The feminist magazine of the early 1970s, Spare Rib, was the focus of a radio interview this week. The guests were the magazine’s founding members, 5 women joiurnalists.
The programme invited us to be impressed with the feat of launching such an original and “ground-breaking” magazine under what were described as very difficult circumstances. For example, the women had to work in an office which had a filthy Hessian carpet littered with mouse droppings and an equally filthy toilet. Wow! Geez! How-did-they-manage-that?
Well, I for one was NOT impressed. Ever heard of bleach or scouring powders for dirty toilets? Of vacuum cleaners for clearing up mouse shit? Of shaking out carpets? Of carpet beaters? Of clourse, this nonsense, as so much does these days on the media, passed without comment from the presenter. And this wow-we-lived-in-filth-and-squalour-and-we’re-proud-of-it is just SO laddish. It’s a lad’s world in which people express pride about living in dirt. It’s a lad’s world, a sick world, when people see lads behaving badly and think it’s admirable; think living in filth and squalour is venerable, think living in filth and squalour is commendable, think living in filth and squalour is funny, think living in filth and squalour is marvellous, think living in filth and squalour is splendid, think living in filth and squalour is courageous, think living in filth and squalour is noble self-sacrifice to a greater cause.
It is another comment on the sickness of our society. All too often, most of the time, in fact, these are passed over and therefore are, to all intents and purposes, advocating or encouraging such sick/bad behaviour. Failure to comment just leaves us all taking it for granted.
Read all my posts. They are cataloguing the symptoms of the sickness of our society. To be specific about that sickness: it is an addiction to power and it is universal.
I think if society is sick today it is due to an addiction of power of small-minded people. I don’t see much bad about seeking power, but the frivolity of most of those who have it is so lame that it’s wrong. People can be so unimaginative with power. Many are tired of this but don’t think to do anything much about it. “Don’t be a lawyer, lawyers are liars who play tricky word games.” or “Don’t go into politics, it’s full of two-faced crooks.” Maybe that’s exactly why a good, intelligent person should go into law or politics, or public policy or international affairs – to change the game. Or, “Don’t be a scientist, scientists are pretentious, rigid, narrow and territorial.” Maybe one shouldn’t write off the concept of science altogether, but think of how science can be better. Just my thoughts.
You have to know how power works: it is a drug. It is highly addictive. Lord of the Rings has the right of it: Gandalf is a good wizard. However, he will not even touch the Ring. When Frodo tries to give it to him , he gets angry and backs off. He says: you have tom understand that I would take the Ring intending to do good with it, but through me it would wield a power more terrible…etc. That is it. The Ring stands for power, and no matter your intention, you try to use power, even for good, and you succumb to the drug, and the power uses you i.e. like any drug addict, you loose all control of yourself; the drug controls you.
Certainly what passes for love in our society is about power and very little to do with genuine love. When something is so highly emotional as love in our society is, then you can be sure something is amiss.
