Modern Eloquence

I didn't mean for this to be the next thing I wrote about in this blog. In fact, I actually had a couple other ideas fairly fleshed out in my head. However, this has taken over my interest today so I'm writing it immediately. This means with only minimal research so beware, and feel free to post any relevant findings you may have in the comments.

Today, as I was clicking around various political/new-related links posted by friends and follows on Facebook and Twitter, I came across this article: Teddy Roosevelt on the Estate Tax, 100 Years Ago.

It's definitely worth a read, especially since it's very short. I agree with TR wholeheartedly, but I'm actually not interested in discussing the estate tax. What I'm thinking about today is a question I've heard from many of my young politically-minded friends; that is, "Why do historical figures sound so much more eloquent than modern people?" Usually, I dismiss it because it tends to fall under the category of "Things were so much better back in [some arbitrary time]." However, I think there may be a case to be made that speech in political rhetoric is far less eloquent than it used to be.

Here's a sample of Teddy's speech, if you happened to not click on the link (jerk):

We grudge no man a fortune in civil life if it is honorably obtained and well used. It is not even enough that it should have been gained without doing damage to the community. We should permit it to be gained only so long as the gaining represents benefit to the community … The really big fortune, the swollen fortune, by the mere fact of its size, acquires qualities which differentiate it in kind as well as in degree from what is possessed by men of relatively small means. Therefore, I believe in a graduated income tax on big fortunes, and … a graduated inheritance tax on big fortunes, properly safeguarded against evasion, and increasing rapidly in amount with the size of the estate.

The reason I think this is a fairly good example is that this speech isn't particularly flowery. TR meant for this speech to be accessible to his audience (which was probably less literate than a modern one) and there aren't a whole lot of "big words" in it. To modern folk it may present a challenge, but only because some words aren't used as commonly anymore. We probably wouldn't say that something "by the mere fact of its size, acquires qualities which differentiate it in kind..." Rather, a politician might say "Extreme wealth is inherently different from middle-class savings because..." or a regular person might just say "Having lots of money is different from living paycheck-to-paycheck because..."

However, even these examples are hard to come up with because I find it unlikely that anyone would talk about these issues in this way. This is why it seems to me that our standards for eloquence in rhetoric have declined. TR was making an argument for something he believed in: progressive income and estate taxes to fund social initiatives like child labor laws and minimum wage laws for women. The words are less accessible now but, for people who understand it, the point becomes wonderful and reasonable rather than just an opinion and I don't think our current language is incapable of doing this.

Why is this the case? Well, first, it should be said that we definitely ascribe heavier meaning to archaic sounding speech. And why shouldn't we? It makes sense that only the most significant (inspired, blasphemous, prejudiced) examples survive to be remembered. This is why we don't have quotes from Thomas Jefferson which describe what he ate for breakfast.

One of the big reasons, I think, that things have changed is that pernicious concept of objectivity. In the '90s especially it became very important for talking heads on the 24-hour news channels to never voice anything that could be construed as an opinion. "Are there WMDs in Iraq?" became irrelevant because the Democrats said the answer was "no" so, therefore, it must be an opinion. This being the case, it's not that our language doesn't contain that amount of meaning and passion, it's that opinions aren't worth defending anymore because they're just the counter to someone else's opinion which we have no interest in debating. People, maybe, have become so entrenched in their ideas that taking the time to persuade someone is a waste when you could just yell louder or come up with a more convincing graphic.

These are all the unorganized thoughts I have for today's topic. Let me know what you think. Maybe my next creative project will be taking a political opinion I feel strongly about and trying to write a similarly-eloquent speech explaining my point-of-view. I encourage you to do the same.

Finding Meaning

So, this is my new blog. I don't consider it a wholly new blog, but rather the next iteration of my previous one, Gratis and Libre. Nevertheless, here's a whole new description of what you'll find here.

Whereas G&L was mostly a place for me to explore academic concepts Finding Meaning will probably tend to have a more general and, at times, abstract focus. As G&L was to my academic exploration, FM will be (I hope) to the exploration of this new stage in my life. Most of the content over at G&L was the result of my experience as an occasionally successful six-year college student. Here at FM, the content will result from my experience as a recent graduate who is still looking for his calling while also focusing on developing my creativity (mostly in writing and sometimes in visual art), which has been hitherto ignored (by myself).

I chose the name "Finding Meaning" for its abstract connotation which, hopefully, will mirror the focus of this blog. It also refers to the impulse that (presumably) all of us have to find meaning in the experiences we have which, I think, is particularly strong, for most, at this stage in their lives. Some things I'd like to write about include analyses of books, songs, musical artists and even more general experiences, thoughts, and feelings I come across day-to-day as well as more personal pieces of creative writing. An example of this would be my last post, which I'll soon import along with selected others, on Gratis and Libre, entitled "Reflections on a Mirror -- 07.09.2010" which was, appropriately, a sort of free-form reflection while looking at a the large mirror I had recently bought for my room. I hope the majority of posts won't be so introspective, but rather will what meaning I find in all these things which are seemingly disconnected.

