By Tom Kando
Folks: I got news for you: The
REAL choice before us this fall is between Apollo and Dionysus,
Square and hip, soul and no soul, love and no love. On the face of it, the upcoming
election is about the interests of the rich vs. those of the middle class, individualism and freedom
vs. collectivism, free market capitalism vs. welfare state, taxes and
public benefits vs. business profits and productivity, in other words,
“liberal” vs. “conservative”policies.But I say, policy schmolicy.
At least when it comes to
choosing between Obama and Romney, what most of us will base our vote on is not
a well-informed policy preference,
but emotion.
Long ago, the anthropologist
Ruth Benedict distinguished between Apollonian and Dionysian cultures and
personalities. The former value reason, restraint, moderation. The latter are
characterized by ecstasy and emotion.
Benedict gave the Zuni people (New Mexico) as an example of Apollonian culture
and the Kwakiutl (Vancouver Island) as an example of a Dionysian people. Of course, this distinction
goes all the way back to ancient Greece, and Nietzsche and many others have
used it as well, in various ways.
So one way to look at things is
to say that there are these two kinds of people (with many in between, of
course). Apollonian is square; Dionysian is hip, cool. Also, other things being equal, young people
are more Dionysian, more hip than old
people.
Dionysian has soul. By and large, blacks have more soul than whites. I don’t know why. Maybe because they have suffered more. And don’t get all huffy on me that I am stereotyping and that I am a racist, blah, blah, blah. Norman Mailer said it long before I did, in his classic essay The White Negro. Who can deny that Obama has soul? Have you seen his rendition of Al Green? On the other hand, nice and handsome as Romney may be, “soul” is not the first thing that comes to mind when you look at him.
I’m not saying that soul is
essential to be a good President. But let’s face it, some people got it and
some don’t.
So this is my theory for today: as we begin to vote
(early voting has already started), I believe that ultimately, many votes will
not be determined by rational choice, but by whether you are more Dionysian or
Apollonian, hip or square. THAT’s what will truly determine whether you vote
for Obama or Romney.
Of course, many of you will
disagree with my definitions. You will disagree that liberals and Democrat tend
to be more Dionysian, and that
conservatives and Republicans tend to be more Apollonian - even as ideal types. Well, we can have a debate about this.
As to me? I am a little bit of
both. I used to be somewhat hip when I was young, now I’m pretty square, but
not as square as many other people. I like Obama more than I like Romney. Pure emotion.
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