Whereupon a gentleman is incompetent, thereupon he should remain silent. If names are not correct, language is without an object. When language is without an object, no affair can be effected. When no affair can be effected, rites and music wither. When rites and music wither, punishments and penalties miss their target. When punishment and penalties miss their target, the people do not know where they stand. Therefore, whatever a gentleman conceives of, he must be able to say, and whatever he says he must be able to do.
-Confucius, The Analects Book XIII, Chapter 3, Verse 4-7
A few months ago, during a terrible bout of illness, I was on my way to Bellevue Hospital for treatment when I chanced upon a most curious situation. Two individuals, college students I assume, caught in a somewhat civil discussion regarding the upcoming presidential election and the state of affairs of the world.
What struck me as curious however was the increasing level of vitriol between the two, especially given that they agreed on so many different issues such as the rising income gap, the need for single-payer healthcare reform, gay marriage, the danger of climate change, and other topics often associated with the Political Left in the Western world.
The one topic that was causing all the furor was: What to do about Islam and the Middle East?
“Islamophobic Neo-Con,” one person said.
“Regressive Leftist,” said the other.
Without going into to many details , their conflicting ideas outweighed whatever commonalities they had.
There is a part of me that simply brushed this exchange off as part of the idles of youth, as “fellow travelers” in any great movement will often argue with each over the details. It was only after a few months had passed when I started seeing the term “Regressive Leftist” used by adults and other media personalities did I begin to realize my error.
Our modern society’s culture seems to have enshrined the notion that Customization is King. We see this in our ability to watch whatever we like on-demand from streaming services such as Hulu or Netflix. We can order whatever we can afford at the click of a button from distributors like Amazon, Best Buy, Target, et al. And many shape their virtual personas on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube to appeal to a selected audience.
In other words, all that we do these days is À la carte. Goods and services that were traditionally bundled together, such as Cable Television channels, are slowly being separated out to suit the individual tastes of the consumer.
I can’t help but feel that this is the current attitude has taken root in our relationship to political and social beliefs. The “old alliances” between certain interest groups on the Left and the Right have become disrupted, as people attempt to redefine their political affiliations with their personal interests.
And I begin to wonder what the practical effects of ideology a la carte will be in the future…
Echo House 