An apology

Front cover of an early printing of 'The Dream of Debs'

My take on writing "responsively" to things others write is that generally, I prefer to do my own thing.  It is usually the ideas and impressions in the milonga or in conversation with strangers and friends that make me want to write, rather like the music that makes me want to dance.

I notice that the writers and bloggers I most respect have a ring of authenticity.  They are not bottom-feeders.  They are not merely responsive, in the same way that they are not merely personal.  I like to read people who don't just engage in the tit for tat of an argument but who move an idea forward.

The writers I like acknowledge influence, demonstrating a bare minimum of integrity.  They don't pass off a response to another piece as a new idea because that oblique form of plagiarism, is nevertheless one of the grosser forms of dishonesty and dissimulation.  Astute readers notice a lack of authorial integrity and the tendency towards one-upmanship which that implies.  Anyone with an iota of intelligence and self-respect will spot and steer clear of those.

The Scarlet Plague is a collection of short stories by Jack London, some of them set in a world facing plausible apocalyptic crises.  'The Heathen' though - one of these stories - is about the relationship between two men.  The character Otoo is described thus:

"He believed merely in fair play and square dealing.  Petty meanness, in his code, was almost as serious as wanton homicide and I do believe that he respected a murderer more than a man given to small practices."

I like the sound of Otoo.  He is from the start heroic in his unusual talents, good judgement and his selflessness.  In the other stories, London, the political writer envisages the anarchy and two different kinds of new order that arise from the stasis created by entrenched power and vested interest, whether that disruption arises from careful planning as in 'The Dream of Debs'¹ or from unfortunate natural circumstance as in 'The Scarlet Plague'.

Of course we are influenced by things all the time.  I am indelibly influenced in what I think about tango music, dance and culture from the things I mentioned, from having taken classes, by books and articles, by tango lyrics in the wonderful resource that is the Tango Translation Database and elsewhere.

If there has been a single area of most influence it is the observations and conversation in various correspondence with those more experienced than me in music, life and dance, perhaps because in writing our thoughts are distilled and referenceable. But that strong influence is not surprising because we grow in ideas and confidence as we gain experience in dance, in sport, in life, by engaging with, learning from those with more experience.

It is social learning and it is based on trust, interaction and our own judgement of what is valuable rather than on being passively told what to think and what to do.  For my first baby I cooked and pureed, froze miniature portions and thawed them; I weighed and measured and sterilised the way professionals told me and books instructed me.  I spoon-fed him carefully, tidily, exhaustedly and he had a violent dairy allergy.  My second baby I let reach out for things independently.  He ate pretty much what we ate, with his fingers, naturally, messily, with relish and with disgust.  He picked the flesh from whole sea bass, spat out olive stones, sucked meat bones and grabbed at spinach.  I was always afraid he might choke but it was better the second way.  We sat on the floor by the fridge alphabet:  "a" is for Aarrrrgh! "b" for "Boo!", "c" is for Cuddle, "d" for Dance.

Anyway, that was the apology, because sometimes I do come across something I want to answer, not just because I want to, but because I don't like monopolies or unchallenged, potentially influential views, especially when I think they are mistaken.  One of the dangers is that these can come to represent the kinds of interest tackled in the 'The Dream of Debs'. Vested interest is very dangerous: ruthless, unscrupulous, potentially hegemonic.  It will run the timid right off the road and sees no problem there.  Sharing the view of that unlikeable sophist, Thrasymychus in The Republic, it believes in the rule of the strong and that injustice is mightier than justice.  It's different when influential views are reliable, insightful, plausible, trustworthy and impartial.  But in life I notice the trick is more often to be seen, to be believed to be those things, rather than actually being those things.  Marketing and PR is all and like gleaming used cars, there is often little of value under the hood.  Or, circus tricks are employed for applause, relying on shine and dazzle or in appeal to base and easy sentiment.

Most people know it isn't useful to accept things unexamined and on faith especially from those so invested.  But it's more the recognition of that interest that is the issue and recognising that interest - in its common forms of money, power and status - behind the scenes usually trumps whatever is divertingly on public show.  Scepticism is one of the most useful and underused intellectual tools so I find it healthier when there's a variety of opinion - of anything actually.  I like it when things are even-handed, balanced and since even-handed treatment of any subject is vanishingly rare, it's more common to have, and probably better when there is debate and diversity of opinion, true to its own colours.

Tanda of the Week  by Antti Suniala is a useful, interesting, balanced, open and probably influential blog about tango music that I keep up with regularly and actually, next time I do want to write responsively to a post from there.

 ¹Eugene Debs (pictured) was an early twentieth century American socialist, orator, labour union leader of strikes and opponent of American involvement in the First World War.  His actions in the latter two fields caused him to be imprisoned and disenfranchised for life.  Given his commitment to the voice of ordinary people to be heard, this was a hard and symbolic punishment. He was a radical, called an "enemy of the human race" by the New Yorker and a traitor to his country by Woodrow Wilson who said:  "He is a man of much personal charm and impressive personality, which qualifications make him a dangerous man calculated to mislead the unthinking and affording excuse for those with criminal intent." (New York Times. December 24, 1921)

Thanks to L Currey for permission to reuse the photo of this early printing.