The future doesn’t exist. If you keep saying we have to do something because of the future, if you boil it down, it means we have to do this now because I’d like you to. The future is a mythical construct in which there’s no strife. So what the politicians say is that if you do X, Y and Z now, you can have that beautiful future in which there is no strife. It’s the same thing as saying if you get rid of the Jews, or the blacks, or the gays, all the strife will be gone. As somebody said, all great crimes are committed in the name of public tranquillity. To ensure peace, I have to annex the Sudetenland. To ensure peace with honor, I have to stay in Vietnam. To ensure the tranquillity of this town, we have to get rid of all the black Americans. It’s a confidence trick for taking power.
— From the 1997 Salon Interview
I miss David Mamet. I’ve always liked his plays, although his movies leave me a bit cold (particularly the ones he directs himself). It seems like he’s been doing more movies lately, writing fewer plays. So I miss him.
But I miss reading his essays most of all. I was happy to see that Amazon has a new collection of them, along with a new adaptation of one of my favorite stories, Faust. Christmas is coming.
Today’s his birthday, by the way.