"All the world is a stage, and all the men and women merely players...." When Shakespeare wrote that, he had more than 17th century England in mind. It was an epiphanic bolt of insight for every century. All nicely wrapped up inside iambic pentameter...!
Now think about it. Every presidential news conference is a stage replete with lights, cues and scripts. Every interview with Mayor Daley is another stage replete with lights, cues and dangling participles. Every newscast, weather report, talking head commentary, Letterman guest appearance, cop-giving-a-ticket incident, catcher-talking-to-pitcher moment, and downtown maitre d' seating is very much a stage too on which the players strut their stuff. And lest our egos let us forget, each and every time we comb our hair, set our makeup and go out into the world, we too are players on a stage where we too are hoping to get our cues right.
The point to this small wisdom is simply this. The players -- and their audience -- need to recognize the fuzzy, fragile line at which players cross from reality into performance mode. If we don't, all the world remains just that. A stage on which we can no longer tell the difference.
One convenient test is available right here in Chicagoland's theatre districts. From Marriott Lincolnshire in the north to Drury Lane in the south plus all the Goodmans, Steppenwolfs and Cadillac Palaces in between, we're gifted with scores of performers lighting up stages and creating grand illusions every night. The test comes if and when you go backstage with the players. To know them is a happy little pleasure by which you can discover for yourself that magical bridge between what is and what they want you to believe is!
What is is a troupe of baggy pants, makeup-less employees trudging through a dark backstage door into crowded little dressing rooms stuck somewhere behind giant curtains, sets and pulleys all overseen by a seen-it-all-before stage manager with a cue sheet. The players bring with them troubles from their families, over-due credit card bills, all the very same burdens the audience bring. Actually not much different than the employee locker room at the local plant, at the city bus depot, or the office lunchroom.
And yet there is an inexpressible difference here, for here in the whispered darkness of backstage an astonishing transmutation is about to happen. In another few minutes, the drudgery of everyday life will leap into special life. That celebrated life which has been captivating audiences long before Shakespeare. To know these cast members back-stage as well as on-stage is a gratifying privilege and joy. Privilege because of their talents to entertain; joy because you see exactly how they make this entertainment happen.
Cut back to our presidential news conference, newscasts, maitre d's, and those supposedly tell-all closeups with Oprah and Barbara. As an audience to these stages, we may not always have a backstage experience to draw upon. So in order to tell the difference between what is and what they want us to believe there is, we may need to pull from other sources. Our life experiences, our personal value systems, and especially our instincts about the difference between the sincere and the staged.
Shakespeare and Chicagoland theatre prefer you simply enjoy the performance. Democracy prefers you seriously study the performance.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
AND PARIS WANTS US TO BE MORE LIKE THEM
A lot of Americans don't like the French. And a good many French don't much like us. Things were different when they gave us the Statue of Liberty in 1886. So what went wrong....?
For one thing, the French have had a love/hate affair with us ever since our American Revolution. They helped us win, but then watched us go on to eventually become a bigger richer nation than them.
There's also the French ethos which has lived off its national grandeur from the days when France was the center of Europe and Paris the capitol of the world. The French have a long proud memory of long lost greatness whose thousand- year heritage often makes our 233 years seem like raw adolescence.
Then we have the matter of how American armies twice saved France in World War I and II. Grateful is one emotion, yes, but how many times is gratitude laced with some resentment?
Putting all this aside, there may be a far stronger explanation for this national tension between our two cultures. Simply put -- the French sometimes don't think we have a culture! To many a French scholar and literati, we're the kid on the block who has grown bigger and stronger than the rest, but remained gangly and uncouth in our leadership (AKA, Lyndon Johnson and George Bush). Our pleasure is making money, our relaxation is golf, our obsession is sex and violence, and besides all that we've never taken the time to learn French!
To hang some numbers on this attitude, consider the latest survey which finds the French spend more time sleeping and eating than do people in any other developed nation of the world. On average, nine hours a day in bed and two hours at meals. (The survey didn't detail who they spent those nine and two hours with, but then statisticians have to draw a professional line somewhere).
