Even the best in musicals – the uniquely American invention of making Johann Strauss and opéra bouffe accessible to the American palate – have been of late either English or French-originated productions: Andrew Lloyd Webber and Les Miz were a case in point. All have fallen victim to the vulgarization of culture, to reducing it to the lowest common denominator, to increasing the paying base, to selling out to quick profit and box-office success. Only in computer technologies and software development did we still excel, but there was a reason for this: because of a worldwide demand for ever-cheaper, better products, it was one area in which both quality and profit could still go hand in hand. Hence Bill Gates, presumably the richest man in the world and possibly the last icon of American excellence.
We didn't mind, of course, the rest of the world catching up. Ideally, we both thought, all governments and human societies should emulate our way. The whole world would be better for it. But we weren't quite ready for global government, charitable or Christian as such an idea might be. They haven't prepared us for this. Even less were we ready for our own government selling-out to international business interests and cartels. We were afraid of losing our country in the process.
And so we talked, and shared, and communed.
It was two in the morning.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Horace Mungin
Roger,the nobility of the American ruling-class has gone away for a period - how long? Who knows. But a time will come when the elite will regain its Beneficent guardianship over the working-classes - its the only way America works. The present day imbalance is terminal.
2 - Doug Hunter
Roger,
I had recently given up this futile hobby here on blogcritics but I thought I should make one more observation. I was going to post on your healthcare article but so many beat me to the punch in regards to the so called social contract... another method of excusing limiting the freedom of others. Anyway...
'Only in computer technologies and software development did we still excel, but there was a reason for this' - Roger
The reason is government has not got it's finger directly in this pie. Computer technology and the internet have remained largely free from government interference here and have prospered because of it.
The difference between the 60's and now? Real standard of living and GDP growth have slacked off as Government spending at all levels has mushroomed... exactly what one currently unpopular piece of the political spectrum warned you about all along. Your writing of freedom reads hollow in this context as the only power of government is to tax, regulate, and form laws which are by definition the limiting of freedoms.
I know it is not possible for you to see the world in this way. More of the same thing that got us here will not get us out, yet that is exactly what the American people are voting for. An empire in decline, the nobility of the American ruling-class is gone.... forever. We are destined now to tread water with Europe, struggling under the weight of our government behemoth, until another leader emerges. I suppose it is the East's turn to rule.
3 - Ruvy
Roger,
You covered much of the same ground I did in an essay I wrote last night. I'm debating whether to submit my essay here. My essay is not davka centered on America, however but on a country that may well see itself as its inheritor.
Not a bad job. It was a pleasant surprise, actually.
Horace, this is not said with malice, but with the cold eyes of one seeing History moving on. The present imbalance is terminal, as you say. I do not believe it to be temporary.
4 - roger nowosielski
Well, Ruvy, thank you. I got tired of doing "think" pieces all the time, and wanted to speak "from the heart." So don't say I don't share some of the sentiments that you express at times, though with greater bitterness. I, too, experience a sense of loss, greater perhaps because this is my home.
5 - roger nowosielski
Doug,
Your picture is one-sided as well. I do speak of times, recall, when corporations had a sense of responsibility to the community and the consumers, employees, and the citizens. Granted, these were times before globalization. But you can't just single out the government as the source and the cause of all ills. It's all interconnected. The growth of the government, of corruption, of collusion between public and private interests, cannot be seen in isolation, as though a development unto itself, but must be considered in light of the larger picture - and partly at least, as a response to changes in the business world as well.
I find it odd, however, that you regard the notion of "social contract" in the way you do, especially for a self-billed conservative. You should be more cognizant of the fact that freedom and rights come with responsibility. The notion of contract implies responsibility going both ways: government doing its bit and so do the individuals. It's a voluntary agreement (in a manner of speaking), not any kind of bondage.
6 - roger nowosielski
Horace (#1),
I do like the way you put it. It shows me that a measure of economic inequality is not something we necessarily ought to fight tooth and nail. It's part of the American way that not everyone is EQUALLY rich and prosperous, and that class envy is foreign to the American psyche. We're much more generous people for that, to be begrudging our neighbor a newer car or a bigger house. What's more important and more characteristic of what America used to be is certain egalitarianism, economic differences aside, and yes - a certain sense of brotherhood.
I hope I am not misunderstanding the gist of your comment. And by the way, what I think you meant by your last line is that the present day imbalance is temporal (not terminal).
7 - roger nowosielski
If it IS terminal, Ruvy, as Horace apparently misspoke, then indeed US will never recover.
8 - Joanne Huspek
Bravo, Roger. Well written.
My key concern is the diminishing of our freedoms and the greater divide of the people. We're more divided now than we were in the '60s, if you can believe that. A lot of the change is a cultural shift (your vulgarization), and it's going to take a long time and some hardship before things shift back. We might have to lose our freedom before we realize how precious it is.
