What our world has become.

POSTED BY: Fremdfirma
UPDATED: Monday, June 29, 2026 21:34
VIEWED: 23018
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FREMDFIRMA

Thursday, May 3, 2007 8:23 PM

Ok, ok.. I better come clean before this turns nasty...
Although the fact that it has started to is, in and of itself is worthy of a thought or two as well.

This whole thread was kind of a setup, and yes I deliberately used loaded language in order to put folk on the defensive and in a personal position of defending the established social order as we know it, but also in the intent to try to get folk to challenge those pre-conceptions within themselves, to think about why they value them so much.

Mostly however, to inspire serious, *honest*, thoughtful discussion on the topic.

Sorry if I pissed anyone off, but I wanted to get some honest answers, and some times the best way to do that is to present a loaded argument as a stalking horse for them to shoot at.

-Frem

RUE

Thursday, May 3, 2007 8:30 PM

"We're busy. Americans have been busy, as a people, since at least 1831, when a young French sociologist named Alexis de Tocqueville visited the States and found himself impressed, bemused and slightly dismayed at the degree to which people were driven, to the exclusion of everything else, by hard work and the accumulation of wealth."
Probably true. USers get less vacation than Europeans. Eat fast food rather than good meals. Have, as a motto, "whoever dies with the most toys wins".

"If we can't take the time out of our lives to stay a moment and listen to one of the best musicians on Earth play some of the best music ever written; if the surge of modern life so overpowers us that we are deaf and blind to something like that -- then what else are we missing?"
This is, to me, an unproven extrapolation - and also partly right and partly wrong. USers really aren't taught to enjoy classical music. It's part of the self-satisfied mantra "I don't know much about art, but I know what I like." So it's no wonder the only people who stopped were the ones who already were interested in classical music or the violin or Bell, or some combination. But I agree that most Americans don't know what they're missing. You really have to live in another country long enough to lose your blinders in order to 'get it'. What it means to be in a place that believes a humane life for all is better than a wealthy one for few. But that's not a recent development in America, not is it a personal fault of Americans. It's more like culturally-induced blindness.

CHRISISALL

Thursday, May 3, 2007 8:34 PM

*hangs his head down*

....I may be capitalism's bitch...
*looks up*
But at least I'm man enough to admit it!

Spikeisall

RUE

Thursday, May 3, 2007 8:40 PM

'The criticism of the situation was meant to be a personal affront to everybody who would've walked past Bell in that situation. "Didn't take time to appreciate the music? You're capitalism's bitch!"'

A PERSONAL affront ?

And what could possibly be wrong with looking at US culture with a critical eye? And learning from others ... Even US NEws & World Report did that recently.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070318/26intro.htm
How They Do It Better
By Susan Headden
Posted 3/18/07
We have the biggest GDP, the finest universities, the highest ownership of color TVs, and the greatest number of Nobel Prize winners. So how come the Danes are the happiest people in the world? Living in the dark, no less. Schoolchildren in New Zealand are cleaning our clocks in math and science. Teachers are better paid and more respected in Japan. Our highways are choked with traffic, but we can't manage to build a train that goes more than 150 mph.

--------------

AGENTROUKA

Thursday, May 3, 2007 8:52 PM

So, puppet master, did the rats in the maze press the right button to get "Right" or "Wrong" in your eyes?

Are you questioning any of your own views or just patting yourself on the back for predicting a very predictable reaction?

It's kind of rude not to share the results of your little experiment.

CAUSAL

Thursday, May 3, 2007 9:08 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
But I find lack of analysis and insight frustrating. People who think that everything is directed at them necessarily limit their scope of thought.

Hope I'm not the one you had in mind as you tapped this out. I just thought Frem's initial post was one-sided to the point of the absurd, and wanted to counter-point that. As it turns out, he was trying to provoke a reaction with deliberately loaded language. But I hope you're not suggesting that I'm limiting my "scope of thought." It's not that I was personally offended. It's that I thought Frem was dead wrong. Meh. Or maybe I'm just capitalism's bitch.

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SIGNYM

Thursday, May 3, 2007 9:17 PM

Awww..... Chris.... *hangs head* I'm capitalism's bitch too.

I have a co-worker who's retiring at 50 to Costa Rica next month. He's a ray of honesty. But living your ideals is a lot harder than talking them.

---------------------------------
Always look upstream.

DEEPGIRL187

Thursday, May 3, 2007 9:33 PM

I don't know whether to laugh, or just cry.

**************************************************

"If you want to win a war, you must serve no master but your ambition."

CAUSAL

Thursday, May 3, 2007 9:36 PM

Why would you do either?

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- Grand High Poobah of the Mythical Land of Iowa, and Keeper of State Secrets
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CLJOHNSTON108

Thursday, May 3, 2007 9:36 PM

Quote:
Bell decided to begin with "Chaconne" from Johann Sebastian Bach's Partita No. 2 in D Minor. Bell calls it "not just one of the greatest pieces of music ever written, but one of the greatest achievements of any man in history. It's a spiritually powerful piece, emotionally powerful, structurally perfect. Plus, it was written for a solo violin, so I won't be cheating with some half-assed version."

Bell didn't say it, but Bach's "Chaconne" is also considered one of the most difficult violin pieces to master. Many try; few succeed. It's exhaustingly long -- 14 minutes -- and consists entirely of a single, succinct musical progression repeated in dozens of variations to create a dauntingly complex architecture of sound. Composed around 1720, on the eve of the European Enlightenment, it is said to be a celebration of the breadth of human possibility.

ALESSIO BENVENUTI suona Bach
Sonate e Partite 1004-1006 Parte II
http://www.arteagency.com/bachsonate002.htm

"Chaconne" (Ciaccona) is Track 5

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