Lets examine these numbers further. Our lawyer-president marries another lawyer; their president marries an Italian sex goddess. Our lunches are often squishy drive-up hamburgers; their lunches are often leisurely feasts over four course meals and vintage wines. Our moral standards gasp at the infidelity of public officials; their public officials feel comfortable to invite their mistresses to state affairs. (Actually, ever since Madam daPompadour, mistresses are part of state affairs).
You see how it is, then. Cultural ships in the night which pass each other without really recognizing or acknowledging the other. To bring that closer to home, its not all that different than Cubs and Sox fans....Northsiders and Southsiders... Rush Limbaugh and anyone with a high school diploma!
For one thing, the French have had a love/hate affair with us ever since our American Revolution. They helped us win, but then watched us go on to eventually become a bigger richer nation than them.
There's also the French ethos which has lived off its national grandeur from the days when France was the center of Europe and Paris the capitol of the world. The French have a long proud memory of long lost greatness whose thousand- year heritage often makes our 233 years seem like raw adolescence.
Then we have the matter of how American armies twice saved France in World War I and II. Grateful is one emotion, yes, but how many times is gratitude laced with some resentment?
Putting all this aside, there may be a far stronger explanation for this national tension between our two cultures. Simply put -- the French sometimes don't think we have a culture! To many a French scholar and literati, we're the kid on the block who has grown bigger and stronger than the rest, but remained gangly and uncouth in our leadership (AKA, Lyndon Johnson and George Bush). Our pleasure is making money, our relaxation is golf, our obsession is sex and violence, and besides all that we've never taken the time to learn French!
To hang some numbers on this attitude, consider the latest survey which finds the French spend more time sleeping and eating than do people in any other developed nation of the world. On average, nine hours a day in bed and two hours at meals. (The survey didn't detail who they spent those nine and two hours with, but then statisticians have to draw a professional line somewhere).
Lets examine these numbers further. Our lawyer-president marries another lawyer; their president marries an Italian sex goddess. Our lunches are often squishy drive-up hamburgers; their lunches are often leisurely feasts over four course meals and vintage wines. Our moral standards gasp at the infidelity of public officials; their public officials feel comfortable to invite their mistresses to state affairs. (Actually, ever since Madam daPompadour, mistresses are part of state affairs).
You see how it is, then. Cultural ships in the night which pass each other without really recognizing or acknowledging the other. To bring that closer to home, its not all that different than Cubs and Sox fans....Northsiders and Southsiders... Rush Limbaugh and anyone with a high school diploma!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
STROGER STRIKES AGAIN
So nobody likes taxes, so what else is new? And what we especially don't like are King Stroger's taxes, however, that's not new either
My fellow Americans and local protesters, maybe you need to re-check your US History notes to get the facts here. Taxes are the rent you pay to live in a country. When Adams and Jefferson kicked up a storm over King George's taxes, it wasn't the taxes as much as how the taxes were being raised.
The battle cry was: "No taxation without representation!" We the people didn't have a voice in the Parliament. Fast forward to 2009. We the people do have a voice on the Cook County Board, only we the people don't use it. And that, dear dissenter, is the real eye of this storm.
Mr. Stroger will remind us we have 17 elected voices on that Board. And he'd be right. However, name two you remember voting for! And one who remembers you! You see, there's where the storm hits landfall. We the people don't do our job in the election, and the winners don't do their job after the election.
But remember -- democracy is not like monarchy. It's not a one-time affair. It's an everyday affair. So why are you wasting time here...?
My fellow Americans and local protesters, maybe you need to re-check your US History notes to get the facts here. Taxes are the rent you pay to live in a country. When Adams and Jefferson kicked up a storm over King George's taxes, it wasn't the taxes as much as how the taxes were being raised.
The battle cry was: "No taxation without representation!" We the people didn't have a voice in the Parliament. Fast forward to 2009. We the people do have a voice on the Cook County Board, only we the people don't use it. And that, dear dissenter, is the real eye of this storm.
