It's hard to see Broadway's good points reading this blog, especially when most of the things I describe are negative. Geekhiker's comment on the last post really highlighted the fact that while focusing on the negative aspects of Broadway's "cynicism", I neglected to paint the full picture of his value system.
Just as wealth doesn't trickle down in the so-call trickle-down economics, Broadway's resentment/"cynicism" also do not trickle down from the wealthy. He has little respect for Wallstreet, but has the utmost respect for the "common folk": the janitor, the mailman, the librarian, the cab driver.
It's hard for me to articulate his sense of character and what he considers noble. It's easier to say that generally, he sees money and character as being mutually exclusive, and he has little tolerance for social and cultural ignorance.
On the money issue, his steadfast view is that those with money (lawyers, bankers) and those on their way to making money (snooty 23-year-old consultants) lack character. Doctors are okay because doctors have a tangible role in society. Bankers and consultants just create more evil, in addition to wasting their educations and brain power on things that contribute to society's downfall.
His ostracizing southerners stems from his stereotyping them to be "white-trash" ignorant. He doesn't hate southerners for being southern; he hates southerners because to him, they are the epitome of Big America, white supremacist ignorance. There certainly is a level of hypocrisy in that: his own ignorance and failure to recognize his egregious generalizations and stereotyping. But I do want to make the distinction that Broadway does not judge without a cause. His disdain for southerners is for the same reasons obnoxious American tourists are hated abroad: he sees southerners as being self-absorbed in their own lives of guns and country clubs (and oil), loud yet ignorant of the diverse worldly society outside of their immediate surroundings of tailgates, pickup trucks, and the U-S-of-A.
Yes, he is stereotyping, but no, he does not hate southerners as a people, but rather the characteristics that he associates with them. That generalizations-ridden association is, obviously, debatable.
As for things he does place value in, he is incredibly liberal, as in socialist. He firmly believes in equality for all, social welfare and social justice. He sees no difference between himself and the janitor who comes to empty the trash in his office. He is not above the janitor just because he has an office job and the janitor does not. Taking it one step farther, the janitor is high above the banker because the janitor adds value to society.
Formal education is not important (though good), but social education is. The janitor doesn't need to know correct grammar, but he janitor better not be racist. The banker may be able to run financial math models all day long, but the financial model only serves to make rich corporate America richer, thereby increasing the gap toward achieving social equality. No matter how well the banker is educated, he is by definition ignoble and lacking in social education.
I don't think I've given his value system enough justice and merit here, and I'm not sure I will ever be able to. Ultimately, my gripe with his attitude isn't with his fundamental ideas of value. His values are good and set with the noblest of intentions, even if I haven't been able to fairly and accurately regurgitate them here.
My problem with his attitude is how far he takes those values and insists on them.
Most of us have a healthy dose of reality and point fingers and nay nay at indulgent lifestyles, but we also recognize that not all Wallstreeters are selfish and immoral. As Geekhiker said, we see that the commercialization of Disney World is bad, but we're able to suspend that and thoroughly enjoy a day at the theme park. Walking down the street, we are able to sympathize with the small town lawyer making a living using a huge tacky marquee. Broadway can't sympathize because 1) Kokoras is a lawyer, and 2) Kokoras is a shameless lawyer.
I appreciate his values. I just think that his values are too stringent to be realistic, and I want him to chill out and just roll with things every now and then. I really respect Broadway for his opinions on the world, which actually ties in with Daisy's comment. In a way, now that I've seen the "light of his thinking", I also can't tolerate anything less. Seeking out someone better is something I definitely think about, but when I meet new people, I hold them up to the Broadway values standard, and guys just don't measure up.
I got jealous of my girlfriends this past week because I actually saw in their men the same set of values that Broadway has, but these guys manage to hold those values but still then take them with a grain a salt and recognize the impracticality of strictly abiding by a set of absolute ideals in life.
4 comments:
I don't think I've ever inspired anyone to write such a well-thought post before.
First, I hope I didn't seem overly-critical of Broadway in my comments. I don't pretend to know him or anything like that, and it wasn't my intention at all.
Your post here and your description of him remind me a bit of why I didn't get along so well in San Francisco: I wasn't liberal enough. I tend to live life with the theory that whatever makes people happy is find as long as it isn't hurting someone else; whether or not I'd be comfortable with it is beside the point. Just as an example: if you live in the south and never leave your county and like doing nothing more on the weekends than drink beer on the tailgate, well, who am I to judge? Heck, maybe they live happier lives on a daily basis than I do.
I do see where you're coming from: the problem isn't with Broadway's values; they're fine and even admirable. The problem you're having is with the blanket application of those values. It's a bit unfortunate that his "noble intentions" seems (again, based on my limited perspective) to lead him to write-off whole groups of people (i.e. bankers & lawyers). That may change in time, but how much time that may take is hard to say.
Okay, enough serious stuff: I hope you can get to WDW at some point (watch the kids at the Jedi thing, if they have it there). Get yourself a set of mouse ears too! :)
hey geekhiker, you're exactly right! sf is too liberal for me, but sf is heaven for broadway. and he does write-off entire groups of people, and i'm not sure that'll ever change with time.
i didn't think you were being overly critical at all! it just alerted me to the fact that you all only know what i tell you, and i had only told the parts i was griping about :)
so thank you for actually making me think through the good parts of his value system ... it actually made me feel better about broadway
My ex was just like Broadway. I think it's great to have a strong set of views and values, but the most important thing in this world is open-mindedness.
I can't date extreme liberals at all anymore because they really aren't that liberal at all.
Roxy has an interesting point. Anyone who is "too" liberal is as bad as anyone who is "too" conservative. A really great example of this is some people's manic devotion to Barack Obama, without really understanding what he stands for, because they believe in certain buzzwords.* Everything in moderation. Anyone who cuts down others for their beliefs is, by definition, intolerant.**
*to clarify, I don't support his opponent. Just saying how ironic it is that a lot of people who so strongly advocate his position are in a way, as blind to the message as Christian Conservatives were to Huckabee.
**I might also be more sensitive to this given where I live. There are a lot of people in my town that will brand you one way or another based on your career or political affiliation.
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