Patriotism Among The Ruins

A recent survey reported that Americans are 37th among industrialized countries in education and Number One in self-confidence.

Obviously it would be better if it were the other way around. Especially since everywhere you turn in the good ole USA you hear about "our institutions" being broken. All the politicians will tell you Washington is broken. They do not go on to explain what they will do (or even if they will do anything) to fix it, but vote for them anyway. Politics itself (themselves?) is/are broken. The Pentagon is broken. The V.A. is broken. Our cities are broken. Our infrastructure is broken. Our public transportation systems are broken. Likewise our public education system, to say nothing of our system of higher education. The book publishing world is broken. So is the art world. Likewise the music world. Hollywood is broken. Our journalism is broken. The NFL and Major League Baseball are broken. Our economy is broken. The free enterprise system is broken.  The oceans, the climate, yea, the environment itself is broken.

All this, as well as all the other broken things too numerous to continue mentioning, goes to support the survey's finding that we are 37th among industrialized countries in education. Educated people with good old American knowhow would not only know how to repair things; they would repair or rebuild them. And then they would make sure to maintain them.

But, given all this unabated breakage, why should we be Number One in self confidence?

Perhaps it is the new practice of rewarding our children for everything. Run a race, come in last and win a trophy anyway. Or could it be all those people who chant "USA, USA, USA!" and assure us this is the greatest country on earth though how would they know since most of them have never even owned a passport? Or maybe it's the citizens of Lake Woebegone where every child is above average.

Whatever the cause or causes-- and it's fun in a pseudo-sociological kind of way to speculate -- our national narcissism is a serious delusion. And patriotism among the ruins is surely not the cure.

Meet Actor, Novelist, Singer, Playwright, Former Producer, Broadcasting

Meet Actor, Novelist, Singer, Playwright, Former Producer, Broadcasting

Between Renaissances

Long Day's Journey Into Sunshine

My "new" novel is called David Sunshine and it was inspired by my early experiences in the television industry.  It includes incidents that are completely true, down to the dialogue, that were so funny I have been dining out on them for years. At the time I took David Sunshine directly to a publisher who signed me up and gave me what in those days was a princely advance. Then backed out of the deal (as they will). At this point, literary agents descended on me but none could get a nibble elsewhere (as they won't).

The book was a roman de clef and word came back that publishers were afraid of being sued. ("This is a dangerous book," one anonymous editor had penciled in a margin.)  Since all the stories in it were true, I thought we were pretty safe, but no one wanted to chance it. So I put the manuscript away, dusted it off a few months ago and thought that kid who had written it way back then (me) was pretty good. So, because of that and some recent popular interest in 1960s things like “Mad Men” I decided to have it published myself, though a piece of contemporary fiction had now aged into a piece of historical fiction.

As to why I decided it was worthwhile even though it is no longer the expose it once was (all those potential litigants are gone and none of their progeny have even hinted at litigation) is that it is serious literature with a light touch, not unlike Dickens or Mark Twain, and that it concerns itself with the on-going drama of the pursuit of the American Dream which has been with us in novels from The Great Gatsby to The Day of the Locust to All the King’s Men.

Specifically, television at that time seemed at a crossroads. To oversimplify, it could be a force for enlightenment or a craven money machine. David Sunshine is about a fraud and admitted con man who masqueraded as a Philosopher King. At the time, the character upon whom he  was based was a media darling, Thus the fear of being sued but, much more likely, I think, the fear of going against the common wisdom – by which I mean the trendy snobbery of the season. It was not the usual kind of sordid expose – it simply exposed him to ridicule. Kiss and tell without much of a kiss.

There is more to the book, of course; primarily about what it was like in those days to be a part of the television industry as the sun had set on its Golden Age and the dawn was beginning to come up over the Vast Wasteland. There was a human cost and many a well-intentioned kid would be ground into bite-sized pieces. However, for all that, the most memorable moments in the book are probably still the funniest ones.