Monday, March 1, 2010

Childe Harold's American Roman Holiday






In the post "Drink Me" TStockman noted that Americans have a wide streak of Schadenfreude:






TStockmann said...
Here's something written by Mark Ames in an expat magazine published in Moscow back in 2004:
"But what if the Truth is that Americans don’t want to know the Truth? What if Americans consciously choose lies over truth when given the chance—and not even very interesting lies, but rather the blandest, dumbest and meanest lies? What if Americans are not a likeable people? The left’s wires short-circuit when confronted with this terrible possibility; the right, on the other hand, warmly embraces Middle America’s rank soul and exploits it to their full advantage. The Republicans know Americans better than the left. They know that it’s not so much Goering’s famous “bigger lie” that works here, but the dumber the lie, the more they want to hear it repeated.…If I’m an obese 40-something white male living in Ohio or Nevada, locked into a permanent struggle with foreclosure, child support payments and outsourcing threats, then I’m going to vote for the guy who delivers a big greasy portion of misery to the Sarandon-Robbins dining room table, then brags about it on FoxNews. Even if it means hurting myself in the process."

This is nothing new is it.
Lord Byron attributes the same thing to ancient Rome:


I see before me the Gladiator lie:
He leans upon his hand -- his manly brow
Consents to death, but conquers agony,
And his droop'd head sinks gradually low --
.....
The arena swims around him -- he is gone,
Ere ceased the inhuman shout which hail'd the wretch who won.
.....
He heard it, but he heeded not -- his eyes
Were with his heart, and that was far away;
He reck'd not of the life he lost nor prize,
But where his rude hut by the Danube lay,
There where his young barbarians all at play,
There was their Dacian mother -- he, their sire,
Butcher'd to make a Roman holiday --
....
--George Gordon, Lord Byron
If Lord Byron were writing today about America he would have the same thing to immortalize.

Bread, Blood, and Circus...

3 comments:

drlobojo said...

Song From "Avenue Q":
Gary:
Right now you are down and out
And feelin' really crappy.

Nikki:
I'll say.

Gary:
And when I see how sad you are,
It sorta makes me happy.

Nikki:
Happy?

Gary:
Sorry Nikki.
Human nature-
Nothing I can do.
It's Schadenfreude
Making me feel glad that I'm not you.

Nikki:
Now that's not very nice Gary.

Gary:
I didn't say it was nice,
But everybody does it.
Dya ever clap when a waitress falls
And drops a tray of glasses?

Nikki:
Yea.

Gary:
And ain't it fun to watch figure skaters
Fallin on their asses?

Nikki:
Sure.

Gary:
Don't you feel all warm and cozy
Watching people out in the rain?

Nikki:
You bet.

Gary:
That's

Both:
Schadenfreude.

Gary:
People taking pleasure in your pain.

Nikki:
Oh. Schadenfreude, huh? What's that? Some kind of Nazi word?

Gary:
Yup. It's German for happiness at the misfortune of others.

Nikki:
Happiness at the misfortune of others
That is German!
Watching a vegetarian
Being told she just ate chicken.

Gary:
Or watching a frat boy
Realize just what he put his dick in.

Nikki:
Being on an elevator when somebody
Shouts Hold the door!

Gary:
Oh yea!

Both:
No!
Schadenfreude

Gary:
Fuck you lady!
That's what stairs are for!

Nikki:
Ooh- How about:
Straight A student's getting B's

Gary:
Exes getting STDs

Nikki:
Waking doormen from their naps

Gary:
Watching tourists reading maps

Nikki:
Football players getting tackled

Gary:
CEOs getting shackled

Nikki:
Watching actors never reach

Both:
The ending of their Oscar speech!
Schadenfreude!
Schadenfreude!
Schadenfreude!
Schadenfreude!

Gary:
The world needs people like you and me
Who've been knocked around by fate
Cause when people see us
They don't want to be us
And that makes them feel great

Nikki:
Sure.
We provide a vital service to society.

Both:
You and me!
Schadenfreude
Making the world a better place
Making the world a better place
Making the world a better place to be!

Gary:
S-C-H-A-D-E-N-F-R-E-U-D-E!

TStockmann said...

Ames is a big Byron fan, so you nailed it.

But you're going to keep breaking your heart over the cowardly sadists, eh?

drlobojo said...

Can't seem to quit.
You know every cynic started out as a romantic.