2009-02-02

Civil Discourse: Part 2

Let's continue the discussion shall we? This one touches on the notion of how society praises thieves, hoodlums and skanks.

The author of this comment found on link in previous post:

--"...Manners are the outward and visible sign of an inward and justifiable aspiration. We mimic those whom we admire in hopes of achieving their station. Only in that sense does the trickle-down theory actually work. There are only two explanations for the manners meltdown:


The well-mannered are not admirable.
The well-mannered are not really in charge.
In either case, they will fail to inspire polite behavior..."

"What's not to love? Contemporary pop culture is full of celebrities and celebutantes who have made it big on bad behavior...."

On average, the two points made above about the well-mannered I believe to be accurate.

Years ago, an internet marketer suggested a plan to break copyright laws in order to sell a product. To him, this was the only way to attract attention. Society LOVES people who break rules. He's absolutely right.

Last year, Hockey Night in Canada fell all over itself to talk to Snoop Dogg (a known felon.) No kidding, people probably did want to see him and the NHL is starved for attention it doesn't matter who it comes from. In 2004, naughty P. Diddy Puff Sean Combs campaigned telling people to vote. South Park saw through the shallowness depicting Diddy as a violent narcissist in "Douche and Turd." Of course, Diddy offsets his image (it's all about marketing and spinning the image just like a politician) by going on Oprah raises money for kids in a marathon and all is forgiven and forgotten. Aw.

Has anyone figured out how the Simpson sisters have carved out a career? Paris Hilton? You MUST be original we're told! My...you know what.

This sort of stuff falls into other areas like politics when we romanticize characters Castro and Che. By my estimation, these people are able to charm their way through their own crud.

Bah. I sometimes wonder about business people and leaders who join charities. I get the uncomfortable feeling that some are out to just pad their resumes. Unfair? Yeah. There are exceptions for sure. Cynical? Perhaps. More skeptical. Does altruism exist? Is unconditional possible?

And on and on the charade goes. To be sure they're not the only ones.

Politeness, honesty, quiet resolve, inner fortitude etc. - these are not virtues and traits marketable in pop culture. And it's odd that artists are so easily given to those that stand on the opposite side of this track. Vices sell.

Does this mean some criminals weren't necessarily bad or evil? No. But they did break the law. Should the law be compassionate sometimes? Absolutely. However, we seem to be all too ready to accept bad behavior carte blanche.

"...The few virtues he had, which would have ensured him no praise if he had been an honest man have been blazoned forth by popular renown during seven successive centuries, and will never be forgotten while the English tongue endures." Charles Mackay on Robin Hood in Popular delusions and the madness of crowds.

More from Mackay in chapter, "Popular admiration of great thieves:"

"...In fact, the theater, which can only expect to prosper, in a pecuniary sense, by pandering to the tastes of the people, continually recurs to the annals of thieves and banditti for its most favorite heroes."

The proverbial give people what they want and let 'em eat cake! While we're at it...

"Lord Byron, with his soliloquising, high-soul thieves, has, in a slight degree, perverted the taste of the juvenile rhymers of his country."

"Poets, too, without doing mischief, may sing of such heroes when they please wakening our sympathies for the sad fate of...(insert villain of your choice.)"

"If, by the music of their sweet rhymes, they can convince the world that such heroes are but mistaken philosophers, born a few ages too late, and have both a theoretical and practical love for the world may perhaps become wiser, and consent to to some better distribution of its good things, by means of which thieves may become reconciled to the age, and the age to them. The probability, however, seems to be that the charmers will charm in vain, charm they ever so wisely.

Amen.




7 comments:

  1. Anonymous2/03/2009

    Incivility has been discussedfor centuries. The Old and New testaments, Greek philosophers, everybody from Rablais to Shakespeare, Aesop and Jean de la Fontaine has written about it.
    However, 90% of humans are decent beings and I take comfort in the fact that many young persons are still offerinf wy wife and me their seats on the Metro and buses and olding doors for people behind them. There is much hullabaloo about the transgressing 10%. They make newspaper sell. The 90% deserve better.

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  2. Yes it has always existed. But I should have mentioned the post was more for the internet culture. Still, your position can probably still apply.

    Problem is, the most popular blogs are the ones that give junk, polarization and the like. For many of us who run blogs, (I run four) many comments have to be deleted for their impoliteness, shall we say?

    I'm glad to hear that on the Metro. I've observed both but I think there's been a noticeable erosion in collective politeness.

    Have you been to a soccer or hockey game for kids? Have you noticed, as we've discussed before, how people drive?

    Maybe I'm focusing on the bad but it's my observation and I'm not sure if there's a reference point to compare it to.

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  3. Anonymous2/03/2009

    Well sports emporiums may be the best places to observe incivility, or unsportsman like behaviour, I agree. As for driving and road rage it does happen in crowded spaces such as Montreal, Toronto and other big cities. Driving the 401 through Toronto can bring out the worst in anyone.
    As for internet, it's anonimity opens the door to many abuses, yes, which is why I always intervene openly and under my real name. Guess it keeps me civil like.

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  4. We definitely need more like you. But I don't mind a heated discussion like we've seen at Neil's!

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  5. Anonymous2/03/2009

    When I was a child, my Grand parents had a thermometer hung on their wall, it was a White Rose oil premium. it read: «Les discussions échauffées causent un froid». Above the legend there was, if not mistaken, a picture of two children quarrelling.

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  6. Heh.

    I suppose it can.

    I don't take things personally when someone doesn't agree with me. I'm legendary for my short-memory. I never hold grudges. Sheesh, I don't have enough memory to store useless stuff that can lead to a sickness.

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  7. Anonymous2/03/2009

    Yes, before Christmas, my computer felt that way too. My three kids and my wife pooled their resources and gave me a new one. I'm still struggling with it's idiosyncrasies, but it's great fun.
    But your are obviously not talking of the same type of memory.
    Oh! well.

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Mysterious and anonymous comments as well as those laced with cyanide and ad hominen attacks will be deleted. Thank you for your attention, chumps.