I’m almost done with Robert Pirsig’s Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I’m finding it to be extremely relevant, despite being written 40 years ago. Just came across this wonderful line:

“Folks, I just forgot the biggest gumption trap of all. The funeral procession! The one everybody’s in, this hyped-up, fuck-you, supermodern, ego style of life that thinks it owns this country.”

The line seems out of character in this book, it’s not an anti-progress manifesto, a great deal of it is devoted to extolling the virtues of technology. But for some reason this line captivated me. I think it just captures really captures the essence of a lot of what has been bothering me about our culture. Which is not to say there aren’t a lot of positive changes happening. But there’s a certain satisfaction when you learn that someone else is bothered by that thing that you felt was just gnawing away at you.