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The Power And The Silence

  • Article
  • Feb 23, 2021
  • #Politics
Walter Kirn
@walterkirn
(Author)
walterkirn.substack.com
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I probably should have told this story before, back when the retired president of a top American bank told it to me at a picnic on his ranch. It struck me at the time as true, if on... Show More

I probably should have told this story before, back when the retired president of a top American bank told it to me at a picnic on his ranch. It struck me at the time as true, if only because its psychological details were so specific, eccentric, and unflattering. The reason I didn’t tell it then was that the former bank executive was powerful and I feared I might land him in trouble in some way, which might get me in trouble in some way. (It’s exactly this class-based fear which drives the story.) Only when I learned the man had died did I feel free to pass on what he told me. I’ve done a bit of research on his story, which confirmed certain elements and cast doubt on others. That is why I present it not as news or journalism but as an urban legend, a folk tale. An exceedingly high-level folk tale whose theme is cowardice.

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Bari Weiss @bariweiss · Dec 30, 2021
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Two of the best essays of the year--The Bullshit & The Power and the Silence--were written by @walterkirn
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