Really quickly, the url for this blog, threewindowsfacingwest, is a simple reference to my room in the apartment I share which has three windows (all on one wall) which all face west. It just seemed adequately noncommittal. I'll probably write most of my posts here, but whatever.

For now, that description will have to suffice and, hopefully, the theme of this blog will become more clear as I continue to post. Posts may be infrequent as I've never been good about schedules or doing things if I think I "should" do them frequently. This time, I'm just going to be content with the infrequency and we'll see where things go.

Finally, as a way of consecrating this thing, I'll end with a quote from Richard Linklater's film, Waking Life, which I'll probably reference pretty frequently and may even discuss, on its own, at some point. Like the character I'm quoting, I hope that this blog is or becomes "see-worthy" and "an extension of my personality" in the same way as he describes his boat-car.

"'So, what do you think of my little vessel? She's what we call "see-worthy." S-E-E. See with your eyes. I feel like my transport should be an extension of my personality. Voila. And this? This is like my little window to the world, and every minute's a different show. Now, I may not understand it. I may not even necessarily agree with it. But, I'll tell you what, I accept it and just sort of glide along.

You wanna keep things on an even keel, I guess, is what I'm saying. You wanna go with the flow. The sea refuses no river. The idea is to remain in a state of constant departure while always arriving. Saves on introductions and good-byes. The ride does not require an explanation; just

occupants. That's where you guys come in.

It's like you come onto this planet with a crayon box. Now, you may get the 8-pack, you may get the 16-pack, but it's all in what you do with the crayons, the colors, that you're given. And don't worry about drawing within the lines or coloring outside the lines. I say color outside the lines, you know what I mean? Color right off the page! Don't box me in! We're in motion to the ocean. We are not landlocked, I'll tell ya that! So, where do you want out?...'"

-DJP

Reflections on a Mirror -- 07.09.2010

Do you ever see your own reflected image in a mirror and wonder what made the person you see before you? One morning, in early September, such a thought occurred to me. In a new apartment, looking in a new mirror, I came to wonder at the young man in front of me. Dressed in plain clothes very much after the manner of many young men my age: a slightly-too-small v-neck undershirt, distressed jeans, an old sun-faded baseball hat and glasses with thick, black frames. Just yesterday, and yet across a vast gulf of time, it seemed I was wishing for spiky hair in elementary school, or shunning jeans in favor of khaki slacks to set myself apart in high school, or wearing Converse All-Stars day-in and day-out as a reserved freshman in college.

Only 23 years, 9 months and 18 days have I counted and, yet, the history of my life already seems vast and beginning to lose its clarity in the hazy reflection of memory. So many choices, both willful and unintentional, brought me thus along this path. Some decisions which, at their time, seemed unbearably important and over which I spent untold hours weighing, contemplating, and worrying, have now faded into obscurity, near to irrelevance. I would say 'irrelevance' without qualification, if it weren't for the eerily-subtle complexity with which choices affect our lives. Conversely, some judgments and decisions which, at the time, I paid no more heed than the choice of "soup or salad?" have altogether ruled my intervening years and continue to dominate my actions.

In my current, reflective state-of-mind, I feel overwhelmed by a dual feeling of helplessness and terrifying freedom. The feeling of helplessness, to my mind, comes from the seemingly-impossible task of discerning what choices will lead me to the life I desire to live and which choices will never again trouble my mind, either in reflection or in memory. Freedom, it seems, comes from the vast possibilities that lay before me, even if I cannot know for certain that my decisions will lead me to those that I prefer.

Truly, my first 23 years, 9 months and 18 days have been very formative but, with any luck, my life is less than one-third over. I am at but the mid-morning of my years; sometimes feeling as though I am just arriving to have brunch with this person I've become after a lazy morning of sleeping-in and, at other times, feeling very hungry and ready for lunch after rising to an early breakfast and a morning full of toil.

Almost, I am paralyzed with despair at the seeming-futility of decision and indecision. What strange mysteries and surprises, joys and sorrows, await me in the early afternoon? The evening? At dusk? Or in the nighttime? Words written by Tolkien come to mind: "'How shall a man judge what to do in such times?'" So said Éomer to Aragorn in Book Three of The Lord of the Rings. The answer: "'As he ever has judged,' said Aragorn. 'Good and ill have not changed since yesteryear, nor are they one thing among Elves and Dwarves and another among Men. It is a man's part to discern them, as much in the Golden Wood as in his own house.'"

To this, a small part of myself responds; perhaps, that part of every person that drives them forth. That small part seems nourished and renewed by the endless possibilities, and even by the blindness with which I make every decision. Although an illusion Free Will may be, I still desire and struggle to be the master of my own destiny. I think everyone does, in his or her own ways.

Finally, I'll end with words from Richard Linklater's film entitled Waking Life. Words which I seem to carry with me wherever I go.

"The quest is to be liberated from the negative, which is really our own will to nothingness. And once having said yes to the instant, the affirmation is contagious. It bursts into a chain of affirmations that knows no limit. To say yes to one instant is to say yes to all of existence."