The Revolt Against the Masses. Out of the melting pot emerges a race which hates beauty as it hates truth. Journalist H. The sense of injury, of injustice, of frustration, will haunt him like pruritus. If the latter hl mencken essays had their way, death, save at the hands of hangmen, policemen and other such legalized assassins, would be abolished altogether, and the present differential in favor of the enlightened would disappear, hl mencken essays.
Subscribe to Our Newsletters
I've been reading a new biography of the late great curmudgeon H. During his long career as journalist, hl mencken essays, editor, and critic, Mencken butchered more sacred cows than the Chicago Stockyards. He began his career as a police reporter, hl mencken essays. And his time on the crime beat served him well when he turned to writing about politics, the biggest crime scene of all. Today, Mencken wouldn't spend much time reporting the speeches in Congress, he would be prowling the den of thieves on K Street, lobbyist row, where the crimes are hatched and the money stashed until the payoff on Capitol Hill. Mencken would read the Homeland Security Bill passed by Congress this week the way he read the police blotter.
And he would discover in the fine print skullduggery worthy of Jay Gould and the robber barons. One corporate giveaway after another was added to the bill. Remember how outraged the public was last summer at runaway corporations that had set up sham post office boxes overseas to avoid paying U. The House of Representatives pulled up its socks and cracked the scoundrels across the knuckles. Skip out on your country, the House said, and there won't be any more government contracts. Well, hl mencken essays week Congress hl mencken essays it back.
Quietly in the name of Homeland Security, Congress undid what it had done this summer. It took the rascals off the hook. The pharmaceutical industry turned the bill into an orgy of looting. So now if you or your child dies from a bad small pox vaccine, don't expect the negligent company to be accountable, hl mencken essays. Congress has relieved the industry of liability. Eli Lilly, a big pharma giant, got off with such a heist it put Jesse James to shame. Over and over this hl mencken essays, the big contributors got their money back. Like burglaries in old movies, these took place in the dark of the night, while we slept, with not a fingerprint to be found on the window sill.
So put Terry Teachout's new biography about H. Mencken side by side with the Homeland Security Bill and read them together, hl mencken essays. Mencken was not a nice man, and his own bias could blind him. But if there were a few more Menckens around, we'd find out a lot sooner how democracy gets burglarized in the name of patriotism. It was Mencken the crime reporter who said that when you hear some men talk about their love of country, it's a sign they expect to be paid for it. Home Podcast Latest Stories Watch Video Essays Books Career Timeline. SERIES NOW. Bill Moyers Essay: On H. Mencken and Politics November 22, Bill Moyers reflects on a new biography of the late great curmudgeon H.
Subscribe to Our Newsletters Weekly Dispatches Daily Reads.
extended essay abstract examples
Well, this week Congress took it back. Quietly in the name of Homeland Security, Congress undid what it had done this summer. It took the rascals off the hook. The pharmaceutical industry turned the bill into an orgy of looting. So now if you or your child dies from a bad small pox vaccine, don't expect the negligent company to be accountable. Congress has relieved the industry of liability. Eli Lilly, a big pharma giant, got off with such a heist it put Jesse James to shame. Over and over this week, the big contributors got their money back. Like burglaries in old movies, these took place in the dark of the night, while we slept, with not a fingerprint to be found on the window sill. So put Terry Teachout's new biography about H. Mencken side by side with the Homeland Security Bill and read them together.
Mencken was not a nice man, and his own bias could blind him. But if there were a few more Menckens around, we'd find out a lot sooner how democracy gets burglarized in the name of patriotism. It was Mencken the crime reporter who said that when you hear some men talk about their love of country, it's a sign they expect to be paid for it. Home Podcast Latest Stories Watch Video Essays Books Career Timeline. Now there is a chiropractor at every crossroads. I repeat that it eases and soothes me to see them so prosperous, for they counteract the evil work of the so-called science of public hygiene, which now seeks to make imbeciles immortal. And if that same man, having achieved lawfully a lovely babe, hires a blacksmith to cure its diphtheria by pulling its neck, then I do not resist the divine will that there shall be one less radio fan later on.
