Rugged Individualism rears its ugly head

I haven't given Ronald Reagan much thought in a while.

Okay, that's not true; this morning I cringed when the metrorail driver alerted us to a transfer point for trains to "Reagan National Airport". But I try not to think about him much.

I've never been a big fan of 'rugged individualism'. As a trade unionist, I know first-hand the power of working together over going it alone. But it's always good to have bad examples to point to, especially when talking to those for whom the 1980's are ancient history.

Adolph Reed's article When Government Shrugs: Lessons of Katrina gives the best (worst) example I've seen in a while. I'll quote a paragraph or two, but you should read the whole article:

Always ready to exoticize, even when on their best behavior, the news media pulled out their one-size-fits-all cultural exceptionalism. People down there are rooted in their ways, we were told. They have a primordial commitment to place that anchors them to an extent the rest of us can’t understand...

From that twisted perspective it appears almost disrespectful to consider them to be suffering; they march to the beat of a different drummer and make different choices from the rest of us. The implication is that they accept the consequences of those choices and that it would be condescending to believe otherwise. This is, of course, only a free-market, happy-face expression of victim-blaming.

death and the ad

Went to see Death and the Maiden last night at the community theater in my neighborhood. It was a good play, worth reading if you can't make it to a performance.

In one scene--a husband and wife talking--the characters echoed each other's lines, indicating their agreement by repeating what their partner said. This, for me, is the essential difference between stage-speech and the everyday kind. With my mathematical training, I appreciate the symmetry it creates. But it feels artifical because it's not at all how we usually talk to each other. In conversation, we have a habit of repeating each other's thoughts in our own words, changing the syntax to assert ownership. We used to joke in grad school about the person who didn't believe something until he'd said it himself. He was hardly alone in that.

Elise Bryant, in a course on Creative Organizing at the National Labor College, called me on my own tendency to rewrite what I was hearing when taking notes on a group discussion. I used to pretend that it was a sign of understanding, to be able restate a person's main point. But Elise made me admit it really meant that I thought I could say it better. If you get the chance to learn from her, take it.

By the way, community theater is heartbreaking. The space is so intimate. The players put so much of themselves on the stage that, even when they flub a line, the performance is enjoyable. And yet, most of the seats are empty. [This is why, for example, I saw Two Gentlemen of Verona four times.] Any ideas for increasing attendance? This is partly a selfish question, as I am so happy to have a theater I can walk to that I'd hate to see it close.

first thoughts on blogging

I have to be honest: I just created this account so I could post a comment on my friend's blog without having to remain anonymous. I may yet be convinced that this is a good way to keep up with folks close to my heart but not my current home.