Peasants are cursed.
Peasats are born with the need to be special, but aren't special.
It's normal for a peasant who realizes he's a peasant to feel like he's dying, and as a result peasant culture always includes some childish, narcissistic lie which fools the gulls into believing they're special. The lie is non-negotiable, and as such any fact which conflicts with the foundational mythology also gets covered up.
Non-peasants who get involved with peasant artefacts, such as pop culture, are apt to pick up dishonourable habits and end up erasing what makes them special.
Worse, peasant mediocrity is difficult to hide. In small cultures that span only a village or city, you can argue that their random non-incompetence is better than the neighbour's non-incompetence. In countries of tens of millions, any disguise which works for one peasant is going to work for most peasants. "If everyone is special, no-one is." See also: Suzumiya Haruhi.
P.S. everyone can be special, but why the line seems true is beyond the scope of this post. Although, in short: parallel status hierarchies, e.g. best carpenter vs. best baker. The fact the line is basically false is what allows it to show up in a Fascist movie.
I think some of your dictionary choices don't match up very well with the historical groups that the words originally described. Do you think medieval European peasants behaved i nthe way you describe? Were the fascists of the early 20th century as insanely dishonest and narcissistic as the fascists you describe? Some members of self-described fascist movements were great men (e.g. Italo Balbo).
ReplyDeleteYou can believe whatever you want, you know. You haven't elected me your pope. There's no agreement, let alone a law. If you don't buy what I'm selling, then don't purchase it.
ReplyDelete