Mr. Stroger will remind us we have 17 elected voices on that Board. And he'd be right. However, name two you remember voting for! And one who remembers you! You see, there's where the storm hits landfall. We the people don't do our job in the election, and the winners don't do their job after the election.
But remember -- democracy is not like monarchy. It's not a one-time affair. It's an everyday affair. So why are you wasting time here...?
THE BIBLE IS IN TROUBLE BUT IT'S NOT DAN BROWN
A person doesn't have to be a believer to understand the Bible is important. Three billion times important. To Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. This is because all three of these Abrahamic faiths find roots in these texts. Roots that have helped shape not only the religions, but many of our world's most enduring value systems.
That is until now....!
No, it's not Dan Brown's DaVinci Code books and movies. They're only fictions. It's facts that have been stirring the biblical pot. Facts being excavated by biblical scholars. Until recently,they tended to confirm the Bible. Now they challenge it.
The challenges are much more than the stuff of fussy academicians. If these new challenges end up changing old beliefs, it will impact all of us. Something like finding out your parents aren't your parents! Suddenly you're jolted into an entirely new paradigm. Everything you thought you knew buckles beneath you in a seismic shift. Ask anyone who's been in an earthquake if they can ever trust the ground under them again.
Using the exacting tools of disciplines like geology, archaeology and anthropology, scholars have begun questioning whether the Exodus from Egypt ever happened, whether the Israelites actually conquered Canaan, whether David's mighty kingdom was all that mighty, and whether an itinerant Jew could possibly rise from a sealed tomb. Of course they're right to challenge, but of course each challenge is the tail of a tiger. More than Passover and Christmas are at stake here, folks. So are such values as the sanctity of life, of parenthood, oaths, the Declaration of Independence, Lincoln's most stirring rhetoric, Roosevelt's Four Freedoms, and your daughter's wedding vows this June.
The way this works is illustrated by some recent excavations at Mt Sedom in Israel where stands the celebrated Lot's Wife. A pillar of salt in the form of a human that has been held by many as God's punishment when she disobeyed his order not to look back at his destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Carbon dating shows the formation goes back to the right biblical time-line for the event. However, geology shows how ancient earthquakes and soil erosion over these same 4000 years can scientifically explain the phenomenon.
So here's our tiger!
Do the facts help confirm or deny the story? Does the story require confirmation or denial in the first place? Can any two visitors to the site be expected to see the same physical object and hear the same spiritual message? Ride this tiger far enough and you're left with the same foundational question many of us have. If the biblical god exists and if science is one of his gifts to his creatures, why can't the scholar and the believer arrive at the same conclusions here at Mt Sedom?
If I ever book a trip to Israel, I'm going to ask the travel agent this question. Not that travel agents know how to ride tigers any better than scholars and believers. It's just that they're so good at making everything on the itinerary so ecstatic. In the long run, maybe it's the ecstasy of belief more than the thrill of truth that travelers like me want.
That is until now....!
No, it's not Dan Brown's DaVinci Code books and movies. They're only fictions. It's facts that have been stirring the biblical pot. Facts being excavated by biblical scholars. Until recently,they tended to confirm the Bible. Now they challenge it.
The challenges are much more than the stuff of fussy academicians. If these new challenges end up changing old beliefs, it will impact all of us. Something like finding out your parents aren't your parents! Suddenly you're jolted into an entirely new paradigm. Everything you thought you knew buckles beneath you in a seismic shift. Ask anyone who's been in an earthquake if they can ever trust the ground under them again.
Using the exacting tools of disciplines like geology, archaeology and anthropology, scholars have begun questioning whether the Exodus from Egypt ever happened, whether the Israelites actually conquered Canaan, whether David's mighty kingdom was all that mighty, and whether an itinerant Jew could possibly rise from a sealed tomb. Of course they're right to challenge, but of course each challenge is the tail of a tiger. More than Passover and Christmas are at stake here, folks. So are such values as the sanctity of life, of parenthood, oaths, the Declaration of Independence, Lincoln's most stirring rhetoric, Roosevelt's Four Freedoms, and your daughter's wedding vows this June.
