Why Is America So Content With Mediocrity?
I had intended to write this entire piece and then go back and remove the 'g' from every word that ended in one.
But then I thought that would make me a churlish, smart-arsed, lefty stereotype and alienate the very people I want to try to hear me. (Although I imagine there ain't gonna be many of them readin' the huffpost, huh?! Wait for the audience to realize they should clap and/or boo, nod, smile even more, carry on.) Sorry, I couldn't resist.
Ok, this is basically it: Over the last few weeks I have watched with mounting bemusement as John McCain and Sarah Palin have constantly referred to the American work force as the best in the world, how America is a force for good in the world, how America is the best at (fill in the blank here depending on who you're talkin' to, wait for applause, wink, smile, and on).
You know what? I'm sorry to be blunt, and I wish it were not true, but America isn't any of the above. Its poor downtrodden, unhealthy, under-educated and depressed workforce cannot surely believe it towers above all others in some sort of World Worker Idol type way? If so, why are its bosses firing so many of them and giving the jobs to people in other countries?
And although the notion of America being a force for good is noble and beautiful, the reality of how the world sees America is very different: America is an imperialist power that invades oil and mineral rich countries on little or flimsy evidence, and at the same time turns a blind eye to blatant genocide taking place in other parts of the globe. Perhaps if Ms Palin had a passport before 2007 and had a little less xenophobic viewpoint, she would have experienced, as I have, the terrible sight of American friends of mine being afraid to open their mouths when abroad for fear of reprisal for their nation's 'force of good.' (And I'm not talkin' about scary, rearin' their head places like Russia or Iran. I'm talkin' about in like cool places like London.)
This country is a mess. It is entering a depression. It is waging two wars. It has an administration so blatantly corrupt that the world is baulking at its arrogance. It lets its poor die.
And on top of all this, one of the presidential options available to its voters - although having cynically plagiarized its opponent's keyword of 'change', and positively wearing its flaws and shortcomings as a badge of honor - is actually endorsing the past eight years and playing down the gargantuan problems!
Now I understand that election stump speeches are partly about trying to make people feel better/confident/happy/deluded but I am really shocked that a political party in a country that so trumpets its democracy and freedom is offering its voters such a shoddy product, and WORSE, they are still buying it!! (I thank you, my fellow Americans!)
So why? Is loyalty the value that Republicans vaunt above all others? Above common sense? Are the right of America all colluding in a giant version of the Emperor's New Clothes?
When I encountered a Republican TV pundit at a party in New York last week I reeled off my litany of reasons about why I feel the appointment of Sarah Palin is a disgrace and a terrible blight on America's history, and I was met with a thin smile, a nodding head, maybe even a nascent wink and the line: 'She's learning.'
She's learning? (Gosh yes, she's only been doin' this for, what, five weeks? Smile, shout out to class 3, ignore question, on.)
I actually have so much sympathy right now for the hundreds of Republicans out there somewhere - well intentioned, well-informed, prepared, lucid for goodness' sake - who must be utterly furious that they were overlooked for the VP post. Imagine being a doctor and thinking you're about to be made a partner in the practice and then the receptionist who's a big fan of Grey's Anatomy gets it over you and we're beginning to understand how those poor people must be feeling.
But back to the Republican pundit: I then moved on to say why I thought the policies - the policies, remember those? - of the Obama-Biden ticket were better for America. Again the smile, a little attempt at an argument in that she wasn't sure that all those great ideas could be achieved, to which I responded that yes, in the light of the economic holocaust caused by the greed and corruption that her vote had validated, perhaps these plans might take a little longer to implement now, but didn't she agree with the thrust of them? That crazy, trying to help people who weren't doing so well thing?
She looked at me, a little hurt.
'You're not going to say you're a fiscal conservative, are you?' I asked.
'Actually I was going to say I'm an economic Republican,' she smiled. Checkmate, I could see her thinking. But I wasn't done.
'You know what I think a fiscal conservative or an economic Republican means?' I asked. 'I think it means you are clever enough to agree with the notions of what Obama stands for, you'd love everyone to have access to healthcare and good education and to be treated equally...'
She was nodding slightly now.
'But when it comes down to it, when you're in that polling booth, you actually think 'Screw them' and you vote with your pocket. And I think you use that phrase as an excuse to not care!'
She looked a little taken aback. I thought I might have gone a little too far. But no.
