October 27, 2001
From the desk of Mindles H. Dreck:Would we have more "culture" if everyone were like Richard Todd?
Richard Todd writes a column in tomorrow's Times Magazine. Like Daniel Schorr's, its sort of a non-opinion, but get this:
Culture in recent years has become to a large extent a matter of individual choice and expression. To be an American means figuring out how to be an American. We are, as the French would say, bricoleurs in our own culture -- we pick and choose, paste together, make it up as we go along. We shop. The consumerism that is our great shared activity operates chiefly as an opportunity to express our differences, carve out a private identity. And in turn we rely on a commodified understanding of one another. You're a real-estate broker who buys at Barneys, is into hip-hop and follows the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard? Cool. You know Sallie? She's the vegan Sufi software engineer who collects antique hat boxes. To have the freedom to declare your own ''style'' in things and in ideas is marvelous, isn't it? But why does it not always seem like freedom? In part, I think, because somewhere in the recesses of the mind we're haunted by the realization that the more we make our separate peace with our culture, the less sustenance that culture has to offer us all. What exactly do we belong to?What do we belong to? The good ol' kick-ass U.S. of A.!! Your lack of belonging is your own distress at everyone not thinking the same way. Our diversity of interests and identities contributes plenty of culture for me. I love being able to surf all the weblogs and watch all the different people do their thing in the city. Its an overdose of culture, whether Todd thinks the culture is "serious" or not. That whole "thousand points of light" idea wasn't as silly as people made it sound, I think.
This is zero-sum thinking. Todd seems to think our differences subtract from each other. I just don't. The market in this country relentlessly delivers what people want. If its not what you want, C'est la vie. Some people care more about Dolphins than employment. I bet you can find the culture you want and the like-minded folks that make you "feel like you belong", Richard. Maybe you don't get out enough?
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go out with my flaky vegan Sufi friend Sallie.
Posted by Mindles H. Dreck at October 27, 2001 02:26 PM | Technorati inbound links