How the GOP Uses the Tragic LA Fires for Political Gain & Trump Wants to Add Greenland, the Panama Canal, and Canada to U.S.
What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: This quote from A Complete Unknown asks a profound question about the complicated relationship between artists and their audiences.
How the Trump Cabal Lied About the LA Fires to Gain Political Points: A time of human misery is the best time to throw dangerous and unproven accusations at political enemies.
Trump refuses to rule out use of military force to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal: Just when the world thought it was safe from imperialism…
Kareem’s Video Break: I had never heard of a galago before. Now that I’ve watched this video a bunch of times, I can’t get over what I’ve missed.
Einstein’s 7 rules for a better life: Being a genius in physics doesn’t necessarily make him an expert on life. But turns out, he may also be a genius in that.
Kareem’s Sports Moments: Ever heard of teqball? Once you watch this you’ll want to see more.
Patricia Brennan Plays Improvised Vibraphone: This beautiful improvisation on the vibraphone is what jazz is all about.
Kareem’s Daily Quote
“Everyone asks where the songs come from, Sylvie. But if you watch their faces, they’re not asking where the songs come from. They’re asking why the songs didn’t come to them.”
Bob Dylan’s character in A Complete Unknown (script by James Mangold and Jay Cocks)
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve given a lot of thought to this startling line of dialogue from A Complete Unknown. At first, it seems like a comment on being an artist and how people always ask writers where their ideas come from. I’ve been asked that on occasion myself. Writers don’t understand the question because the answer is so obvious. We observe behavior, think about what that behavior means, and why that behavior happens, and put our conclusions into a work that we hope shines a light on all human behavior. When it’s done right, the audience is entertained and enlightened. Having their own vague thoughts and jumbled emotions articulated so accurately and powerfully is like lifting a weighty burden from the audience. If only they could do the same thing, their burden would be forever lightened.
But they can’t. I can write, but I can’t play jazz on an instrument. To experience the thrills, the moods, and the exaltation I get from jazz, I have to put on a record (or listen to my playlist). Same with visual arts, poetry, and other art forms I love, but can’t do. But I appreciate those who can create the masterpieces that lift my spirits daily.
In general, the best artists and greatest heroes do something that others can’t (or won’t do). We admire them for that, we elevate them into the stratosphere, sometimes to cult status, like billionaires Beyoncé and Taylor Swift. Few believe they aren’t deserving of their success.
But there is a mania loose in our society where so many people are pursuing celebrity rather than artistry. In other words, they want to be famous for doing nothing. Reality TV and social media have encouraged people to strive, not for greatness, but for recognition. They will even settle for notoriety, engaging in the most cruel, inhumane, and self-degrading behavior just to have people recognize them on the street. It doesn’t matter why they recognize them, only that they do.
There’s a difference between fame and accomplishment, between celebrity and artistry. For me, fame, celebrity, and recognition should be something earned through passion, hard work, practice, and commitment. I have no beef with reality shows or social media millionaires who unbox stuff—they can be very entertaining—but those people should never be equated with those who actually produce something worthwhile.
The reason we are so quick to bestow celebrity onto so many people who do so little is that it keeps the hope alive in all people that anyone can become famous just by doing outrageous stuff that goes viral and gets clicks and followers. Everyone can’t write a Bob Dylan song or paint a Matisse or write a Maya Angelou poem—but they can rant about conspiracies or eat disgusting things. All with the sad subtext of: Please notice me!
In Christopher Nolan's 2008 film The Dark Knight, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) says to Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale): “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” There is always a dual of emotions toward great people of admiration and resentment. We want them to succeed until we think they’ve succeeded too much and don’t need us anymore or their accomplishments no longer make us feel good but jealous. Then we want them to fall. Those are natural, understandable emotions. But we have the power to acknowledge certain emotions without embracing them.
“They’re asking why the songs didn’t come to them.” Some people’s achievements can make us feel inadequate. I wish I could write like James Baldwin or Lorrie Moore but I can’t. That doesn’t make the process of my writing any less enjoyable. I can’t do what so many others can do, but I’m inspired by them to try to be better at what I can do. And even to get enjoyment out of trying new things and not being good. (Fortunately, there’s no video of the first time I played pickleball.) Even when I played basketball, the greatest pleasure was always in the doing, not in hoping for praise for what I was doing.