Experience inspires art as well as philosophy and science.
See what you’re saying about Shakespeare? It contradicts your original position.
Only it does. Just because you were never shown it, doesn’t make it false. You can say John Locke means nothing to you but he inspired the Founders, who should mean something to you. They created a nation which allowed you to be who you are today.
You brought up Hemingway. He had direct experience of WW1. You brought up the Old Man and the Sea; Hemingway spent time in Cuba.
What’s also real is America is a nation of sick people. From physical to mental health. I believe these are the effects of a lack of fulfillment. A chicken in every pot might bring the illusion of prosperity, but does it bring happiness? The danger is people believing the fault is in their stars and not in themselves. That’s the breeding ground of bad ideas.
Maybe, that is how the powers that be see you. I don’t see you that way which is why, in spite of how discussions can unfold on the internet, I could have a completely civil and respectful interaction with you in person. But I can do that because I won’t allow others to tell me how to see you. I would like to believe you are the same in that regard. That ability is a by product of the literature, art and philosophy of Western Culture. It’s what has inspired and allowed advancements in science and technology.
The chains could be, to not get into a whole text book long response, any orthodoxy that puts limits on human reason, thoughts, expression. These limits will always be there to some degree as we need some social order but these limits should serve us more than enslave us.
The solution, as such, is to maintain the conditions which got us here. I would say ending slavery was a good thing. Ending child labor was a good thing. Creating technologies that improve health and prevent things like mass starvation are good. Having a climate where good ideas as well as bad ideas can be expressed without fear is a good thing. Healthy competition is good as is meritocracy. Compassion and empathy are also good.
Eden, it could be argued, came with its own set of chains. Man was never meant to live there. Looking at it from a religious point of view; God knew Adam and Eve would disobey Him. It wasn’t a question of the Fall of Man but how how far we would fall and would we ever, without God kicking us in the ass (or literally killing us off), bring ourselves out of a state of bestiality and degeneracy. Looking at the fact there are still wars going on, we haven’t evolved as much as our positive achievements would suggest.
Anyway, I’m done with this tangent. I respect your position and I hope I didn’t say anything that could be considered a personal attack. I probably feel a stronger connection to these things because I feel like they are the legacy of my people and a gift to the rest of the world. I also know that where my family came from the people were denied the benefits and conditions that we could say Classical Liberalism espoused and championed (democracy, private property, citizenship, etc.) but once they were given the freedom to take part in a society such as what the US already had, they prospered and were better for it. I don’t want to see us go back to anything resembling a world where we are subservient to monarchs, idols, religions or any orthodoxy or dogma. We can’t take what we have for granted. But I believe we also can’t forget why we have it.
