|
The endless debate of libertine ideals vs. Victorian values is tiresome. Both sides have wasted vast amounts of energy on trying to make themselves feel better about their positions. They're certainly not going to persuade each other to seriously consider the opposing view. They're also not really convincing the fence sitters to pick a side either; fence sitting has its own advantages in a universe that supposedly includes some sort of moral compass. I recently made the mistake of picking up a book by a fame-seeking, self-amused, Seattle-based sex-advice columnist. Being temporarily ignorant of his pedigree, I bought the book in the clearance section of Half-Price Books, thinking it could possibly provide an intelligent insight into the apparent moral decline of the United States of America. I was mistaken. It was instead a gleeful, 300-page proclamation of the wonderful sinning that goes on in our country. That last sentence was not delivered in irony; the unabashedly leftist author actually testifies to the verity of the accusations of moral decay put forth by the likes of the Moral Majority. Furthermore, he had the inexplicable temerity and audacity to proudly parade this reprehensible state of affairs across every page, as though he's thumbing his nose at any possible reprisals from life itself, like some spoiled brat. While I won't reveal the title of the book, nor the name of the author, I will contentedly point out that unlike the sixty-one cheerleaders who shelled out the asking price on Amazon.com, I was blessed with the opportunity to purchase this fireplace kindling for a more appropriate one dollar. The cheerleader comment wasn't entirely accurate; not all sixty-one reviewers granted him his desperately-sought five stars. Here is one of the reviews on Amazon.com: "I'm highly suspect of anyone who doesn't enjoy this book. After reading the DaVinci Code, which elegantly disassembled the church, I was delighted to discover this gem, which just as elegantly disassembled the confused, arbitrary, and hypocritical dictums of the extreme right wing and the civic and social complacency of who accept their tired rhetoric without challenge. [Name withheld], has a superior wit, which combined with his keen ability to detect irony and hypocrisy, is not only amusing, it's reassuring. After I finished [title withheld], I felt better about the world knowing that Pat Robertson, William Bennett, and Ann Coulter aren't the only people whose opinions make it to the publishing dinner table. As a cheerleader for philosophy of the John Stuart Mill oeuvre, I'm thrilled that the marketplace of ideas is still churning and, I say optimistically, facilitating the self-destruction of the virtuecrats and their misconceptions. This is a stunning achievement. More than a challenge to the right wing to step up to the plate, this is a checkmate." Hyperbole masked as intelligent and thoughtful commentary; you have to allow the reviewer sufficient respect for at least attempting to sound clever. However, the self-confessed cheerleader isn't really interested in considering balanced facts. Just as those who only feed on conservative commentaries, this person obviously feels a jubilant kinship to anyone who blurts anything disparaging about the classic institutions of the opposition. The stone-throwers lob from both sides; has this not been made clear enough yet? The church was certainly not "elegantly disassembled" by The DaVinci Code; neither were the "confused, arbitrary and hypocritical dictums" of the conservative public voice disassembled by the book that spurred this essay. Despite the obviously resentful Amazon.com reviewer's desire to silence the "virtuecrats," the truth is that the majority of people residing in the United States of America possess an unsinkable sense of entitlement. Entitlement to do whatever they want to do, regardless of social and cultural ramifications. So, in fact, the "tired rhetoric" of the public conservative voices merely serves as a sometimes troubling reminder of what we're doing and where we're heading. Anyone who insists that these voices of reason are a danger to personal liberty is only trying to assuage his or her own guilt. The last time I checked, this country was still a democracy, not a dictatorship, and the rants of entertainers posing as political commentators haven't done much to change minds nor legislation. And a checkmate? Pardon my side-splitting guffaws upon reading that pronouncement. If the book in question is what qualifies as a "stunning achievement," then we are truly blinded by the cult of personality. Enough of that petty nonsense; back to my reason for this essay. Why would I criticize someone (the author of the book in question) for supposedly trying to merely preach 'live and let live?' Amid the pathetic cries of indignation I've heard from the allegedly oppressed, abused and discriminated-against people out there who only want to 'do their own thing,' here comes someone who doesn't even bother trying to dispute our society's proclivity for destructive behaviors. He not only admits that the activities are sins, he celebrates them because they are sins. One has to stare in wonder at someone who sails on a ship that is burning, and instead of grabbing a nearby bucket and trying to douse the flames, or doing something otherwise sensible like abandoning ship, instead takes a can of gas and box of fireworks and tosses it in the midst of the flames. All the while dancing with joy about the liberating beauty of the pyrotechnics. Perhaps the only way remaining to put out the fire is to simply let the ship sink into peaceful silence. Whatever happened to the laughable attempts of the past, such as trying to convince people that the evil Moral Majority et al are only interested in stamping out civil rights, independent thought, individuality, and our sacred right to have fun? Those kinds of transparent hysterics have served the Left well for about three decades. Have many people crossed the lines of these debates and wound up on the other side? You could probably count them on one hand; that's why the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections were so incredibly close in the popular vote. Why did I even bother to write these paragraphs? Because the ludicrous book in question produced in me an utter astonishment, upon the realization that not only does contemporary Western Culture not want to be saved, but instead proudly prefers to allow the hedonistic tenets of the dissolute to poison the future of its progeny. To top it all off with an ironic cherry, most of us actually possess the arrogance to openly laugh at Middle Eastern fundamentalists who refer to us as "The Great Satan." We have long been on the path of least resistance, and we will all, one day, collectively reap the whirlwind for our selfish cowardice. |