The way this works is illustrated by some recent excavations at Mt Sedom in Israel where stands the celebrated Lot's Wife. A pillar of salt in the form of a human that has been held by many as God's punishment when she disobeyed his order not to look back at his destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Carbon dating shows the formation goes back to the right biblical time-line for the event. However, geology shows how ancient earthquakes and soil erosion over these same 4000 years can scientifically explain the phenomenon.
So here's our tiger!
Do the facts help confirm or deny the story? Does the story require confirmation or denial in the first place? Can any two visitors to the site be expected to see the same physical object and hear the same spiritual message? Ride this tiger far enough and you're left with the same foundational question many of us have. If the biblical god exists and if science is one of his gifts to his creatures, why can't the scholar and the believer arrive at the same conclusions here at Mt Sedom?
If I ever book a trip to Israel, I'm going to ask the travel agent this question. Not that travel agents know how to ride tigers any better than scholars and believers. It's just that they're so good at making everything on the itinerary so ecstatic. In the long run, maybe it's the ecstasy of belief more than the thrill of truth that travelers like me want.
Monday, May 11, 2009
PATRIOTISM VS PRAGMATISM
Patriotism is love of the country; pragmatism is love of the practical. Can the two co-exist....?
To test the question we have countless examples at hand. On the national level there is today's heated dialog over budget, health care, energy, education and everyone's all time favorite: The perennial are coffee-and-red-wine-really-good- for-us-or-not. To be a patriot it would seem we should be reading and learning everything we can about such matters. Free schools and responsible media are there to help us be responsibly informed citizens. Indeed, the current crisis over the loss of newspapers raises the question of how can a democracy function without informed citizens.
But then we have our bottom-line pragmatists. These are the life-hardened skeptics who say something like: "Look, when these guys come up with a final answer, that's when I'll pay attention. Till then everything's just hot air." Given that the answers keep changing and the deciders keep shifting, the skeptics have a point. I mean, how many times have we been emphatically told that coffee is absolutely bad for us until they count the number of ways it's good for us. Or that Illinois's budget is in crisis although on second thought except for those items our representatives decide are in demand.
Focusing on this month's final debate over the new Illinois budget, everyone agrees it's in a mess. But everyone down in Springfield agrees the mess has to do with someone else's priorities not theirs. Hard not to throw up your arms with the skeptical pragmatists and say: "Just wake me up when it's over."
There's only one thing wrong with that. Everything!
Democracy is built on the notion of majority rule, but history is built on the way well-organized minorities usually carry the day. Without such a dedicated minority we probably wouldn't have had the American Revolution...poor white farmers dying for the cause of rich Confederate slaveholders...the country entering World War I... the Prohibition Act....and the Iraq War. In each case, the silent majority tended to follow the organized minority.
And so it may be again. At both the national level and right here at the state level. There are well organized minorities (AKA, vested interests) with well thought out agendas. While the pragmatists sleep, the self-proclaimed patriots act. But it would be wrong to label this "conspiracy." The word is sorely over-worked by every Hollywood director and novelist out to woo an audience. According to democracy, minorities just like majorities have the right to speak out and fight for their cause.
It's not important whether you are in the majority or the minority. What is important -- essential -- is that you play your role as a well-informed citizen. No matter what they say about the old western gunslingers, no one gets their man wildly shooting from the hip.
It's the head, stupid...!
To test the question we have countless examples at hand. On the national level there is today's heated dialog over budget, health care, energy, education and everyone's all time favorite: The perennial are coffee-and-red-wine-really-good- for-us-or-not. To be a patriot it would seem we should be reading and learning everything we can about such matters. Free schools and responsible media are there to help us be responsibly informed citizens. Indeed, the current crisis over the loss of newspapers raises the question of how can a democracy function without informed citizens.
But then we have our bottom-line pragmatists. These are the life-hardened skeptics who say something like: "Look, when these guys come up with a final answer, that's when I'll pay attention. Till then everything's just hot air." Given that the answers keep changing and the deciders keep shifting, the skeptics have a point. I mean, how many times have we been emphatically told that coffee is absolutely bad for us until they count the number of ways it's good for us. Or that Illinois's budget is in crisis although on second thought except for those items our representatives decide are in demand.
