Dream of the Dragon

There’s a a lot criticism lobbed at journalism today for its brevity, its focus on headlines – really, the general lack of understanding and context in most mass media. It isn’t shocking, and it’s frankly hard to avoid given the nature of phenomena like Twitter reinventing the way people consume information. Ideally there’ll be some backlash against the current deluge of information and there will be popular demand for depth – for the sorts of lessons that only emerge from an appreciation of history.

Roger Cohen over at the NY Times killed it yesterday offering just that. This article about the recent Polish tragedy  sets that uncanny event in context and draws from it an inspiring portrait of Poland. And in the end leverages their nobility against pettier peoples that dodge the road of progress and generosity. This is what journalism should do. It kinda makes you love Poland. And does so without demonizing anyone else.

My brother had this to say: “It is pretty neat what people can accomplish if they forgo killing each other for reasons contrary to their collective material self-interest.  For a long time the Europeans were the shining stars of senseless slaughter, and now the possibility of a general war in Europe is really and truly as close to zero as I can imagine.”