'I love your passion', she said and turned to her colleague. 'We should have him on the show.'
You see, I think that when it comes down to it, American politics is split into people who think it's their duty to care about other people, and those who think it's every man for themselves. That's it. That's why I think the system is systematically flawed and is in dire need of a third party to shake things up a little.
But I digress. I truly think that Americans, some Americans, are comforted by mediocrity. Even those who have been battered the most by the last eight years can be reticent to the idea of change, because they are told to fear it and to leave things as they are, sit down and open a six-pack and forget their troubles. And so, all the more reason to take our hats off to Barack Obama and the Democratic party for making that scary word the touchstone of this election campaign.
I have lived in the United States for ten years. When Obama began his presidential campaign I was so inspired that I decided to start the process to become a naturalized citizen of this country. I am, at present, a resident alien (or green card holder), which basically means I do everything here -including pay taxes - except vote.
I wanted to become a citizen in time to vote on November 4th, but the immigration system of America is a little slower than it was when I first came here and I will not be sworn in properly in time. However, the point is that I want to be a part of America's future, of its potential, because I am fed up with mediocrity.
Obama has a combination that is rare in a modern politician. He has the rhetoric and the charisma to inspire whole swathes of the hitherto dispossessed to engage in the political system. And he has the real-life experience of prejudice and poverty to both understand and make people trust that he understands their needs and his desire to help them. But he also has the intelligence and the sophistication to deal both in big ideas and incredibly detailed plans. His election campaign has been a model of harnessing a generation's desperate desire to be heard and making them integral to the future of our society.
I hear him and he makes me excited about the prospect of being an American, an American that looks out for other Americans, in an America that is indeed a force of good in the world.
(Smile. Wink. Thumbs up. Wave.)
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Yes! you said it well. If other people said it, they'd be hammered, but it's true.
The problem with Palin and McCain in seeing America as too good and perfect, is that they won't do much to improve the country - if they don't see anything wrong to be fixed in the first place. You have to be able to see and identify the problems in order to work on it. Only Obama has promised that.
mediocre narrow flower beds directly in front of a home 75 percent of. homes in USA
Brilliant post! Just remember that there are many of us natural born citizens who think similarly and are just as perplexed.
Yes, indeed. Totally flummoxed as to what the populace has become. When I go to antiwar protests and get called a traitor, I want to weep for the America that used to be.
I feel your pain.
My wife registers voters as a member of the League of Women Voters. Every time she has returned from registering new voters this election cycle, she has told me about the large number of recently (
Alan--as a filmmaker you should recognize the reason: it isn't so much mediocrity as an almost mystical belief in gut instinct over intellect. It's part of the American psyche of the plucky if not-too-bright hero beating the big bad smarty-pants villain, whether it's the Stooges or the Marx Brothers taking down high society, or Rocky Balboa beating too-smart-for-his-own-good (and black) Apollo Creed or Sarah Connor taking out that too-smart-for-his-own-good (and black) computer scientist or Forrest Gump being the salvation of wise-to-the-world "betters."
But the difference here is a classic wolf in sheep clothing.
In this case the "big bad smarty-pants villains" have figured out a way to portray themselves as the "not-too-bright heroes"
While at the same time fooling the masses into believing "Rocky Balboa" is Apollo Creed himself.
You're right, of course. But McCain/Palin tried mightily to frame themselves as the plucky gut-followers--and almost succeeded. Luckily, they weren't very good at maintaining the illusion, which did take hold for a week or two after the Republican convention, but has faded like a bad dream, revealing the ugly truth. Thank goodness.
"I truly think that some Americans are comforted by mediocrity"
Why wouldn't you be?
This country sends all the wrong messages . . . work hard, pay your mortgage, buy a house you can afford . . . get nothing.
Buy an expensive house you know you can't afford, rack up debt, get government help.
The good thing about America is that you have every right to live your life in mediocrity.
The bad t hing about America is that too many choose to do so.
Then the best thing would be for government to reward contributing members of society instead of taking from them to give to those in mediocrity right?
Depends on whether those in the mediocrity group are there by there by choice.
There are plenty of those so-called contributing members of society that are mediocre if not worse.
This was an awesome piece! Soon America will be deserving of your citizenship and after Obama wins the presidency you will realize how great America can truly be.
