Fantastic essay, full of observations that ring true. Especially cool that I couldn't necessarily tell if you're British or American. And I had no idea about "table that" - but will now avoid that phrase!
Wow! You. You are so funny, I chuckled so often from your wry observations. And - as always - you are adept at leading the reader through a delightfully stimulating labyrinth of thought where we may not know where we are going, but we can enjoy you captaining our ride. You make me see more slowly, so thank you.
"Some Americans even have the peculiar tick of referring to different presidents to chart time when they tell stories, almost labeling administrations as seasons—that was during the Carter years; Nixon was in office when I moved to Cleveland; I remember that I took that job just after Reagan was elected."
Weirdly, my American brain struggles with that. I'm actually glad you brought it up as an observation because I had a conversation the other day where I struggled to explain the situation I've found myself in where I struggle to connect personal memories I have with political topics or memories, like they're two different realities.
For instance, in calendar-denoted time, Donald Trump announced his candidacy less than two years after I moved to NYC. I'm approaching my 10 year anniversary in NYC, so Trump has been a major political figure for the majority of the time I've been in NYC.
In my headspace, however, Trump's candidacy + presidency came after the years it took me to get established and largely find my way into a community here. I've met and married my wife in that time.
Now, Trump is a particular event horizon of attention economy that warps time and space itself, so maybe that's not a good example. As such I try to think about things like "The Obama Years" or "The Bush Years" and can create major POLITICAL narratives and sequences around them -- but when I try to think about WHAT I WAS DOING during those periods, I don't know. My personal narratives are "At this point I was living there, working at that place, that's when I travelled, that's when I moved". When I realize some of these political and personal narratives have overlapping incidences, literally co-incidental beats, they're surprising because they don't feel attached.
Now, why was I thinking about that?
Because I was complaining about American literature that would describe characters' history around stuff like "Back in the Reagan years," "As Nixon was..." "During LBJ...". When I read those sorts of descriptions as a kid I thought I would GET IT when I was an adult, only now to read them as an adult and think "Why does the writer think this is important?"
I guess I should be glad not to identify with whatever person happened to be in the White House when I personally did whatever, but whatever. What does make sense to me is stuff like pre-pandemic, post-9/11, Global Financial Crisis, dotcom crash, Y2K. Those zeitgeists feel like the effect the personal more to me.
Thank you for the comment and your thoughts. In some ways, I can relate to your experience, as I've probably noticed the behavior because I've also found it so peculiar yet so commonplace. It also isn't the most relevant way to discuss time in most situations, but that's what some people use.
For the literature part, I do wonder if those examples are just hijacking the standard descriptions for atmosphere - the writer wants the 80s, so the name Reagan is used, as that comes with plenty of associations for readers. And in nearly all cases, that's probably a lazy shortcut to describe a period, and certainly isn't evocative.
The culture behind a language (not to be confused with linguistics) has always fascinated me. The most wonderful and carefree conversations about religion and politics I have are with Indian co-workers, topics that are verboten in one form or another for both Americans and the British. They had no qualms about it but were expressly warned by gatekeepers that those topics should not be broached when in America. I found that to do a disservice to them and us and they were relieved that someone would talk openly about it with them. However, I quickly discovered there is an Indian counterpart to our religion and politics, and that is one of class, which you mentioned. I asked a friend once about the caste system in India, to which he replied, "There is no caste system. It's illegal." Those two statements were inexplicably intertwined. When I asked him about those classes still affected by the "illegal" caste system, like the Dalit people, he could only deny the reality that I know to exist. It seems all governments have their hidden structures from top to bottom, ruled by one form of authority or another, no matter the language or culture.
Thank you for the comment Brian. That's a good example and is very interesting to hear. One thing that I find interesting is that the cultural taboos are moving targets—they change over time, and what's perfectly normal today is suddenly unacceptable tomorrow. And I do wonder whether that has happened in India, too, as the nuances of what's acceptable shifts with the culture.
That's a great point. I feel like that shift is moving much faster as well. To some extent there is a lot more noise, and we can hear it from every direction, so the sands shift frequently. To bet on what America and Great Britain will be even 5 years from now would be very risky indeed.
"Perhaps that’s frightening for some, but the alternative—that the leader is in control—seems far worse." Yes. I will take CHAOS any time rather than mad autocracy. As for "Nixonian manners" -- hilarious! It has me inventing other presidential oxymorons, which I won't mention here because I am polite. Great article Charles. And stunning photos. Thank you!
Fantastic essay, full of observations that ring true. Especially cool that I couldn't necessarily tell if you're British or American. And I had no idea about "table that" - but will now avoid that phrase!
I wasn't sure whether my background would be clear, so that's very interesting to hear—I am from the US. Thank you for the kind words Stephanie.
