Sunday 22 May 2011

The need of a dream



I'm not going to start pulling out numbers about the Royal wedding, nor talk about the 2,2 billion people who watched it on television- as we are all sick of the countless pictures and articles about the pretty couple. I would like to take it as a starting point for  reflection, however. 
I do admit, with slight embarrassment, that I  associate and include myself, with the charmed, moved crowd. Critics say it is a largely commercial, hypocritical event and everyone seems to have a word on the matter, but let's not deny it - we all need a piece of fairy tale in life.

I wish more governments invested in positive examples - in philosophy, in arts, in sports. There was much hype around Amy Chua's 2011 book about her tough parenting methods and the hours of piano practicing she inflicted every day on her 7 years old daughter Lulu. But the Chinese "Tiger Mothers" are just one example of how some cultures are educating their future generations.

This is something that cannot yet be said about our capitalistic, western world. Population's role models can be found in vulgar reality shows (not only the Big Brother, but also shows like the Only Way Is Essex, or the American Jersey Shore - an hymn to ignorance and impoliteness), it's heroes are football players and its biggest aspirations become those of having a bigger house, the latest fashion item or a faster car. Their end goal is consumption and their real God to the "Sir Money". 

I don't consider this a negative fact: ambition to have a better life is totally legitimate and a motor for growth. 
What is unacceptable about today's society is that rulers and self-made millionaires sometimes allow themselves to praise the fact that they have managed to succeed without having ever read a book or been any good at reading or writing. They actually offer their ignorance as a proof of their more serious devotion to the art of making money. 


Today's socially important characters have little to do with the citizens of mark of the Princes of Italian Renaissance or the Age of Enlightenment, who were as able to rule a nation as to compose poetry, play the flute or know history in-depth. I am unsure of how many modern politicians could defend the category nowadays, Sarah Palin isn't one of them.



Great Britain's royal wedding not only was a celebration of love, the religious rite and the tradition of marriage - it has given us a glimpse back to a time where well manners, decent dresses and formal kind gestures were a standard. Maybe an inspiration to look back to the centuries and dream of higher standards in terms of culture and education, a brighter future than just a dry, plain money making process that works in the short term - until the Tiger Mom's multi-talented children grow up.

16 comments:

  1. very deep......it's everywhere like this. money is the root of all evil...and being a person with values in a society without morality and CONSCIENCELESS to get to the top and to achieve richness...sometimes get frustrating ...but talent and effort reach the goals anyway i guess and hope. :D Kalief

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  3. I agree with everything you say, apart from your glorious idea of the past.
    Where is this time of well manners, decent dressed and formal gestures?
    The Age of Enlightenment, French or Italian culture, they all happened ..in the real world , how can I say...there have always been rude, ignorant, money oriented people. Maybe they were less exposed (they didn't have reality shows and all the cr*p), but even though history remembers the good part, sure there was a huge bad part too.

    I agree that the media can help enormously in shaping next generations, for my part I don't watch television at all, and I mean it.
    But the world was always a jungle ; I am not sure people were happier before :)

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  4. mp3 - follower23 May 2011 at 03:45

    .. and you Xenia... your wedding ?

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  5. Wow, what you wrote there is very remarkable! I certainly agree with what you wrote (the parts where you expressed your opinion). It's nice to have something like the Royal Wedding every now and then. An event, as you mentioned, which is fairy-tale like. But, what I don't like about it is the fact that sometimes young girls and boys become over-consumed with the idea of royalty and they start wanting to become like them...

    And then the heart-breaking dissappointment that their chances are next to zero...


    -Josh Sabra

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  6. ICH WEISS, DASS ICH NICHTS WEISS von Sokrates ist ein Paradoxon wie das Leben selbst

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  7. lets get rid of the money so we'd all be rich! .. nice thoughts .. but well manners, decent dresses and formal kind gestures isn't everything .. its nice but mostly its fake .. i miss the share and care .. the love for one another and the realness ...

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  8. While everyone else was watching the wedding, I just hit record on the TV and went shopping. Nice and quiet, although I'm not sure as a tax payer I'm keen on funding it. Most of the UK cabinet went to Oxbridge so may be Palin is more representative of her electorate.

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  9. Yeah right, i remember the royal wedding took place recently ..

    Love the way Kate smiled when Will said "For Richer or Poorer"... Like "Poorer" is ever gonna happen ...