Focusing on this month's final debate over the new Illinois budget, everyone agrees it's in a mess. But everyone down in Springfield agrees the mess has to do with someone else's priorities not theirs. Hard not to throw up your arms with the skeptical pragmatists and say: "Just wake me up when it's over."
There's only one thing wrong with that. Everything!
Democracy is built on the notion of majority rule, but history is built on the way well-organized minorities usually carry the day. Without such a dedicated minority we probably wouldn't have had the American Revolution...poor white farmers dying for the cause of rich Confederate slaveholders...the country entering World War I... the Prohibition Act....and the Iraq War. In each case, the silent majority tended to follow the organized minority.
And so it may be again. At both the national level and right here at the state level. There are well organized minorities (AKA, vested interests) with well thought out agendas. While the pragmatists sleep, the self-proclaimed patriots act. But it would be wrong to label this "conspiracy." The word is sorely over-worked by every Hollywood director and novelist out to woo an audience. According to democracy, minorities just like majorities have the right to speak out and fight for their cause.
It's not important whether you are in the majority or the minority. What is important -- essential -- is that you play your role as a well-informed citizen. No matter what they say about the old western gunslingers, no one gets their man wildly shooting from the hip.
It's the head, stupid...!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
FROM THE RIDICLOUS TO THE SUBLIME
We all live with some riddles and some mysteries in our life. My ridiculous riddle is figuring out the price tags in supermarkets. My sublime mystery is figuring out the Vatican in Rome...!
Now I grant, supermarkets try to help your comparison shopping by listing the per unit cost for most items. But that works only when products X, Y and Z have the very same number of units. If not, this calls for on-the-spot multiplication. And even that's not enough if X is on sale and you happen to have coupons for Z. I've seen some scrupulous shoppers work with a calculator, but that brings back ghoulish memories of Mr. Horton in Trigonometry.
Better to admit the cosmos is complex, not ours to always understand, and just go with Z!
A far more challenging issue is figuring out the Vatican. This is the oldest still-functioning institution of any kind in the Western world. Its Popes have earned the status of the world's single most prominent religious office. In recent years, they have drawn the biggest crowds ever seen in human history. And yet despite all this, the pronouncements from the Vatican continue to roil the passions and the theologies of Muslims, Jews and Catholics alike.
And so one is left with the mystery of this unique institution. With all its past errors and current disputes, how does it remain intact? What holds it and a billion Catholics together?
The Vatican speaks of the Holy Spirit left by Jesus to "remain with my Church." Critics like the DaVinci Code talk about the role of conspiracies and corruptions. Reformers talk about keeping the faith but changing the church. One is left to wonder.
Sometimes, though, you simply can't answer all of life's riddle and mysteries. So in my case I usually choose the least line of resistance. I buy the products with the best saving coupons, and I buy into the church with the best saving promises. In each case, time alone will tell....
Now I grant, supermarkets try to help your comparison shopping by listing the per unit cost for most items. But that works only when products X, Y and Z have the very same number of units. If not, this calls for on-the-spot multiplication. And even that's not enough if X is on sale and you happen to have coupons for Z. I've seen some scrupulous shoppers work with a calculator, but that brings back ghoulish memories of Mr. Horton in Trigonometry.
Better to admit the cosmos is complex, not ours to always understand, and just go with Z!
A far more challenging issue is figuring out the Vatican. This is the oldest still-functioning institution of any kind in the Western world. Its Popes have earned the status of the world's single most prominent religious office. In recent years, they have drawn the biggest crowds ever seen in human history. And yet despite all this, the pronouncements from the Vatican continue to roil the passions and the theologies of Muslims, Jews and Catholics alike.
And so one is left with the mystery of this unique institution. With all its past errors and current disputes, how does it remain intact? What holds it and a billion Catholics together?
The Vatican speaks of the Holy Spirit left by Jesus to "remain with my Church." Critics like the DaVinci Code talk about the role of conspiracies and corruptions. Reformers talk about keeping the faith but changing the church. One is left to wonder.
