Here is a cool quote:
What is a civilization, rightly considered? Morally, it is the evil passions repressed, the level of conduct raised; spiritually, idols cast down, God enthroned; materially, bread and fair treatment for the greatest number. That is the common formula, the common definition; everybody accepts it and is satisfied with it.
Our civilization is wonderful, in certain spectacular and meretricious ways; wonderful in scientific marvels and inventive miracles; wonderful in material inflation, which it calls advancement, progress, and other pet names; wonderful in its spying-out of the deep secrets of Nature and its vanquishment of her stubborn laws; wonderful in its extraordinary financial and commercial achievements; wonderful in its hunger for money, and in its indifference as to how it is acquired; wonderful in the hitherto undreamed-of magnitude of its private fortunes and the prodigal fashion in which they are given away to institutions devoted to the public culture; wonderful in its exhibitions of poverty; wonderful in the surprises which it gets out of that great new birth, Organization, the latest and most potent creation and miracle-worker of the commercialized intellect, as applied in transportation systems, in manufactures, in systems of communication, in news-gathering, book-publishing, journalism; in protecting labor; in oppressing labor; in herding the national parties and keeping the sheep docile and usable; in closing the public service against brains and character; in electing purchasable legislatures, blatherskite Congresses, and city governments which rob the town and sell municipal protection to gamblers, thieves, prostitutes, and professional seducers for cash. It is a civilization which has destroyed the simplicity and repose of life; replaced its contentment, its poetry, its soft romance-dreams and visions with the money-fever, sordid ideals, vulgar ambitions, and the sleep which does not refresh; it has invented a thousand useless luxuries, and turned them into necessities; it has created a thousand vicious appetites and satisfies none of them; it has dethroned God and set up a shekel in His place.
- Mark Twain, “Papers of the Adam Family”
As I've read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, different questions about society permeated my mind and how what our society says may be right/wrong. Twain's quote eloquently explains what is wrong with society, and even the concept of what Westerners consider society to be. While I disagree with the concept of "sheeple", I do agree with many of the concerns Twain presents.
Twain presents an argument for society that many pseudo-white supremacists (who don't really realize they are) also employ. This argument consists largely of saying "look at all the invention/ideas that white people have brought", but then saying the actions of their ancestors are not their fault, and they can't be held accountable for their ancestors actions. The problem here is not simply wrong facts (some are correctly attributed the cultures that developed them, others are misappropriated), but a poor perception of their own (often internalized) racism. Sadly, since the civil rights movement, there has been a denial (amongst white people) that racism can exist without someone actively making the choice to be an oppressor, and be racist, which simply is not true. Racism stretches far beyond active discrimination. Racism is a social presence that is far more complex than white people shouting that they hate POC and using racial slurs. Racism is prevalent in American society, and sadly, there is often a refusal amongst white people to admit this flaw. Some arguments claim that if we ignore racism, it will go away, and by acknowledging race, we are keeping racism alive. While this argument is correct that race is a social construct, in order to fix it, you can't ignore it. If someone is being stabbed, ignoring it won't change that they are being stabbed. Essentially, the thought here is childish, literally (and I'm using literally correctly, if you'll bear with me). Small children find peek-a-boo enjoyable because they lack the idea of object permanence, meaning that when an object leaves their senses, it no longer exists. While the thought here with ignoring racism does have some merit (it's not entirely foolish), the logic is deeply flawed. White people today tend to engage in another form of racism: criticizing black culture. While individuals are not targeted, this is actually the main idea which brought racism into power in the first place, which is scary. The thought here is that black culture in the US is "primal" or not as "advanced" as white culture, ranging from rap to AAVE , which it simply isn't true. Sadly, our idea of proper English also reflects this classist and racist ideal, and while some aspects of "proper" English do allow for clearer communication, most of AAVE is criticized for using alternative conjugations and syntax. While some aspects of AAVE are less effective than "proper" English, AAVE provides more accurate assessments in shorter words in many cases, as well as new ideas that cannot be expressed easily in what many consider proper vernacular English. I'm not advocating that scientific journals and essays should be written in something other than proper English, but I believe the definition of proper English, which's goal should be to deliver the most accurate and concise messages in speaking and writing, should be reevaluated and checked for racist and classist influences, and perhaps (moreso in the speaking realm) broadened. (Let's not forget Dickens uses very proper English in his writings and that definitely is confusing, and certainly is not concise) Update: I realized this sounds as if I am advocating for AAVE to be used the rhetorical speaking, and while I do mean that to a small degree, it is vernacular, and should be treated as such. The point here is that societal perception among white folks should be changed to place all the various vernacular forms on the same level of "civilized" or whatever, and white folks vernacular speech should not be equated to "proper" English. Also, I am not saying all black people within America utilize AAVE, nor do white people utilize the same vernacular speech.
