The barbarism of cell phones

If we lived in a just and well-ordered society, this is what would happen to more than a few cell phone users.

R. writes:

Very funny!

However, I respectfully disagree with your comment. In a just and well-ordered society, violence would not have occurred. Several shocked stares or raised eyebrows would suffice to let the boor know he violated the code of polite behavior.

LA replies:

I stand corrected. And to think I posted that on a Sunday. It’s a reflection of how in the face of the intolerable arrogantly presenting itself to us as the normal and irresistible, violent impulses start to be entertained.

Another reader writes:

Dear Mr. Auster, I am more in sync with your initial reaction.

At the point when the cell-phone user insults Sgt. Snorkel in front of a lady in his charge the sergeant has no recourse consistent with honor but physical violence. In the 19th century a Frenchman or Italian would have exchanged cards and turned the matter over to his seconds, but an Englishman or American would have decked the boor on the spot. This instinctive reaction was formalized into the code of honor which defined the Western gentleman through the centuries of his ascendancy. Clearly, it has largely been expunged from the “civilized” man, and the result can be seen in the feckless, feminized culture of our ruling class.

Respectfully, Paul K.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at June 04, 2006 03:05 PM | Send