is it, rather, the recognition that the alternatives are no better. it is the conservatism of universal disgust, if it is conservatism at all.

for in what sense can one be said to support an existing order of affairs if one cannot think of anything to say on its behalf except that it is there? it is an act of perfect dissociation, but not necessarily a retreat from the public world.

i am pretty fond of "the conservatism of universal disgust" as a phrase, but politically it's disastrous and the perfection one achieves is the pathetic purity of ideological complacency.

the anti-anti-hypocrite stance is well-taken but is dragging

oh my god this whole book is dragging im so bored

in fairness the rest of the chapters after snobbery do seem more interesting