I read the title: "On Bullshit."
The decluttering came to a momentary halt. Was this a joke? As it turns out, no. Oh, there is humor in this 67-page essay, but the author, Harry G. Frankfurt, it also turns out, is a distinguished philosopher, professor emeritus at Princeton University, which published the book. This was serious. In fact, the book was a New York Times best-seller in 2005 and Frankfurt discusses it on YouTube, which tells you something about my attention to literary news.
But the point, and I'm finally getting to it, is that after months of trying to out-pundit everyone else writing about Trump and continuing to muse on why he does what he does, Frankfurt lays it out in a way that anyone, except maybe Trump, can understand the man is a bullshit artist.
It dawned on me as I read Frankfurt's explanation of the difference between liars which Trump has been crowned champion of all time by those who keep score and bullshitters. (If the language offends you, I apologize, but Frankfurt says "humbug" is not the same. Also, the times have changed and I've already been labeled an enemy of the people for treating the truth with respect.)
As Frankfurt explains, the difference between liars and bullshitters is that liars are acquainted with the truth. They have to be to maintain their lies. There is a discipline involved. Bullshitters don't care. They make stuff up as they go along, saying whatever seems necessary to them at the time to appear to know what's going on. It isn't a matter so much of bullshit being false, Frankfort says, as of it being phony. It's meant to convey an impression. It's like bluffing. And too much of it can carry over into a general laxity about how things really are.
As Frankfurt writes, "The bullshitter is faking things." It's not a matter of concealing the truth, because sometimes the bullshitter will speak the truth. It is matter of concealing "what he is up to."
Indeed. And those who are good at it seem to have no trouble attracting gullible believers. But that's a mystery for another day.
Frankfurt mentions patriotic politicians who, on the Fourth of July, give grand speeches extolling all the wonderful things this country represents, not that those things are false or lies or B.S., but because the speaker wants others to believe he believes in them and is a true patriot. There's a good chance we'll hear some of that this coming Independence Day, with Trump taking center stage at the Lincoln Memorial.
I know in advance that I don't necessarily have to write about it because it's more of the same B.S. Instead, I can read what Dowd writes about it and focus instead on what synchronicity offers as a topic. Like the fact that Frankfurt and I share the same birthdate, May 29. Some stuff you just can't make up.
Bob Gaydos is a freelance writer, rjgaydos@gmail.com
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