As I mentioned in my previous post, Scott and I went to see the show Spirit: The Seventh Fire. While we were waiting for the show to start, Scott asked me if I like Native American culture, and I answered yes. Then he asked me: “Why?” (Scott never misses out the opportunity to ask some provoking questions) and I suddenly realized that the main reason why I like Native Americans is because they are the ones who lost. Even more than their spirituality and old fashion way to perceive the connection between humans and nature, I like them because they have been so thoroughly defeated (not to mention exterminated and culturally erased).
When I arrived in the USA, I realized with some surprise that the worst insult you can inflict to an American is “loser.” Italians are really creative when it comes to insults, but we don’t even have an equivalent of “loser.” [“Perdente,” the literal translation of loser, sounds quite clinical and devoid of the emotional connotation of its American English counterpart.]
I thought about it and I concluded that it’s because Europeans actually like losers. There is some kind of epic greatness in somebody that fought and was defeated, either peoples or individuals. Besides, when you reflect on thousands of years of history (rather than just a few hundreds) you realize that nobody wins forever. The Roman Empire lasted for 900 years, but eventually crumbled and left only a large amount of (beautiful) ruins. So, there is some Old World wisdom in feeling sympathy for the losers of today when are you are still the winner.
We like the romantic aura that comes with defeat and suffering even better than the heroic aura that comes with victory. It’s so more interesting.
May 23, 2005
There is some truth in this…
It may come from 1,500 years of Catholicism. The church fully institutionnalized the praising of losers, to a point where you eventually ask yourself if it is not of sheer cynism. You know, as in to explain to the masses why they should eat dirt while the Church’s rulers live like monarchs. 🙂
This makes sense, too: Notice that Protestant cultured societies in general are less inclined to like losers.
May 23, 2005
Denis,
you might be right about the Catholic influence (isn’t it about 2000 years of it? If you think of it, it’s really an unthinkable amount of time).
I would like to believe that there is some more noble reasons behind it, and even some wisdom in seeing all these Empires rising and falling (and the higher the rise, the more cathastrophic the fall), or the dislike of the arrogance that comes with victory.
But maybe not, maybe it’s just the effect of Sunday’s catechism at an early age.
May 23, 2005
Well, catholicism wasn’t really adopted for a couple of centuries. Before the 4th century, they were mostly persecuted because they refused to fulfill their military duties to the Roman Empire. And thanks to spirits like Marx (the folk’s opium) and Nietzsche (God’s dead), I’d say there are not many truely religious people left in Europe. Though the second of the two predicted religion would remain around for a long time (God’s dead, but his shadow remains).
I remember reading about a couple of fun research papers in Cialdini’s Influence, on the way people spontaneously preferred winners. The research was mostly american, and best I know there is no comparative study for catholic/prostant cultures. Still, the general idea is that you prefer the winner because you’ll like to identify youself to winners (sport fans saying “we won the game”, as opposed to “they lost the game”). I would not be surprised if people in catholic cultures tended to like the looser more than their american kins. 🙂
May 23, 2005
Very American, indeed.
I don’t want to speak for all Italians, but I know how the research would have turned out if they had interviewed me.
And what about you, Denis? Are you on the side of the catholic losers’ lovers or of the protestant winners’ worshippers?
May 24, 2005
Well, I’m not sure it makes any sense to say I’m rather this or that. 🙂 You see, I’m somewhat aware that blind consistency is the hobgoblin of the little mind, so I tend to put the purpose and the context under intense scrutiny if I “feel” any dissonance when making decisions.
May 24, 2005
OK, OK, that is the intellectually and politically correct answer. But truly, in the bottom of your heart, your first reaction, quick: who do you identify with, the winners or the defeated?
May 25, 2005
But… but… but…
> in the bottom of your heart
My heart, and more generally my personnality, is just a delusion that comes from blind consistency. Isn’t it? 😉