365: Is Climate Action "Quixotic"?: Don Quixote's Psychosis & the Misuses of Political Nostalgia

Is that a noble man rejecting modernity and embracing tradition? Or is it a lunatic with a lance trying to disembowel a shepherd?

The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes (Saavedra) is the much beloved literary classic—and perhaps the world's first true novel—but its reputation goes far beyond the book itself. The character has spawned his own adjective: "quixotic", which gets levied at anyone who dares to dream a bit too big.

But is this a word kind of like "epicurean", whose true meaning is subverted by modern use? I believe the answer is yes.

This episode goes out to all of the climate people who dare to dream of a better, kinder world, and why I don't think your critics know what being "quixotic" means.

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"(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding" by Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Don Quixote

Jainism

It's hard for me to think about Don Quixote without also thinking about Sir Digby Chicken Caesar from That Mitchell and Webb Look since it is so clearly based upon Sancho and Don Quixote...

And also Ignatius J. Reilly from A Confederacy of Dunces

Man of La Mancha (musical)

Reject Modernity, Embrace Tradition meme

"Golden Helmet of Mambrino" from Man of La Mancha

Intertextuality

I didn't explicitly name cases of left-wing nostalgia, but you can look to the Paris Commune (and earlier revolutionary moments in France), primitive communism, republican Spain, the consensus capitalism nostalgia of Michael Moore, etc.

Henry VIII: King and Court by Alison Weir