White people, and especially Americans, tend to hold some pretty weird beliefs. But top of the list may be the belief that we have a basic right to permanent emotional comfort. This is a confusion of basic human rights with elitist privileges. A particularly bizarre dramatization of this belief is that paying audiences for the arts have a right never to experience any emotional discomfort. Another is that our lawmakers and other celebrities seem to have an extra-special right to be buffered from ever having to exhibit any human values. So it’s a relief to watch these absurd beliefs starting...