Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Deleted

Peace
They say that nothing in the blogosphere is ever really deleted. Apparently, two hundred years from now some anthropologist will be able to dig through the remains of some server that housed my last blogger entry and reveal that I was a very cranky individual. Well I was, and to some extent I still am. But I did delete the last blog entry made here because, after reading it, it was just plain rubbish. That's a British term for something we in Brooklyn would call "crap."
My last entry was a rather snobby recitation about the fact that the rest of the USA was apparently obsessed with the television show American Idol and I was the only person not "glued to the tube" the last night of the season. But then I picked on that poor Indian boy, you know the one with all the hair, and said some unkind things. It wasn't his fault he was apparently not very talented when it came to singing and that there were people manipulating his image on both sides. But quite frankly, I found the entire American Idol idea rather stupid. I think what made me the most cranky was its popularity - this fact was one more indication the entire American psyche had gone to the dogs.

It is not just that Americans are getting dumber - they are - but that's another issue. What bothers me on a basic level is that this stupidity might suggest that all popular culture ideas, in any generation, are simply rubbish too. Is that possible? Could the Peace Movement of the 1960's that led to the end of the Viet Nam war be nothing more than the cultural equivalent of American Idol? It could be. Could the Woman's Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, even the Gay Power movement have been nothing more than a popular cultural fad of its time, ultimately - like American Idol - meaningless?

I am waiting for the day when of all those Baby Boomers who lived through the 60's sit up and take notice of what a mess this country has become and once again, donning peace signs and tie-dye t-shirts, rise from the background din and call for revolution.

Or is it more like that they will just pass me in the high speed lane of the Interstate driving their SUVs and give me the finger?

Anyway, I am cranky for a lot of reasons, but whining - even though I am good at it - does nothing to cheer me up. So, I'll shut up and ponder my navel.

Peace

~j

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I, too, have pondered this question. There are several organizations that are still holding the flag (peace, that is). Check out Pax Christi USA.

Sullivan