Week 10: Displays of History: Pageantry

Week 10: Displays of History: Pageantry

As I began reading Glassberg’s chapter Celebrating the City, the first thought I had was the Roman practice of bread and circuses.  So I was flattered to have the author point out an editorial from a San Francisco newspaper calling the Portola Festival just such an endeavor (p. 76).   I was also pleased to have Glassberg refer to the game of football (and sports in general) as another of these events (p. 84-5).   The idea is simple:  Keep the citizenry fed and entertained and they will move from meal to meal and event to event without feeling the need to pay attention to what those in power are actually doing.  Let things get bad in the daily lives of the populace and the beast begins to stir. 

Current examples of things causing Americans to stir include the economy and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The citizens are stirring and political reporters are forecasting a tidal wave of changes in the upcoming election.  Over the weekend as I was reading, several things caught my attention as I dutifully watched my dose of football (I’m leading in my fantasy league, btw).  The ‘powers that be’ spend an enormous amount of money, time, and effort in providing circuses for our viewing pleasure.  Even if I don’t remember which multi-national firm has it’s banner on the Cowboys’ 50-yard line, I’m entranced with the game, the plays, the spectacle…not with asking how in this distressed economy they can afford (indeed are happy even anxious to do so) to spend millions of dollars to provide the entertainment.  I think as individuals we are all aware that this manipulation is occurring.  I even think we care.  But we are so indoctrinated, so comfortable with our routines that it takes a major jolt to move us. 

Just such a jolt happened nine years ago when the World Trade Center was attacked and destroyed.  There were several ads aired during the football games this weekend devoted to plans for observance of the tenth anniversary of the World Trade Center disaster.  Cities around the country are making plans to remember the day with speeches, the placing of wreaths, and other fitting memorials.  The ads could have come from either the Civil War Centennial or the Bicentennial:  loyalty, unity, and patriotic pride.  Here again my cynicism leads me to see these efforts as simply a way for the ‘powers’ to say ‘It’s alright!  We’re doing something.  Stay home and enjoy your family.  Watch the game.  You don’t need to stir…we have everything under control!’ 

The third thing I noticed, again on TV, was a Sixty Minutes piece on white-collar executives in California who have reached the end of their safety nets.  Their savings are gone, they’ve borrowed all they can against their retirements, they’ve spent their kid’s college funds, and their unemployment benefits are gone.  The commentator remarked that while nationwide the unemployment rate is 9+%, when you include those who have stopped trying to find work and those who have taken part-time positions with no benefits and at a much lower pay rate, the percentage is over 17% nationally and over 20% in the California area of the story.  Regardless of what we think about the choices these people made, they are stuck.  They are in upside down mortgages, they have no assets to sell, and few have relatives nearby they can lean on.  One woman in her late 50s, who lost her $60,000 a year office manage position, claims to have sent out over 1,500 applications and gotten 3 interviews in the last 18 months.  She’s collecting cans and plastic to sell to the recycling companies and admits that her 80+year-old mother is sending her money so she can eat.  How long can the circus distract us from the lack of bread?