In such matters, I am convinced, the laws of nature are far better guides than the fiats and machinations of medical busybodies. If the latter gentlemen had their way, death, save at the hands of hangmen, policemen and other such legalized assassins, would be abolished altogether, and the present differential in favor of the enlightened would disappear. On the contrary, it seems to me that the current coddling of the half-witted should be stopped before it goes too far if, indeed, it has not gone too far already. To that end nothing operates more cheaply and effectively than the prosperity of quacks. Every time a bottle of cancer oil goes through the mails Homo americanus is improved to that extent.
And every time a chiropractor spits on his hands and proceeds to treat a gastric ulcer by stretching the backbone the same high end is achieved. But chiropractic, of course, is not perfect. It has superb potentialities, but only too often they are not converted into concrete cadavers. The hygienists rescue many of its foreordained customers, and, turning them over to agents of the Medical Trust, maintained at the public expense, get them cured. Moreover, chiropractic itself is not certainly fatal: even an Iowan with diabetes may survive its embraces. Yet worse, I have a suspicion that it sometimes actually cures.
For all I know or any orthodox pathologist seems to know it may be true that certain malaises are caused by the pressure of vagrant vertebra upon the spinal nerves. And it may be true that a hearty ex-boilermaker, by a vigorous yanking and kneading, may be able to relieve that pressure. What is needed is a scientific inquiry into the matter, under rigid test conditions, by a committee of men learned in the architecture and plumbing of the body, and of a high and incorruptible sagacity. Let a thousand patients be selected, let a gang of selected chiropractors examine their backbones and determine what is the matter with them, and then let these diagnoses be checked up by the exact methods of scientific medicine. Then let the same chiropractors essay to cure the patients whose maladies have been determined.
But I am willing to be convinced. Where is there is such a committee to be found? The land swarms with men competent in anatomy and pathology, and yet not engaged as doctors. There are thousands of hospitals, with endless clinical material. I offer to supply the committee with cigars and music during the test. I offer, further, to supply both the committee and the chiropractors with sound wet goods. I offer, finally, to give a bawdy banquet to the whole Medical Trust at the conclusion of the proceedings. Henry Louis Mencken was a controversial American journalist, essayist and literary critic.
During the s, he became famous for his vitriolic attacks on what he considered to be the hypocrisy, stupidity, and bigotry of much of American life. For obvious reasons, his critics considered him highly skilled at satire but intolerant and often crude. This essay was published in the Baltimore Evening Sun in December Although the medical knowledge of his day was still quite primitive, Mencken knew enough to realize that chiropractic theory was preposterous. This new edition of the most comprehensive text available in the field continues to provide a vast amount of information to enable consumers to make wise choices regarding health products and services.
It offers a panoramic view of the health marketplace, while explaining the scientific methods that are essential for validating claims about how products and services affect health. Order on Amazon. Index to OIG Reports Including How Medicare Can Detect Improper Claims. Chiropractic Income Has Been Dropping Steadily. Consumer Reports Gives Bad Advice about Chiropractors. Can Chiropractic Become a Respected Mainstream Profession? Be Wary of Spinal Decompression Therapy with VAX-D or Similar Devices. Improper Claims on Chiropractic College Web Sites. Answers to Questions about Chiropractic. A Close Look at the NutriMost Ultimate Fat Loss System. Quackwatch abides by the HONcode principles of the Health On the Net Foundation. We've recently redesigned this website, let us know if anything got lost or broken during the move.
All articles on this Web site except government reports are copyrighted. Single copies can be downloaded for personal education; other uses without authorization are illegal. Alert: This site works better with javascript. Enable javascript for your browser: Chrome Instructions , Firefox Instructions , Edge Instructions , Internet Explorer Instructions , Safari Instructions. Chirobase Home Page Share. Consumer Health: A Guide to Intelligent Decisions This new edition of the most comprehensive text available in the field continues to provide a vast amount of information to enable consumers to make wise choices regarding health products and services.
Index to OIG Reports Including How Medicare Can Detect Improper Claims Chiropractic Income Has Been Dropping Steadily Consumer Reports Gives Bad Advice about Chiropractors Can Chiropractic Become a Respected Mainstream Profession?
No comments:
Post a Comment