Verbatim quote · from the corpus

“Language is always pedagogical, and pedagogy always implies an institution, some scene to be preserved, extended and restaffed. Pedagogy is language learning, and language learning is the creation of idioms out of commonplaces—what we might call “idiom mining.” Social life is the recording, enforcement and payment of debts to the center. The first debt is to the object on the scene that has constituted by saving the human community. It does this over and over again, every time the community is provided with nourishing food, protection from predators and enemies, etc. Of course, the community does this itself when observed in the cold light of day, but the cold light of day provides a partial view, missing the miracle of everyone collaborating intelligently in the course of making provisions—that is the work of the center, realized in the fact that all goods are ultimately brought back to the same place, and the center being given its share.”

— Adam Katz, Debits and Credits · Nov 22, 2023 · Bouvard Substack