Wow! You. You are so funny, I chuckled so often from your wry observations. And - as always - you are adept at leading the reader through a delightfully stimulating labyrinth of thought where we may not know where we are going, but we can enjoy you captaining our ride. You make me see more slowly, so thank you.
Thank you very much for your kind words Trilety.
"Some Americans even have the peculiar tick of referring to different presidents to chart time when they tell stories, almost labeling administrations as seasons—that was during the Carter years; Nixon was in office when I moved to Cleveland; I remember that I took that job just after Reagan was elected."
Weirdly, my American brain struggles with that. I'm actually glad you brought it up as an observation because I had a conversation the other day where I struggled to explain the situation I've found myself in where I struggle to connect personal memories I have with political topics or memories, like they're two different realities.
For instance, in calendar-denoted time, Donald Trump announced his candidacy less than two years after I moved to NYC. I'm approaching my 10 year anniversary in NYC, so Trump has been a major political figure for the majority of the time I've been in NYC.
In my headspace, however, Trump's candidacy + presidency came after the years it took me to get established and largely find my way into a community here. I've met and married my wife in that time.
Now, Trump is a particular event horizon of attention economy that warps time and space itself, so maybe that's not a good example. As such I try to think about things like "The Obama Years" or "The Bush Years" and can create major POLITICAL narratives and sequences around them -- but when I try to think about WHAT I WAS DOING during those periods, I don't know. My personal narratives are "At this point I was living there, working at that place, that's when I travelled, that's when I moved". When I realize some of these political and personal narratives have overlapping incidences, literally co-incidental beats, they're surprising because they don't feel attached.
Now, why was I thinking about that?
Because I was complaining about American literature that would describe characters' history around stuff like "Back in the Reagan years," "As Nixon was..." "During LBJ...". When I read those sorts of descriptions as a kid I thought I would GET IT when I was an adult, only now to read them as an adult and think "Why does the writer think this is important?"
I guess I should be glad not to identify with whatever person happened to be in the White House when I personally did whatever, but whatever. What does make sense to me is stuff like pre-pandemic, post-9/11, Global Financial Crisis, dotcom crash, Y2K. Those zeitgeists feel like the effect the personal more to me.
Thank you for the comment and your thoughts. In some ways, I can relate to your experience, as I've probably noticed the behavior because I've also found it so peculiar yet so commonplace. It also isn't the most relevant way to discuss time in most situations, but that's what some people use.
For the literature part, I do wonder if those examples are just hijacking the standard descriptions for atmosphere - the writer wants the 80s, so the name Reagan is used, as that comes with plenty of associations for readers. And in nearly all cases, that's probably a lazy shortcut to describe a period, and certainly isn't evocative.
The culture behind a language (not to be confused with linguistics) has always fascinated me. The most wonderful and carefree conversations about religion and politics I have are with Indian co-workers, topics that are verboten in one form or another for both Americans and the British. They had no qualms about it but were expressly warned by gatekeepers that those topics should not be broached when in America. I found that to do a disservice to them and us and they were relieved that someone would talk openly about it with them. However, I quickly discovered there is an Indian counterpart to our religion and politics, and that is one of class, which you mentioned. I asked a friend once about the caste system in India, to which he replied, "There is no caste system. It's illegal." Those two statements were inexplicably intertwined. When I asked him about those classes still affected by the "illegal" caste system, like the Dalit people, he could only deny the reality that I know to exist. It seems all governments have their hidden structures from top to bottom, ruled by one form of authority or another, no matter the language or culture.
Thank you for the comment Brian. That's a good example and is very interesting to hear. One thing that I find interesting is that the cultural taboos are moving targets—they change over time, and what's perfectly normal today is suddenly unacceptable tomorrow. And I do wonder whether that has happened in India, too, as the nuances of what's acceptable shifts with the culture.
That's a great point. I feel like that shift is moving much faster as well. To some extent there is a lot more noise, and we can hear it from every direction, so the sands shift frequently. To bet on what America and Great Britain will be even 5 years from now would be very risky indeed.
Beautiful, writhing essay.
Thank you Cathal.
"Perhaps that’s frightening for some, but the alternative—that the leader is in control—seems far worse." Yes. I will take CHAOS any time rather than mad autocracy. As for "Nixonian manners" -- hilarious! It has me inventing other presidential oxymorons, which I won't mention here because I am polite. Great article Charles. And stunning photos. Thank you!
Thank you Sharron. I'm glad to hear that you liked it.
Thank you for this issue, I couldn't agree more. Love it when a fellow primate has better words than me.
Thank you Haruh. I appreciate the comment and kind words.
Hello, I really like your b/w photographs.
Thank you Paul for the comment—I try to match the photos with the essay, and I'm pleased to hear that you liked them.