RIP Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller died yesterday but his works live on in performances.
Death of a Salesman is important for the warning it gave the world about corporate culture. When it was written the old paradigm of “loyalty to the company was rewarded by loyalty to the employee” was beginning to disappear. Miller presented this reality, but most people missed its importance. Rumsfeld is a prime example of the new business model where employees are “fungible” and disposable. These managers don’t understand what the people below them do, and don’t care.
The Crucible was about the McCarthy era, but it can be applied to the Rove era. These periodic spasms of insanity and mass hysteria are really annoying to those who study history. It is stunning how often demagogues are permitted to drag the nation down to their level.
