Irony I. Was (1) Marx & Justice (2)lefter-than-thou-ness

[digloria at mindspring.com]

carroll in response to chuckster:
>
>Not a bad characterization. I'm woozy from the flu right now, but
>I intend to stumble some more. I want to complicate irony enough
>so that it can't be used as a slogan. Re the "dissembling": always
>present in irony, whether sophisticated or crude like mine. There
>is always a pretence on someone's part of knowing less than
>they really know. (Sometimes this pretence is regarded as actual
>humility, but it always has a core of arrogance.)

carrol,

christopher lasch, in _The Minimal Self_ had an interesting discussion of
ironic self-observation.  i think you mind find it thought-provoking in any
event.  can't find the book or i'd transcribe the section for you.
otherwise thanks for the great post as i told you off list.  and i'm rilly
rilly jealous about the OED.

someday,
kelley
"an asshole is more like a vacuum-at-the-centre, a black hole, 
where everything is sucked into a destructive vortex."