And don't even get me started on the idea of "reverse racism".
Moving from racism, another aspect of Twain's quote that intrigued me was the bit about why our inventions are created. While inventions today sometimes do seek to better society, often, our materialistic capitalism forces the inventions to be seen as nothing more than opportunity for profit. Even such harmless innovations such as new memes on the Internet have increasingly faded out of vogue quicker and quicker, largely due to companies hoping for a quick buck attempting to shove the meme down everyone's throats through merchandising. Twain brings to light that Intellect itself has been commercialized, which I agree with. Our school system follows the basic industrial model intended to prepare children to be factory workers, which is clearly not what most are doing. However, I will say for the most part we have successfully reformed, most of school, but especially in high schools, the experience of American education is designed to streamline capitalism. The countless standardized tests and grades that our education are reduced to are largely to ease college's part when deciding whether or not to accept students to their colleges, which exist largely to supply degrees, which exist largely to ensure high paying (or at least desired) jobs, which exist largely to pay off the expenses associated with living in American society. People who call this college system a new slavery are overstepping their bounds, since I'm doubtful they know what slavery is really like (but neither do I, so...), but their is a sort of coercive system at play here, which becomes even more ugly when the college loan system is added into the equation. (if you really want a new slavery, besides the actual slavery in the world today, our prison system can get a little fishy...)
Political parties. Recently, a news anchor was fired for analyzing this point on air. The discussion over political parties has been polarized, due to our two party system, and I agree that national parties often only serve themselves, rarely the ideals they claim to stand for. The point the news anchor brought up was that the parties really only existed to serve the powerful, whether or not they claimed to advocate for the less fortunate, even if the individuals within the party were idealistic, because of how American politics operate. Twain also saw then precursors to lobbying, with politicians being bought. Lobbying arguably has led to an end of democracy in America, and instead, a corporatocracy or oligarchy is closer to what we have become, even with (maybe) most citizens able to vote. Princeton recently (relatively) did a study which concluded that America was closer to an oligarchy than to democracy. While I disagree with the sentiment involved with sheeple, I do agree that the two party system often leads to distraction from finding solutions, or simply the problems.
Huckleberry Finn deals with racism, society, and morals as a whole. It is an interesting time to have read this book, with the protests and demonstrations being held not only across the US, but in solidarity across the world, in response to the acts of violence that have been taken out by police on unarmed black men. Mike Brown, Tamir Rice, and Eric Garner were among the very recent to have met their demise, without receiving justice for their deaths. For years, there have been different protests on a smaller level, but I think we could be witnessing what is the beginning of a second wave of the civil rights movement (sadly, in some ways), with this one focusing on the cultural and societal perceptions more heavily than only legal. I am outraged by the injustice that has repeatedly occurred, and the fact that I am not downright afraid reflects my own privilege.