9 - roger nowosielski
Yes, Joanne. We are more divided because it's become all me, me, me - from unscrupulous unions like UAW (which, rather than tightening their belt in hard times and doing what they could to save the industry, they chose instead to ride the wave and take everybody to the cleaners) to corporate greed. It's all about number one - like a bunch of rats on a sinking Titanic. And yes, we have become childlike and mindless - with our toys and diversions and celebrity worship. I guess prosperity for the masses without education - not a happy formula.
It doesn't bide well.
10 - Horace Mungin
Roger, I meant what I said - the present day imbalance in terminal, but unlike Ruvy, I beleive that we will recover from it. As I said in the preamble statement - Its the only way America works.
11 - roger nowosielski
Now I get it, Horace. It's more akin to my way thinking, which is to say, there's no turning back.
But yes ... we will recover, of that I'm certain.
12 - roger nowosielski
BTW, Horace, next time you check in here, it's been on my mind for long.
You do remind me of Mr. Tom Berkley. I had a long time association with Mr. Berkley, in a professional and social capacity. Quite an accomplished person, a late Honorary Counsel to Senegal, an ex-friend of Fidel Castro, a Director of Oakland Port Authority, an attorney, newspaper publisher and an athlete. It was a great loss to see him die.
It's too bad they don't have a snapshot - but almost a spitting image of you. I hope you've heard of the man.
13 - roger nowosielski
Here's another link.
14 - Ruvy
we have become childlike and mindless - with our toys and diversions and celebrity worship. I guess prosperity for the masses without education - not a happy formula.
It is a happy formula - for the elites who no longer have to take the masses seriously. And Pablo will tell you that it is not a mere accident of history - and he will be right.
It is one of the reasons I am not optimistic about a real recovery for America.
15 - Silas Kain
Ruvy, regretfully I agree. As much as I want Barack Obama to succeed for the sake of this country it will not happen. Recovery for the United States begins with a complete upheaval of the political finance system. In addition, it's time for the remainder of the Republican Party to declare a Jihad on the Far Right and drive them into the wilderness.
As every day goes by I am less inclined to have faith in our ability to rebuild. Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands are looking more appealing to me every day. Somehow I don't think my ancestors who sacrificed so much to be a part of the American dream would be happy with the way things have turned out.
16 - roger nowosielski
Yes, Ruvy. I didn't want to be blunt, but I believe it is by design. And the American public only deserves the government it gets.
Why don't you publish your essay anyway, especially since you have a successor in mind.
17 - roger nowosielski
I'll tell you something, Silas. If I were in Europe right now, I certainly wouldn't be thinking anymore of making this my country. But that was 1961.
18 - Silas Kain
Roger, it amazes me as to how stupid we have become. My grandfather came to this country because he wanted to give his children more opportunity than he had. Until 50 years ago, parents worked their asses off to insure that their kids would have a better life. There's just one problem. Along the way we forgot about quality education, civic responsibility and personal accountability. We've spawned two succeeding generations of Americans who have no clue as to what was sacrificed to give them the lives they have. Unfortunately, we're spawning a third generation of the same.
19 - Ruvy
Silas,
In my family, they did not quit working their asses off in the States (remember I left the States, I'm not part of this charmed circle) to give their children better lives. My grand-nephews and fourth cousins have risen very high in American society - too high for Jews, in fact. When things go bad, I fear they will be targets - because they are Jews, and because they are high up on the food chain - trophies in the closet for the Protestant ruling elite to display - for the mob to attack when things do go bad. And they will go bad. When you have 10 times the amount of money floating around than you have gross domestioc product, you have a dime on the dollar economy. And that's what you got developing quickly.
20 - roger nowosielski
I think it's typical for the first wave/generation of immigrants to work their asses off.
My father, a stage actor in Polish National Theater (equivalent to Vic's) worked as an electrician; my mother, also a stage actress in Poland, was a cleaning lady. But neither I nor my sister took that route.
Second and third generations tell a different tale. But I don't think that's the problem. Work ethic is gone and easy money has become the life and the way. Perhaps prosperity brought this about; people lost a sense of reality, started thinking that prosperity could sustain itself without productive activity. Well, they've been proven wrong.
21 - roger nowosielski
Correction: should be "the Old Vic"
22 - Silas Kain
My babci (grandmother) used to say, you will never understand until you see blood in the sand. She kept reminding us that we had no clue about the horror of war. In the next global conflict we could very well see blood spilled on our land. The problem is that we're so technologically savvy and self absorbed that we have no clue how to survive in the raw.
23 - roger nowosielski
In a way, it's scary because the modern wars are unreal. It would be more honest to just have to troops on the ground - no smart bombs and any of that stuff. Only then, perhaps, we would be more leery of starting a war.
24 - Jeannie Danna
Doug Hunter, #2 Computer technology and the Internet have remained largely free from government interference here and have prospered because of it.
This is a very good point you make. The government doesn't have it's finger in the "pie" of the internet, and this is not fair to the multitude of small business owners who have to pay property taxes out in the real world.
If these profiteers are on line they ought to pay taxes! Wouldn't you agree?
Good article Roger! I'll be back later tonight...:)
25 - roger nowosielski
Thanks, Jeannie. And let's bring Doug back. He's one of the few reasonable voices from the right. And he listens even to the opposing view.