thoughts on a snowy evening

Recently I have been struck by one of K's favorite quotes from J.R. Tolkein: "All that glitters is not gold; not all that wander are lost." Watching television tonight, I was appalled at the thin actresses who cry after putting on a fat suit (they wanted to "empathize" with those who are overweight). And this is what entertains America? I browsed through the New Yorker and read an editorial/article asking what kind of values are Americans setting up for themeselves? Menand has an interesting point in that

"We are ourselves products of the culture whose products we consume, and we can't help taking it, for the most part, on its own terms."

The social constructs which we create are immensely powerful. Menand referred to literary prizes as valuable only in the recognition that society bestows upon the award. K just wrote about the consumerism craziness that overtakes all good sense during the holiday season. Tolkein may be right in that some who wander are not lost, but right now, society is a bit lost.

The Economist has a thought-provoking article on the differences between the poor in Appalachia and those in the Congo. What is happiness and what is not happiness is a matter of opinion. Yet if happiness is universal, then is it merely the emotion that is shared? Happiness economists would suggest that the level of one's happiness is relative to the level of material goods of others around one's self. Moreover, when "an individual who becomes richer becomes happier; but when society as a whole grows richer, nobody seems any more content (7 Aug 2005, The Economist).

Perhaps the American dream fits both sides. Its retains the flavor that a better life is just over the horizon but that this "good life" is attainable. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in Majesty (short story):

The extraordinary thing is not that people in a lifetime turn out worse or better than we had prophesied; particularly in America that is to be expected. The extraordinary thing is how people keep their levels, fulfill their promises, seem actually buoyed up by an inevitable destiny.

It may be that a new year is approaching or that I realize that the year will bring many changes to my life. I have not been this content for a long while. A good friend of mine once said that when you're not looking for it, what you want will happen. Now I've paraphrased this generously and it was originally referrring to relationships, but I think he's right (as he often is).

Happy New Year's.