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Chris Potter (CC BY 2.0)
Michael Schaub writes at the Pessimist:
… Read the restYou probably think that the online contrarian thinkpiece represents a new low in journalism: a dispensable, reactionary quasi-essay written by a condescending know-it-all, and published by a magazine desperate for web traffic. Well, guess what? You’re wrong, you stupid idiot. I hate you and your face. Your family is probably ashamed of you, you wrong, stupid idiot.
I’m kidding, of course. You’re right. There is a great historical tradition of contrarian journalism, but it’s a tradition that didn’t survive the 20th century. Our founding fathers might have penned classic protest essays like “What Ho, Lord Shelvington! You Shall Tariff Our Churns No Longer, Good Sir!” (working from memory here but I’m pretty sure I nailed it), what passes for contrarianism these days is much more soul-crushingly petty. It is smug, personally insulting to the reader, and usually about low-stakes subjects like kale or Girls.