Powerline commends to our attention a terrific interview of
Paul Cantor by Bill Kristol. Normally I'm not a big fan of 90-minute interview videos and wish someone had just transcribed them, but this one's worth the time. Cantor is a Shakespearean scholar who long ago turned his attention to American popular culture. The whole thing is worth watching if only for the discussion of Hobbesian vs. Lockeian westerns. And who can resist a guy, especially a grizzled old conservative, who liked the instantly forgotten "John of Cincinnati"? At a dream dinner party, you'd be seated next to him.
That was an interesting interview. I haven't seen the TV shows he talked about, except I saw Deadwood years ago in Iraq on the kind of bootleg DVDs that were always for sale there.
ReplyDeleteHaving mentioned Louis L'amour recently, I suppose he is a clear example of a Lockean western. Comstock Lode is all about establishing claims, building businesses from scratch through hard work and smart decisions, doing business fairly with others, and opposing corrupt and greedy bureaucrats who use shady practices and force to get ahead instead of working hard and honestly like others.