Ain’t nobody never really read nuthin’, even in his imaginary “good old days”. All that’s changed is that it’s now visible to him as a writer.

Reading is hard. And, when I say that, I mean that to actually engage with and give due consideration to the author’s work requires, well… Work. And, most people never bothered with that, even back in the old days. I would wager damn good money that the vast majority of those old “Great Books” sets that all the pseudo-intellectuals used to set great store on and buy at exorbitant prices were likely never opened, and just sat on prominent display in the homes of their owners. Virtue-signaling for the intellectually vacant, basically–And, it’s no different than what Mr. deBoer produces today. People just want to say they read stuff, and they may have actually done so, but it’s literally in one ear and out the other–Engagement with the vast majority of people just isn’t going to happen, and without engagement, all Mr. deBoer can expect is surfaces. People aren’t thinking about his work, they’re reacting to what they skimmed off the top, without actually doing the real work of engaging their brains and considering his careful arguments and reasoning.

And, that’s the way it’s always been. All the old elite “intellectual journals” had this same problem, and now the only thing that’s really changed is that Mr. deBoer is getting more direct feedback from the public, without the intermediary effect of dealing mostly with editors and the publishers.

Most people are simply not engaged with this stuff; try to have an “intellectual conversation” with the average human, and they’re going to look at you as though you’re quite mad–And, sadly, they’re mostly right, when it comes to the vast majority of the self-proclaimed “virtuous intellectuals”.