Monday, March 9, 2009
American Self-loathing
http://www.youtube.com/sofievm
(sound is out of sink with the visual, but no matter)
Another reason why I love Luka Bloom :)
Open up your arms
Let the healing begin
For those of us still standing
Let some light shine in
Shine on your hopeless days
Shine on your raging nights
Shine on the slip of a dream
Give us all new lives
Cry, and be still
Cry, cry the bitter tears
For the stolen years
Let's learn love songs
Sweet love songs
Songs that don't deny
What has been and done
Songs that throw some light
On each and everyone
Songs that reach across
Divides and barricades
Songs that civilize
And promise brighter days
Cry, and be still
Cry, cry the bitter tears
For the stolen years
Let's learn love songs
Sweet love songs
Songs that celebrate
When nothing has been won
Songs that agitate
For lives that might be fun
Why not? Why not?
Reach out and be a star
Why not? Why not?
We have come this far
Open up your arms
Let's learn love songs
Open up your arms
Let's learn love songs
Open up your arms
Let's learn love songs
Open up your arms
These thoughts follow Luka's lyrics because I figured if anyone from those dots on the map decided to scroll down the page this far, you have at the least, a curious mind. Anyway, at the risk of opening myself up to god-only-knows-what (thus posting this with a degree of trepidation), I propose the following because dammit, it matters. (I just 'finished' The Stornoway Way and it was fuckininspiring (profanity just applies) and those who have read it know what I am talking about, and those who have not picked up the book, do it. It is one of the most authentic and amazing works of art and life ever written. Pure genius.)
I never intended this little blog o'mine to be a tedious and boring political platform, or the rantings and ravings of some cranky malcontent. Others are much better at, and relish in, such writings. It's not my thing to be preachy or assume anyone gives a rat's ass/arse about my opinion. I would rather sing some songs. :)
That being said, my home is the U S of A. I am American born and bred, and despite all that is wrong, I still believe in my country. We come from every podunk corner of the world, every religious belief or non-belief, every language, every culture/background imaginable, you name it, we have it, we are it - our identity (if we have one) is as mixed up as we are. We are bits and pieces of everyone. Cohesiveness is an insanely ridiculous task. We are a very young, massive and powerful country and we make a lot of mistakes, many with profound consequences.
The Land of the Free and Home of the Brave is a mess and hated world wide. True. I see anger written about my country on the internet and it makes me sad. Americans are perceived as ignorant people who believe their shit don't stink. The thing is, we don't need others to hate us because we have plenty of self-loathing to go around. We hate us too. We like our neighbors, friends... and we love our country but we hate the collective us.
NPR's Dick Meyer explores all this self-loathing in his book Why We Hate Us: American Discontent in the New Millennium . You can check out an August 2008 podcast of him reading from his book at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93583575
There is a general negative feeling about the way we collectively behave. We hate the obnoxious, selfish, greedy, narcissistic, self righteous, rude, boorish, and belligerent bad behavior (especially in our leaders and celebrities - so called roll models). Our culture represents the worst of us, not the best. Where are the sources where we find meaning in life? TV shows, commercials, just marketing in general totally screws with values with false and phony pictures of happiness. It is absurd to think contentment is related to what toothpaste one uses or what cracker you eat or what car you drive! Turn on the TV any time of the day or night, and you will see bad behavior glorified and human misery considered entertainment.
In many ways we have lost sight of what is authentic. We lack confidence and trust in our leaders (in politics, industry, judicial system...) to effectively and sanely solve problems. In 8 short years, a bully and his buddies told bald faced lies, started a war, killed needlessly and ran this country into the ground. Electing Obama is just one step in the right direction. Why have we not demanded more of our media, politicians, Wall Street, Madison Avenue, the clergy....?
Why, with the massive increase in material well-being since WWII are we so discontent? 'Stuff' does not translate to real and lasting happiness. Meyer partially points to the loss of community since the social changes in the 1960s as a huge factor. Unlike just a generation ago, we willingly choose to move about and away from family - we no longer live in stable generational communities. Living amongst the familiar has it's own downfalls, but living among strangers makes one so very much alone and frankly, nutty. Warm human relationships are essential to happiness. ("...this is why we're here: human warmth..." Ah, there it is on page 210 in Kevin MacNeil/R. Stornoway's book - god love him!) Without warm human relationships, people have looked to the tv box and it's kin for companionship and guidance, and have bought into a false source of values.
The obnoxious and the loud are the news worthy. Not so visible are my countrymen who love and respect the planet and all the people, plants and animals on it. Many make conscious efforts to help those less fortunate, to make positive change, to tread lightly on the earth, and live within their means, but they go about it quietly/behind the scenes. And even the well meaning get sucked in to the madness, into the very seepage of the crap we despise. It is pervasive and so hard to escape. And I too am guilty.
There is no viable alternative to concrete changes. At the risk of sounding simplistic, we have to first be aware of and acknowledge where we are and how we got this way. Some folks' eyes need to be opened up to see the big picture. Cause and effect on a global scale. We don't live in a bubble! One only has to look at the very real economic crisis to see how actions profoundly affect the entire world. I am not sure we can stop the media machine, but we can control how it affects our individual lives. I am not the only one who is fed up. There is a shift in what we demand from our leaders - we have to also demand more from ourselves. Not buy into the garbage on tv and speak up against it. Teach our children real values and to be kind in every sense. Reach out. Forgive (I for one, have no room in my heart for hate) and move forward.
One person at a time. Perhaps one song at a time. :)
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1 comment:
This Oregonian in Wisconsin misses home, the new home not yet lived in. But living in Wisconsin these past 3 months gives me perspective on the heartland of this country, and how it differs from the youngest west. There is more of a sense of connectedness, a politeness that the West has lost—the simple manners of everyday life. It comes down to recognition of others, and that we are all related. I think it’s the weather: the constancy of the frigid winter makes everyone more dependent on one another. You never have to wonder if a driver will give you-- a pedestrian-- the right of way when he knows that you are freezing and need to get where you are going. He knows that tomorrow, he will be that pedestrian.
Or maybe this is just the rhetoric of an outsider.
Marty I especially like the point about television, “ bad behavior glorified and human misery considered entertainment.” How must are children view this. A far cry from Leave It To Beaver. Enourmaously fat people who can’t get out of bed and people on their worst behavior is not what are children need to see. But perhaps too, there is a lesson in all of this: we have to hit bottom before we can turn ourselves around. Are we there yet?
All you have said is true, but you leave out the most important point, which is we arrived at self loathing because we put greed and the pursuit of wealth above all else. Why didn’t the Securities and Exchange Commision put the kibosh on Bernie Medoff (the man who ‘made off’ with everybody’s money) when they had hard evidence ten years running? Because they didn’t want to end the party, even though they knew it would come to a horrible end, as it surely did. They didn’t want to be responsible, though that was exactly their job to be.
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