OK. Wrichard was the first to invoke Johann Huizinga, in a prior post, so it’s fair game.

In addition to “Autumn/Waning of the Middle Ages,” Huizinga also wrote “Homo Ludens (man the game player): A Study of the Play Element of Culture.” Play precedes culture, and culture entails a fundamental sense of play, winners and losers governed by rules, traditions, etc. Even law courts, or especially law courts, reflect the origins of contest to which all players adhere. Play can be very serious. But earnestness, the opposite of play, cannot be playful.

Here’s a thought experiment: What can you say to a person who is getting too serious about a subject at a meeting? Lighten up! Don’t take it too seriously. This usually suffices to defuse a civil but increasingly tense situation.

What is most disturbing about the Balkans, or Northern Ireland, or similar places is that they are in earnest, the opposite of play. They can’t play soccer together or pray together. Their children can’t play together.

The most disturbing thing about Wahhabists and Taliban is their exclusion of play, and at the very least their refusing to play with other faiths. We ask them to play, but they will not play. The soccer stadium turns into a killing field. New York the playful must perish.

The US did the morally right thing in Kosovo. But ultimately we can play with Serbs.