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What lessons can we derive from the western today? First of all: Everyone is potentially an outlaw, and everyone who takes action is effectively an outlaw. Second: Success will probably lead to ruin. Third: It’s a jungle or perhaps a desert out there, and barring a horse your only friend is your shadow. Fourth: You can parley with a major villain, but beware of spear carriers. Fifth: Violence is continuous, and the absence of gunfire can only mean that an even greater explosion is due in a few minutes. Do these insights reflect the world in which we live? Sadly, they probably do. We have all by now earned our moral ambiguity. The essential American soul may not be hard, isolate, stoic or a killer, but more than ever, it wishes it were.
—Luc Sante
