Room for optimism...?

[Alexander Gross2]

Although I've been reading works on linguistics for almost sixty years, this is the first time during fifty of those years that I have once again begun to feel slightly optimistic about the future of our field.  I found Alex Kravchenko's two recent contributions to LinguistList most welcome, as well as that group's comparatively favorable reception of announcements about two other remarkable pieces.  One is an article from the latest issue of City Journal and can be found at:

http://www.city-journal.org/html/16_4_urbanities-language.html

The other is an NPR interview with the poet and professor Andrei Codrescu, aubible at:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6626808

I believe a number of you here, assuming you have not already seen them, will find both of these of interest.

I find it hard to imagine how some of our colleagues may be reacting to this recent spate of aberrant ideas, and I can't help wondering if some of those who are not steadfastly ignoring it  may finally, after five decades in the arms of Van Winkle's Narcolepsy, be coming abruptly awake and rubbing their eyes in utter disbelief, as they mutter: "You mean, it's not just grammar after all...?"  

In any case, I look forward to hearing your reactions.

All the best to linguists everywhere!

alex