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  10. sei bellissima! sembri angelina jolie, bionda :-)
    eri amica della ferragni vero?

    baci

    http://theshabbylabels.blogspot.com/

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  11. do you think in italian?

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  12. Well, let's be fair: you have a great understanding of many world affairs. You write well, your arguments make sense.

    In a nutshell: you are interested in the art of thinking and are quite efficient in it - at least so far.

    But, let's be fair: would all these thoughts be worth if you were ugly or if there was not any grand production behind your words? Would these words be of any value to anyone without the fairy tale of the intelligent princess supporting them?

    I'm not trying to be rude or anything. These are legitimate questions. I suppose you probably spent some time thinking about them.

    P.S: True, we all need at least a little bit of Platonism in our lives - or "fairy tales" as you called it. False, image is and always was very important in life. For the purpose of making an impression in the social environment, one needs not to be good - one needs to make others think one is good.

    P.S.2: if you want to extend this conversation, post your e-mail somewhere. But only if you want.

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  13. Très belle célébration, j'espère juste que ça aurait rien changé dans leur couple s'il n'y avait pas eut tous ces médias autour!

    Je suis certain que l'amour n'a pas besoin de tout ça, toutes les richesses ne sont pas d'argent, de gloire et de pouvoir ;)

    Simon Denervaud

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  14. I agree with everything you say all so. The Royal weding was an importan event because the royal family is a very important national simbol. Kate and William are not important as persons but as simbols. All in al it was a wandeful event.
    About our world - it is money orietated but it is normal. It is a free worl you can make your own choses in life important is to be happy not to be frustated. Amny are off course important. Wen you have it it doesn,t seem much thing but sometimes it is so dificut to make some money even if you wark hard.
    About rich football players it normal that they are rich becouse of the publicity and television. It not very fare may be for others sportsman that doesn earn so much even that they are autstanding atlets. There are many fooball players that didn,t win anything in 2010-2011 not in internal competitions neither in champoins legue but the still earn milions of euro. Thats life.
    About the gorgeus women like you and maney hmmm.
    All the gorgeous women that I now well they sed the same thing saving planet eart, again polutions etc, saving children of africa etc etc.
    But they 90 % of them have SUV or Ferrari or Lamborghini with masive 12 cylinders engines and they have rich boyfriends usualy famous footballs players , or very, very rich bissenis man more or less onest. It is all so normal the fact that they have rich partners and that wen they sed wen asked the ,, saving planet " bla , bla.
    Not seyng that you are the same all indicates that you are decent, responsable person.
    About the renessance, many sieciest the were not policians , they stayed close to theme they wre patronet by them , that was the sisten back then. it throw that the spiritual level was much haierin those times.
    Regards.

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  15. Hmm you're working for JPM you're sponsored by Casino Lugano, until bartering returns it looks like we're all slaves to Sir Money like it or not.

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  16. When self-made millionaires say they didn't go to college/university, they are not showing off 'ignorance.' They are just saying how hard it was for them to reach their goals. Not everyone can afford university tuition. Some people skip college out of necessity eg you have a child to take care of or an elderly person to look after. You shouldn't pass snap judgments on them just because of their unconventional background, I also think the criticism about a culture fixated on moneymaking is misplaced. Moneymaking is the great equaliser in life - Goldman Sach's CEO had to go through poverty and despair to end up where he is today.
    Moneymaking is a measure of how much a person contributes to society(some jobs are overpriced, of course, say footballers.) Moneymaking is about real life - Arnold Schwarzenegger may brag that he is just as happy as when he was a few million dollars poorer but that's because he doesn't have to worry about utility bills or loan repayments. People who have surpassed a certain threshold - where they have a cushion of disposable income - report they have experienced no difference in happiness by the amount of money they make. The picture is entirely different if you come from a ghetto, live on food stamps, and don't have enough to buy groceries. People do not want money for money's sake, To many, money promises a better life, a way out of trouble. And what could possibly be wrong with that? So long as people are prepared to work for it, their want for money is justified. I also think it's questionable that you have to play the flutes or imitate the lifestyle of the royal family to join the ranks of the civilised or the dignified. You can tone down the lifestyle and keep less of a decorum and still maintain decency. You can play basketball(Obama still does) and you can live in a modest home(Warren Buffett does) and still be counted among the most dignified. Last of all, I wonder if Xenia considers the fashion industry as a dignified or classy industry. I have a suspicion that it's about teasing people's senses and making money in the process.

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