Pantheon is indeed "awe" inspiring.

I would offer that the increase in house size also has to do with another myth, the American myth of independence, the self-made man... where "going it alone" is deemed more valuable than community and "more" is better than quality. Along with some myths around wealth. It is no longer acceptable for a family to share a bathroom, unless you are "poor". Everyone needs their own space. Everyone "deserves" their own space, their own room and bathroom, yes? Frugality was once deemed the moral good (Adlai Stevenson's presidential campaign in the 50's that used the hole in his shoe as a symbol for hard work and frugality). Today there is an underlying ethos that only suckers work hard and everyone is a star. Therefore, we "deserve" bigger houses and more toys and no longer need to acknowledge the social contracts of caring about others, the use of the commons, the destruction of resources, and so on. Myth is always changing and myth is always the underlying current of our lives. As Jung said (paraphrasing): we just need to discover what that myth is.

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Joshua Doležal's avatar

Love this: "Shaw says, 'Myth is the power of a place, speaking.' We belong to places, not the other way around." Some uncanny echoes of what I wrote about today, too.

Given the sacrifices that logos requires, one might also say that the argument for mythos is the more rational one. I remain amazed that you are able to sustain this vision within academe where the cheapest forms of logos (brand messages, academic assessment, etc) prevail. Keep fighting that good fight!

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