{"id":2686,"date":"2008-02-29T14:58:26","date_gmt":"2008-02-29T21:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=2686"},"modified":"2008-02-29T14:56:30","modified_gmt":"2008-02-29T21:56:30","slug":"it-is-a-mistake-to-think-that-the-language-of-the-bureaucrats-is-merely-an-ignorant-garbled-jargon-they-may-not-always-know-what-they-are-doing-but-what-they-are-doing-is-not-haphazard-it-works-t","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2686\/it-is-a-mistake-to-think-that-the-language-of-the-bureaucrats-is-merely-an-ignorant-garbled-jargon-they-may-not-always-know-what-they-are-doing-but-what-they-are-doing-is-not-haphazard-it-works-t\/","title":{"rendered":"It is a mistake to think that the language of the bureaucrats is merely an ignorant, garbled jargon. They may not always know what they are doing, but what they are doing is not haphazard. It works, too."},"content":{"rendered":"

More, for Diane Cipa<\/a> and others who have commented. You can’t buy Mitchell’s books, except used. The man is an incredible gift America mostly never bothered to unwrap. The fun part is that you can have everything he wrote as The Underground Grammarian at no cost<\/a>. That’s not the same as “for free,” of course. If you’re going to get anything out of Richard Mitchell, you have to have the means to pay attention.<\/p>\n

 
The Voice of Sisera<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

by Richard Mitchell<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

The invention of discursive prose liberated the mind of man from the limitations of the individual’s memory. We can now "know" not just what we can store in our heads, and, as often as not misplace among the memorabilia and used slogans. Nevertheless, that invention made concrete and permanent one of the less attractive facts of language. It called forth a new "mode" of language and provided yet another way in which to distinguish social classes from one another.<\/p>\n

Fleeing the lost battle on the plain of Megiddo<\/a>, General Sisera<\/a> is said to have stopped off at the tent of Heber the Kenite. Heber himself was out, but his wife, Jael, was home and happy to offer the sweaty warrior a refreshing drink–"a bottle of milk" in fact, the Bible says. (That seems to find something in translation.) It was a kindly and generous gesture, especially since Sisera asked nothing more than a drink of water.<\/p>\n

Having drunk his fill, the tired Sisera stretched out for a little nap and told Jael to keep careful watch, for he had good reason to expect that the Jews who had cut up his army that day were probably looking around for him. Jael said, Sure, sure, don’t worry, and when Sisera fell asleep, that crafty lady took a hammer and a tent spike and nailed him through the temples fast to the earth.<\/p>\n

I suppose that we are meant to conclude that the Kenites, not themselves Jews, were nevertheless right-thinking folk and that Jael’s act had a meaning that was both political and religious. I’m not so sure. I’d like to know, before deciding, just what language it Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More, for Diane Cipa and others who have commented. You can’t buy Mitchell’s books, except used. The man is an incredible gift America mostly never bothered to unwrap. The fun part is that you can have everything he wrote as The Underground Grammarian at no cost. That’s not the same as “for free,” of course. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,24,29,6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2686","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-blogging","7":"category-egoism-in-action","8":"category-group-therapy","9":"category-marketing","10":"category-real-estate","12":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9477,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/9477\/from-the-gift-of-fire-by-richard-mitchell-who-is-socrates-now-that-we-need-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":2686,"position":0},"title":"From The Gift of Fire, by Richard Mitchell: Who is Socrates, Now That We Need Him?","author":"Greg Swann","date":"August 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Quoted from Mark Alexander's wonderful Richard Mitchell web site: \u00a0 When Benjamin Franklin was hardly more than a boy, but clearly a comer, he decided to achieve moral perfection. As guides in this enterprise, he chose Jesus and Socrates. One of his self-assigned rules for daily behavior was nothing more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Egoism in Action"","block_context":{"text":"Egoism in Action","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/egoism-in-action\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10111,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/10111\/we-are-easy-prey-propositions-three-and-seven-by-richard-mitchell\/","url_meta":{"origin":2686,"position":1},"title":"\u201cWe are easy prey\u201d \u2013 Propositions Three and Seven by Richard Mitchell","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Propositions Three and Seven from The Graves of Academe by Richard Mitchell \u00a0In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is, as we all know, king. And across the way, in the country of the witless, the half-wit is king. And why not? It's only natural, and considering the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Mother"","block_context":{"text":"Big Mother","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/big-mother\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/neonbrand-Cmz06-0btw-unsplash-417x480.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2682,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2682\/words-never-fail-we-hear-them-we-read-them-they-enter-into-the-mind-and-become-part-of-us-for-as-long-as-we-shall-live-who-speaks-reason-to-his-fellow-men-bestows-it-upon-them-who-mouths-inanity\/","url_meta":{"origin":2686,"position":2},"title":"Words never fail. We hear them, we read them; they enter into the mind and become part of us for as long as we shall live. Who speaks reason to his fellow men bestows it upon them. Who mouths inanity disorders thought for all who listen. There must be some minimum allowable dose of inanity beyond which the mind cannot remain reasonable. Irrationality, like buried chemical waste, sooner or later must seep into all the tissues of thought.","author":"Greg Swann","date":"February 29, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"From Less Than Words Can Say by Richard Mitchell, The Underground Grammarian A colleague sent me a questionnaire. It was about my goals in teaching, and it asked me to assign values to a number of beautiful and inspiring goals. I was told that the goals were pretty widely shared\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11470,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/11470\/splendorquest-should-we-celebrate-john-galt-day-on-june-1st\/","url_meta":{"origin":2686,"position":3},"title":"SplendorQuest: Should we celebrate John Galt Day on June 1st?","author":"Greg Swann","date":"March 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I wrote this coming on four years ago, one of my last posts to PresenceOfMind.net, my philosophical\/political\/literary home on the web. The planned strike of our undocumented friends has come and gone, but the underlying idea -- a strike against the looters on June 1st -- still resonates with me.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disintermediation"","block_context":{"text":"Disintermediation","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/disintermediation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3127,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3127\/a-link-letter-instead-of-a-post-by-a-man-too-scattered-by-the-winds\/","url_meta":{"origin":2686,"position":4},"title":"A link letter: Instead of a post by a man too scattered by the winds","author":"Greg Swann","date":"May 16, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Colleen Kulikowski sent me a sweet card wishing us success with Unchained. Enclosed was a packet of Aster seeds. If I can get them to grow, I'll take pictures. Tom Royce sent an email note telling us to break a leg. Kevin Warmath needs a roommate for Unchained. If you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2334,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2334\/dancing-on-bridges-watch-as-a-master-masters-the-steps\/","url_meta":{"origin":2686,"position":5},"title":"Dancing on bridges? Watch as a master masters the steps","author":"Greg Swann","date":"December 6, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I mentioned Dancing on bridges earlier tonight. This is one of my favorite posts, and, I think, my best explication of how weblogging works as art. Richard Riccelli is never less than stunning at anything he does, so it's no surprise that he should write so well at his new\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2686\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}