A real leader is hard to come by these days. Just look at Congress, barely a backbone in the whole lot of them. There will always be mediocrity, but in leaders it is downright dangerous. It's pretty clear Obama has a spine, since he has the gall to point out the flaws with America and even market fundamentalism and still expect to get votes. It's up to the public to make sure he keeps that spine once elected.
"Just look at Congress, barely a backbone in the whole lot of them"
If yuo say barely you must have some that you like . . . care to list them?
up to us to work with our empowerimg leader together. He is not going to do it by himself.
I'm a firm believer that one of the reasons why America isn't the best at anything anymore is because the people in this country are constantly told that they are, even though they aren't.
We're way behind in science
We're behind in medical technology
We're behind in telecommunications.
What kind of car would you rather own? A car from Germany or one from the US? 'Nuff said.
Your watch? It's probably from Switzerland or Japan
Call center workers? Apparently the best ones are in India.
On and on it goes. This country does NOT have the best workers. It does NOT have the best education. It doesn't have the best anything (heck, the Ch!nese would clobber us militarily).
It SHOULD be the best. But it's not. And that's the problem. And step one to fixing that problem is to stop blowing smoke up everybody's tail.
But we DO lead the world in people who believe that humans and dinosaurs co-existed......
We still lead in consumption, co2 production, debt, military spending and other 'healthy' human activities...
America wants it cheap and mediocrity rules.
I loved your post. Sometimes I watch Fox News just to be in touch with what people might be being fed, and it is appalling. Then I come to huffington post for comfort since its a place where rationality hasn't yet been suspended...:)
I completely understand your sentiment of wanting to be a citizen and why. I am currently waiting to be a permanent resident. The first time that I was tempted to even consider becoming a citizen was when Obama started his campaign. I knew I wouldn't get to vote for him, given the time frame, but I would be proud of being a citizen of a country where such a leader was the President. And I don't understand how so many citizens don't get that! (kudos to those who do..:))..Also (couldn't resist), he seems to not just have a vision but also to be able to surround himself with competent people who can get a job done (if his campaign is any indication)
Try "reluctant" or "averse" instead of "reticent", where you use it here. I do not think it means what you think it means.
See John Achoukian's Profile
Americans, as author David Sedaris puts it, are "the trumpeting elephants of the human race. Questions, observations, the location of blisters and rashes – everything is delivered as though it were an announcement." So imagine "trumpeting elephants" in charge of massive weaponry and vast resources, that’s what we've had in the years of George W. Bush, trumpeter in chief. Many of us know this but Voltaire said it best - "It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong." The more us non-trumpeters protest, the more we get called elitist, un-American, foreigner, communist, socialist, traitor, whatever nonsense the trumpeters come up with.
A "trumpeting elephants" speaks without humility, not knowing where the U.S.A. ranks in education, healthcare, science, technology, how many of its citizens vote or anything else. It assumes that the U.S.A. is #1 and that everyone needs to hear it vociferously, no matter how absurd, wrong or insignificant the claim, over and over again to nauseating extremes.
So now it looks like we will have an intelligent leader, in Barack Obama, a non-trumpeter who we can be proud of. We will have someone who listens and thinks and articulates thoughts and concerns. Let's see how the "trumpeting elephants" act after the election and if they're at all capable of changing their ways. I doubt it.
Winning reply, thanks too.
Yes, many Americans do have a tendency to prize mediocrity, and oddly perhaps, it is too often held as a greater virtue than personal achievement or being exceptional.
However, in another strange twist, many of those Americans want the mediocrity they hold dear to be larger than life, and in drenched in Technicolor if possible!
This I believe is the secret of Governor Palin's appeal. Her grotesque, overblown, and very public mediocrity is being worshiped like she's the lucky winner in some weird political version of American Idol.
I believe that Palin's aggressive ordinariness and largely undeserved fame allows those that idolize her to harbor the vain hope that their own otherwise burdensome mediocrity might just get rewarded too someday. But only if they, as proud worshipers of blandness, surrender completely to their own ordinariness and abandon any socially sinful ideas of actually trying to bettering themselves.
Really excellent and unique observation!!
And at the present rate the Republican candidate for President in 2012 will pick a running mate from a national lottery...VP Lotto!
You say: "That's why I think the system is systematically flawed and is in dire need of a third party to shake things up a little."
When a third party presents a real cure rather than more snake oil, its role is more than just shaking things up.
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