The other day, I stumbled across a video clip of the hot dog eating competition at Nathan’s on Coney Island, New York. (2) Disgusting would be an understatement. Now I am not a conservative when it comes to extreme events. I am as titillated as the next person when I watch someone jump out of an airplane without a parachute and fall into an enormous (Chinese—made) net, and survive. (3) But, the food thing, I just don’t get. As parents, we plead with our children to develop their table manners as quickly as possible. I come from a generation that determined your social class, and therefore your business or matrimonial acceptability, by how you held your knife and fork. What is this sort of nonsense saying to our young people? When upwards of 30% of Americans are obese: (4) what is the possible message: gluttony is cool? This acceptance of the base and obscene is not the correct way, I feel. Why not hold ourselves to a higher standard of taste and quality? We do not have to be pompous and condescending, but surely there is a social level, a litmus test of decency, that must exist, or am I just too extreme and old fashioned? I don’t think so. If we do not want to be wage slaves, we must affect some style, some poise.
I am reading a book by Lee Siegel entitled “Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob. (ISBN: 978-184-66869-79) It essentially suggests that the Internet is pulling us to the lowest common measure. “The assimilation of taboo images to the everyday language of doing business produces a strange effect. It domesticates the taboo while at the same time making the everyday transactional world more porous, more open to the forbidden. The wolf of unbridled appetite slips into everyday convention in the sheep’s clothing of commercial language. … Every private thought is performed for public consumption, and every leisure moment (from toilet training to lovemaking) is a highly focused search for a specific gratification, guided by experts serving you in their field. No unexpected events or unanticipated human contact need apply.” Now I do agree with some of the pundits, (5) the book is angry and one-sided. That being said, there is a clarion call in its pages: we should be aware that it is more essential than ever to nurture and mature our critical thinking skills. At a recent small talk session, a young woman asked, “What is true wisdom?” It must be associated with the ability to think lucidly about what is good for you, your society and for mankind. Ask anyone, “Is the world a violent place?” and they will answer in the affirmative. This is all without any personal experience, as I have said so, so many times. This is a pure falsehood. The world is not comprised of violence, anger, and fear. It is made up of good, kind and loving people and experiences. Yes bad things do happen, but not usually, not to most people. Rabbi Harold Kushner (b. 1935), author of Why Bad Things Happen to Good People (ISBN 978-1-4000-3472-7) leaves us with a thought: If you have been brave enough to love, and sometimes you’ve won and sometimes you’ve lost; if you have cared enough to try, and sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t; if you have been bold enough to dream and found yourself with some dreams that came true and a lot of broken pieces of dreams that didn’t, that fell to earth and shattered, then you can look back from the mountaintop you now find yourself standing on, like Moses contemplating the tablets that would guide human behavior for a millennia, resting in the Ark alongside the broken fragments of an earlier dream. And you, like Moses, can realize how full your life has been and how richly you are blessed.
A closing thought: Apropos to our recent conversations: there is a concrete planter next to our building. It is filled with aquatic plants: lily pads and the like. Today as I left our office, I noticed two young children, a boy of around three and a girl of close to two, staring intently at a dragon fly that was nestled on one of the fronds. It was truly a scene from a Claude Monet (1840-1926) painting. Now, as we all know, time is irreplaceable. This magical moment will never visit again. Did their father catch it? No, it was too busy on his cell phone: true story.
To sum up: This week we spoke about the danger of the Internet and the acceptance of the most banal, the most basic. This is not human nature, hopefully. We, as people, want the best for ourselves, our loved ones and our society. We suggested that, through education, we will develop the thinking skills that are necessary to confront an ever-changing world. We closed with a quote that was filled with understated excitement and optimism.
An amusing occurrence: I pride myself on remembering names. Recently I had the humbling experience of confusing not one name, but two. I somehow transposed the name of one person onto the figure of another. The Taiwanese, of course, are always extremely polite. It was not until the end of the evening that a kind soul was good enough to tell me that had been misaddressing these two people the whole time. To “rub salt in the wound,” this was after I had been complimented on my excellent memory, by the same people.
Just for fun: Cat Stevens Complete Los Angeles Concert 1971
This week, please reflect on your control over your Internet usage.
Every day look for something magical and beautiful.
Quote: Goodness and kindness await all those who seek. The universe is just: perhaps not always fair, but just.
Footnotes:
1) What are the seven deadly sins?
2) 2016 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest – Joey Chestnut REGAINS Title!
3) Heaven Sent: Skydiver Luke Aikins jumps 25000 feet without parachute