Stephen Yeargin

I did something today that I am not particularly proud of. No, it was not that I bowled a 58 in the second game at the company outing (the first game was a 104, still the lowest score on my foursome). No, it was not that I impulsively came home from that outing and immediately fired up Madden 08. I did nothing to be like this guy.

I bought a Nickelback music video.

Aside from my general belief that all of their music is essentially the same with different lyrics laid on top of them, Rock Star is a bit different. The song is a stinging indictment of our self-centered culture, much to the same tune of Beverly Hills from Weezer. The video features many pop icons from music, movies, television and sports. I was on the fence until Wayne Gretzky makes his cameo appearance, and I figured I somehow had some sort of blessing.

To offset the “cool” karma that I may have lost, I picked up John Lennon’s Imagine album. Said of the included music video by one reviewer on iTunes:

When I first saw this video back in the 80′s I liked it, but didn’t fully “get it”. Watching it now, I’m struck by its simple, uncomplicated beauty. From its dark, silent, mist-shrouded start, right through the light flooded ending. It’s about casting off the self-imposed darkness that blinds us. Daring to imagine what humanity “could” be.

Much like a drunk sitting at the bar, my general reaction to that is “man, that is deep“. But aside from the wistful talk of a world that could be, I have to wonder exactly where all the dreamers have gone. Have they vanished with the rise of self righteousness and greed (typically embodied by the same people) or have they simply lost a voice?

Politics at every level has become a circus, carefully choreographed with news conferences that ultimately leave most of the public disenchanted with the entire process. And for the ringleaders of the grand charade, that is good news. We have a mayor’s race right now that has me changing the station at the onset of yet another attack ad. Try track six out for size; It just made my “Democracy Now!” playlist.

I believe that the longing for simpler times is not nostalgia, but clearly seeing a way forward. It is not about returning to something old, but living by a shared value system that knows no creed or deity. Samantha framed a copy of the religions of the world’s view on the so-called “Golden Rule” that we picked up attending a GNUUC service one snowy morning earlier this year. The semantics were varied, but the core message was the same. Scholars would likely dismiss this as an over simplification of these faiths, but I count the belief that the way we treat each other ultimately defines our humanity.