Twain presents an argument for society that many pseudo-white supremacists (who don't really realize they are) also employ. This argument consists largely of saying "look at all the invention/ideas that white people have brought", but then saying the actions of their ancestors are not their fault, and they can't be held accountable for their ancestors actions. The problem here is not simply wrong facts (some are correctly attributed the cultures that developed them, others are misappropriated), but a poor perception of their own (often internalized) racism. Sadly, since the civil rights movement, there has been a denial (amongst white people) that racism can exist without someone actively making the choice to be an oppressor, and be racist, which simply is not true. Racism stretches far beyond active discrimination. Racism is a social presence that is far more complex than white people shouting that they hate POC and using racial slurs. Racism is prevalent in American society, and sadly, there is often a refusal amongst white people to admit this flaw. Some arguments claim that if we ignore racism, it will go away, and by acknowledging race, we are keeping racism alive. While this argument is correct that race is a social construct, in order to fix it, you can't ignore it. If someone is being stabbed, ignoring it won't change that they are being stabbed. Essentially, the thought here is childish, literally (and I'm using literally correctly, if you'll bear with me). Small children find peek-a-boo enjoyable because they lack the idea of object permanence, meaning that when an object leaves their senses, it no longer exists. While the thought here with ignoring racism does have some merit (it's not entirely foolish), the logic is deeply flawed. White people today tend to engage in another form of racism: criticizing black culture. While individuals are not targeted, this is actually the main idea which brought racism into power in the first place, which is scary. The thought here is that black culture in the US is "primal" or not as "advanced" as white culture, ranging from rap to AAVE , which it simply isn't true. Sadly, our idea of proper English also reflects this classist and racist ideal, and while some aspects of "proper" English do allow for clearer communication, most of AAVE is criticized for using alternative conjugations and syntax. While some aspects of AAVE are less effective than "proper" English, AAVE provides more accurate assessments in shorter words in many cases, as well as new ideas that cannot be expressed easily in what many consider proper vernacular English. I'm not advocating that scientific journals and essays should be written in something other than proper English, but I believe the definition of proper English, which's goal should be to deliver the most accurate and concise messages in speaking and writing, should be reevaluated and checked for racist and classist influences, and perhaps (moreso in the speaking realm) broadened. (Let's not forget Dickens uses very proper English in his writings and that definitely is confusing, and certainly is not concise) Update: I realized this sounds as if I am advocating for AAVE to be used the rhetorical speaking, and while I do mean that to a small degree, it is vernacular, and should be treated as such. The point here is that societal perception among white folks should be changed to place all the various vernacular forms on the same level of "civilized" or whatever, and white folks vernacular speech should not be equated to "proper" English. Also, I am not saying all black people within America utilize AAVE, nor do white people utilize the same vernacular speech.
And don't even get me started on the idea of "reverse racism".
Moving from racism, another aspect of Twain's quote that intrigued me was the bit about why our inventions are created. While inventions today sometimes do seek to better society, often, our materialistic capitalism forces the inventions to be seen as nothing more than opportunity for profit. Even such harmless innovations such as new memes on the Internet have increasingly faded out of vogue quicker and quicker, largely due to companies hoping for a quick buck attempting to shove the meme down everyone's throats through merchandising. Twain brings to light that Intellect itself has been commercialized, which I agree with. Our school system follows the basic industrial model intended to prepare children to be factory workers, which is clearly not what most are doing. However, I will say for the most part we have successfully reformed, most of school, but especially in high schools, the experience of American education is designed to streamline capitalism. The countless standardized tests and grades that our education are reduced to are largely to ease college's part when deciding whether or not to accept students to their colleges, which exist largely to supply degrees, which exist largely to ensure high paying (or at least desired) jobs, which exist largely to pay off the expenses associated with living in American society. People who call this college system a new slavery are overstepping their bounds, since I'm doubtful they know what slavery is really like (but neither do I, so...), but their is a sort of coercive system at play here, which becomes even more ugly when the college loan system is added into the equation. (if you really want a new slavery, besides the actual slavery in the world today, our prison system can get a little fishy...)
Political parties. Recently, a news anchor was fired for analyzing this point on air. The discussion over political parties has been polarized, due to our two party system, and I agree that national parties often only serve themselves, rarely the ideals they claim to stand for. The point the news anchor brought up was that the parties really only existed to serve the powerful, whether or not they claimed to advocate for the less fortunate, even if the individuals within the party were idealistic, because of how American politics operate. Twain also saw then precursors to lobbying, with politicians being bought. Lobbying arguably has led to an end of democracy in America, and instead, a corporatocracy or oligarchy is closer to what we have become, even with (maybe) most citizens able to vote. Princeton recently (relatively) did a study which concluded that America was closer to an oligarchy than to democracy. While I disagree with the sentiment involved with sheeple, I do agree that the two party system often leads to distraction from finding solutions, or simply the problems.
Huckleberry Finn deals with racism, society, and morals as a whole. It is an interesting time to have read this book, with the protests and demonstrations being held not only across the US, but in solidarity across the world, in response to the acts of violence that have been taken out by police on unarmed black men. Mike Brown, Tamir Rice, and Eric Garner were among the very recent to have met their demise, without receiving justice for their deaths. For years, there have been different protests on a smaller level, but I think we could be witnessing what is the beginning of a second wave of the civil rights movement (sadly, in some ways), with this one focusing on the cultural and societal perceptions more heavily than only legal. I am outraged by the injustice that has repeatedly occurred, and the fact that I am not downright afraid reflects my own privilege.