Status Updates From Notes from No Man's Land

Our willingness to imagine our own people as villains, as savages, is not a private problem of unclean thinking. It is an issue of public safety. And it should not take a rash of factual errors in our newspapers to make this clear.

Next to the highway running through the desert outside San Diego, there were gallon jugs of water buried for those trying to make their way into the country on foot. A priest from LA had brought the jugs of water to the desert in his minivan and buried them with the help of volunteers. The water was marked with blue flags bleached by the sun, and some jugs were buried where bodies had been found.

If I had entertained more illusions, I might have been able to stay in New York longer.

“Our willingness to imagine our own people as villains, as savages, is not a private problem of unclean thinking. It is an issue of public safety.”

I’m obsessed with this braided essay style.