Thoughts on a voyage to the capitol
Apr. 26th, 2005 08:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flewellynI took a trip this past weekend, from Friday to Monday, to Maryland, to visit my father for Passover. Since he lives rather close to Washington, DC (otherwise known as Mordor), I flew in to our nation's capitol (well, "our" meaning "those of us who live in the United States"). I had a few thoughts while I gazed upon the monuments (among them, noting the irony of naming the national airport after the president who fired all the air traffic controllers, but Sabrina Matthews did that one better than I), but one in particular struck me rather sharply.
The Washington Monument is not something George Washington would have liked or appreciated. He was a rather humble man, not given to grandeur or egotism, by all accounts rather disliking the pomp and circumstance of rulers and kings. He would not have approved of a great stone obelisk, a symbol used by the theocratic Pharaohs of ancient Egypt, being erected in his name. I think the Washington Monument is less a monument to Washington, and more a monument to our nation's dirty little secret.
What is that secret? I think, deep down, this country has a major inferiority complex. The recorded history of our country, from a European perspective, is only 500 years old, the much older history of the natives having mostly been lost or destroyed. We have long felt insecure, belittled by the older, more "refined" civilizations of the Old World. So, we, or rather our leaders, overcompensate by engaging in what amounts to baboon-style dominance displays, yelling loudly and beating our chests. And, of course, showing our collective "manhood". The Washington Monument, then, represents our national penis, the urge we often express in much of our foreign policy to whip it out and shriek "Ours is bigger, dammit!" We have to have the largest army, the largest economy, the largest vehicles, the largest consumption, size is everything in this country. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, yes; but sometimes, a giant stone obelisk is a giant stone penis. And, whether by racing to consume as much of our planet's resources as possible, or invading Iraq, our current leaders seem bound and determined to make the rest of the world know that ours really is bigger.
But, of course, as any woman and any mature man will tell you, it's not the size that matters, it's how you use it.
The Washington Monument is not something George Washington would have liked or appreciated. He was a rather humble man, not given to grandeur or egotism, by all accounts rather disliking the pomp and circumstance of rulers and kings. He would not have approved of a great stone obelisk, a symbol used by the theocratic Pharaohs of ancient Egypt, being erected in his name. I think the Washington Monument is less a monument to Washington, and more a monument to our nation's dirty little secret.
What is that secret? I think, deep down, this country has a major inferiority complex. The recorded history of our country, from a European perspective, is only 500 years old, the much older history of the natives having mostly been lost or destroyed. We have long felt insecure, belittled by the older, more "refined" civilizations of the Old World. So, we, or rather our leaders, overcompensate by engaging in what amounts to baboon-style dominance displays, yelling loudly and beating our chests. And, of course, showing our collective "manhood". The Washington Monument, then, represents our national penis, the urge we often express in much of our foreign policy to whip it out and shriek "Ours is bigger, dammit!" We have to have the largest army, the largest economy, the largest vehicles, the largest consumption, size is everything in this country. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, yes; but sometimes, a giant stone obelisk is a giant stone penis. And, whether by racing to consume as much of our planet's resources as possible, or invading Iraq, our current leaders seem bound and determined to make the rest of the world know that ours really is bigger.
But, of course, as any woman and any mature man will tell you, it's not the size that matters, it's how you use it.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-27 07:59 am (UTC)Chag sameach!
irony of naming the national airport after the president who fired all the air traffic controllers
:-) It will always be "National Airport" to me, no matter what they put on the signs. I wonder, are there any conservative Republican New Yorkers who still refer to "Idlewild"?
The Washington Monument is not something George Washington would have liked or appreciated.
By and large I tend to agree with you, though GW was not entirely the self-abnegating Cincinattus his publicists would have one believe. But by the time the monument was begun in the 1830s, the Cult of Washington was in full swing.
What is that secret? I think, deep down, this country has a major inferiority complex.
Well, don't forget that the inferiority complex was well founded. When we started out, we were a tiny, rather weak nation, about on the scale of modern-day Korea, maybe, or the Netherlands. Even after we bought/stole/occupied our current acreage, we didn't really think of ourselves as or act like a world power until after World War 2, when the role was pretty much thrust on us.
We have to have the largest army, the largest economy, the largest vehicles, the largest consumption, size is everything in this country.
American is maddeningly hard to justify generalizations about. Many American *are* obsessed with size and wealth. Others are not. The country that gives you Liberace and the H2 also produced the Quakers. And it's not like we're alone. We didn't invent the obelisk, and we're not the first to go errecting them to heroes in the post-classical world. And Taiwan, Malaysia, and (soon) Dubai have the world's biggest phal... buildings.
And, BTW, China and India have armies larger than ours. Much larger. :-)
no subject
Date: 2005-04-27 09:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-27 09:42 am (UTC)Erm, no. The PLA ground force is around 2 million, and the navy and air force add about another million. That's not even half the size of New York City. :-)