George Trow was a Genius

February 12, 2007 issue of New York Magazine:

"When it is more important to be seen than to be talented, it is hardly surprising that the less gifted among us are willing to fart our way into the spotlight,” sneers Lakshmi Chaudhry in the current issue of The Nation. “Without any meaningful standard by which to measure our worth, we turn to the public eye for affirmation."

George Trow for The New Yorker, 1980:

"In the New History, nothing was judged—only counted. The power of judging was then subtracted from what it was necessary for a man to learn to do. In the New History, the preferences of a child carried as much weight as the preferences of an adult, so the refining of preferences was subtracted from what it was necessary for a man to learn to do."

It's been 27 years since Trow penned "Within the Context of No Context," and no one since has been able to match his eloquence and precision in defining what it means to live in America today.

My question: who is the George Trow of 2007? Surely not Seth Godin.