For someone with the
right post-everything sensibility, it must be easy – and probably a lot of fun –
to dismiss #ChristopherLasch as a white middle-aged male curmudgeon, overreacting to some
sort of personal insecurity. It is curious, though, to what extent his
anxieties resonated with those of one of the main ideologists of the “new left”
quasi-revolution – #Marcuse. Both detested the soul/eros-draining drudgery modern
labor had become – and neither was eager to see women drafted en masse into the
capitalist meat, corporate/bureaucratic structures, the hedonic treadmill, etc.
Which, of course, did not prevent “leaning in” and full-throttle
self-expression from becoming the main plank of women’s lib (with some digital
detox and meditation thrown in) – at least in some freedom-loving circles. Apparently, that was a more stimulating experience compared to the choke hold of the family nest. The
way this total makeover was pulled off must remain one of the abiding mysteries
of the short but eventful 20th century. And the caravan, indeed, must
press on…
