Now follow me on this. Have you ever heard of the New Mexico Bowl, Poinsettia Bowl, Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl or the Eagle Bank Bowl....? Well, neither have I, and yet these have suddenly become legitimate yearend football events that somehow warrant scheduled network broadcasts. What's going on here...?
Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gasset explained it all in his 1931 book "The Revolt of the Masses." In it he explained (warned?) that the inevitable conclusion of modern democracy is the overthrow of the upper class by the lower class. However, the revolt would not be a bloody one in the streets, as much as an inexorable one in everyday life. More people gradually acquire more access to more of the old status symbols (fancy colleges, fancy cars, backyard pools, world cruises, a night at the opera, hi-def TVs, oh and a bowl game of their own).
Everyone applauds democracy, right? Taken to its logical conclusion, everyone then should have what everyone else has, right? As this begins to happen, the old historical distinctions between the best-and-the-brightest and the least-and-the-rowdiest blurs. Oh, the rich still get richer and the poor still get children, but the everyday socio-political gap between them narrows. Their special education, expertise and energy...? hell, forget it, because I'm just as good as they are, say the good ol' boys bellying up to the bar.
Gasset's (and my) problem is this. In the name of this populist democracy, smart becomes arrogance... wise becomes pretension... experience becomes elitism...talent turns into vanity. It follows, then, that an Obama is "aloof" while a Palin and a Beck are "real." Anyone can crash a White House dinner, get on "American Idol," have the mind-stunning right to go on network television where their self-degrading bug eating or asinine behavior can warrant an audience-approving closeup. I mean, after all anyone's as good as anyone else, right!
I am left to wonder then why we still seek out expert surgeons, experienced lawyers, trained professors, esteemed artists and gifted performer/athletes? The boys at the bar are a great bunch, but I'm not sure in the noble name of democracy I'd go to them with my most important needs. Besides, they're busy watching the Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl....!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
While some of what you say is true, aren't you bordering a bit on the snobbish side? Some of those "belly up to the bar" john and janes are very nice people! I think we all have to be careful on how and who we judge.
ReplyDeleteOh you're absolutely right -- I AM bordering on the "snobbish." But think about it. Isn't snobbishness just another way of saying you respect & value "the best" in this world and in this life? Naturally, no politician will ever say it quite this way!!
ReplyDeleteAsk the average union worker if he thinks he is as good as the people doing the planning. Not only will the answer be affirmative but the attitude will be one of "without me you are bust". Oh yeah, said President Reagan to the air traffic controllers! Snobbish? I don't think so!
ReplyDelete