Sometimes, though, you simply can't answer all of life's riddle and mysteries. So in my case I usually choose the least line of resistance. I buy the products with the best saving coupons, and I buy into the church with the best saving promises. In each case, time alone will tell....
Saturday, May 9, 2009
WHAT'S HIDING IN A STATISTIC?
Statisticians are grinding out new survey numbers every day. In the Middle Ages they counted the number of angels on the head of a pin. Today they count the number of anything they think is publishable. Many times the results are pretty useless, but here's one that's not. The number of Americans who said they "like being recognized as wealthy" dropped from 35% to 29%.
Surveys are like the Delphic Oracle -- you make of them whatever you want. So here's what I make of this. America's enduring split-personality about wealth is surfacing again in today's recession. On one hand we've always admired the rich-and-famous; at the same time, we can't help resenting them. In a democracy everyone's supposed to be equal, only everyone knows some people are more equal than others. That un-democratic status is OK, but only if it happens to us.
In some countries, this tension creates distinct rich;poor class structures (AKA,old Europe and new Middle East). In our country, this tension has always been eased by the assumption anyone can become wealthy (AKA, The American Dream). But in the current recession, the wealthy class is sticking out like a very sore and annoying thumb. Bankers, Wall Street hustlers, hedge fund gamblers, Berny Madoff, Paris Hilton -- when you're out of a job, what's to like about this class!
Maybe this is why more of them are more self-conscious about their BMW's and off-shore accounts. Then again, maybe not. One of the best known ways in history of distracting the plebeians or peasants from the luxury of the patricians or the lords is to find a common enemy. The wealthy today have found a classic example: Big Government. After all, who likes the guy who imposes taxes on you, and tells you how to behave?
Trouble is, using the government as your common enemy (AKA, "the problem") only works so far. Easy to condemn its graft and corruption, but not quite as easy to turn your back when you need it to guard your shores, patrol your streets, inspect your meats, protect your health, and build your schools and colleges.
Whether ot not the government is "the solution" is open to rigorous debate. In the end the consensus may be what it's always been in this country. Each side of the democratic equation needs the other. The people need concerned government in order to maintain the general welfare; the government needs concerned citizens in order to maintain its commitment to that general welfare.
Sounds like a strong marriage...? Exactly. And everyone knows how hard, but how rewarding that can be.
Surveys are like the Delphic Oracle -- you make of them whatever you want. So here's what I make of this. America's enduring split-personality about wealth is surfacing again in today's recession. On one hand we've always admired the rich-and-famous; at the same time, we can't help resenting them. In a democracy everyone's supposed to be equal, only everyone knows some people are more equal than others. That un-democratic status is OK, but only if it happens to us.
In some countries, this tension creates distinct rich;poor class structures (AKA,old Europe and new Middle East). In our country, this tension has always been eased by the assumption anyone can become wealthy (AKA, The American Dream). But in the current recession, the wealthy class is sticking out like a very sore and annoying thumb. Bankers, Wall Street hustlers, hedge fund gamblers, Berny Madoff, Paris Hilton -- when you're out of a job, what's to like about this class!
Maybe this is why more of them are more self-conscious about their BMW's and off-shore accounts. Then again, maybe not. One of the best known ways in history of distracting the plebeians or peasants from the luxury of the patricians or the lords is to find a common enemy. The wealthy today have found a classic example: Big Government. After all, who likes the guy who imposes taxes on you, and tells you how to behave?
Trouble is, using the government as your common enemy (AKA, "the problem") only works so far. Easy to condemn its graft and corruption, but not quite as easy to turn your back when you need it to guard your shores, patrol your streets, inspect your meats, protect your health, and build your schools and colleges.
Whether ot not the government is "the solution" is open to rigorous debate. In the end the consensus may be what it's always been in this country. Each side of the democratic equation needs the other. The people need concerned government in order to maintain the general welfare; the government needs concerned citizens in order to maintain its commitment to that general welfare.
Sounds like a strong marriage...? Exactly. And everyone knows how hard, but how rewarding that can be.
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