Wednesday, September 07, 2005
IT’S NOT SCHADENFREUDE WHEN THE MISFORTUNE IS OUR OWN
IT’S NOT SCHADENFREUDE WHEN THE MISFORTUNE IS OUR OWN:
schadenfreude \SHOD-n-froy-duh\, noun:
Pleasure or satisfaction derived from the misfortunes of others.
One definition suggest that it is a “malicious” satisfaction obtained from the mistfortunes of others.
_________________________________________________________
Schadenfreude comes from the German, from Schaden, "damage" +
Freude, "joy." It is often capitalized, as it is in German.
_____________________________
I begin with the confession that in 2000 I voted for George W. Bush. Not that my vote made any difference since it was cast in Massachusetts, but I couldn’t stand Al Gore. Who knows if things would have been as bad under Gore? Certainly, they could not have been any worse.
In 2004, enlightened by evidence that the Republicans showed no signs of being venial, I voted for John Kerry. Not that my vote made any difference, since it was cast in Massachusetts. Who knows if things would have been as bad under Kerry? Certainly, they could not have been any worse.
Ever since 9-11, there have been occasional displays of Schadenfreude from people I know outside the US, suggesting that the attacks of September 11, while reprehensible, were almost understandable given US policy in the Middle East. Perhaps Schadenfreude is not an appropriate word to apply to mostly well-meaning people who thought their insight might help nudge this juggernaut of a country into a change of course. But there are enough people around the world who think that we have made our own misfortune.
With the President almost wetting his pants in his zeal to send the bombers over and the cruise missiles into Iraq, it was inevitable that the cup of Schadenfreude would spill over its brim as the signs of quagmire anticipated developed into quagmire accomplished.
For us at home, there could be no satisfaction in the stumble by Dubya. When our fellow citizens are being killed daily and when the number of young lost runs into the hundreds and the wounded number in the thousands, the fact that the President’s bravado is shown to be foolish, is not cause for joy. It’s not Schadenfreude when the misfortune is our own.
The devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast have highlighted the consequences of the Bush Administration’s policies and lack of policy vision. If anyone had suggested that an American city would be destroyed in its entirety, surely New Orleans would have been on the short list of cities that we all wanted never to be changed.
If two disgruntled Americans (remember the Oklahama City bombing?) or a few foreign terrorists had taken a boat or barge loaded with explosives and blown up the levees holding Lake Ponchatrain, would the President have hesitated in sending in the Army? Oh, I forgot, the troops were busy bringing democracy to the Iraqis. But think about that for a moment. Our systems are so ill-prepared and the country so vulnerable that the Department of Homeland Security might just as well not exist.
That a hurricane caused the rupture of the levees may lead foreigners to exult at the display of the Administration’s incompetence. That this President cut funding for strengthening and shoring up the levees surrounding Lake Ponchatrain was a death sentence for many. For us, it’s not Schadenfreude when the misfortune is our own.
The problem is not just this Bush. If we look back at the Presidency and the Congress since Lyndon Johnson, something frightening emerges. I go back to Lyndon Johnson because despite Vietnam, he had a vision for this country in terms of getting a Civil Rights agenda through Congress. That is an accomplishment for which he should be honored as much as Vietnam was his undoing.
Since then, we have had successively useless Presidents – Nixon, Ford, Carter – a Reagan interlude (see below) – Bush the elder, Clinton, and Dubya. Ronald Reagan, whatever his shortcomings, lifted a country out of its deep malaise and undid the Soviet Union. Other than that, none of the others has had any vision for the country or any sense of purpose to improve the lot of Americans as a nation.
The Congress is equally to blame. Senator George Mitchell as Majority Leader in the Senate and Newt Gingrich as Speaker of the House, worked to polarize the nation and the parties. Since then, Trent Lott, Tom Daschle, and Bill Frist, have all viewed their job as one for settling scores and championing or opposing any Administration policy, no matter how meritorious or absurd.
The outpouring of special interest money makes one think that this group of leaders is a venal group. There is nothing venial about their conduct.
As we look forward, the Republican hopefuls – McCain, Gingrich, Frist – and the Democratic hopefuls – Hillary Clinton, Corzine, Edwards, Kerry, Bayh – promise more of the same, an empty leadership without vision or purpose.
We have lost a great city and many thousands of Americans. We would have been better off losing the entirety of our so-called leadership. Would things have been any better? Certainly, they would not have been worse.
It’s not Schadenfreude when the misfortune is our own.
Cheerz….Bwana
schadenfreude \SHOD-n-froy-duh\, noun:
Pleasure or satisfaction derived from the misfortunes of others.
One definition suggest that it is a “malicious” satisfaction obtained from the mistfortunes of others.
_________________________________________________________
Schadenfreude comes from the German, from Schaden, "damage" +
Freude, "joy." It is often capitalized, as it is in German.
_____________________________
I begin with the confession that in 2000 I voted for George W. Bush. Not that my vote made any difference since it was cast in Massachusetts, but I couldn’t stand Al Gore. Who knows if things would have been as bad under Gore? Certainly, they could not have been any worse.
In 2004, enlightened by evidence that the Republicans showed no signs of being venial, I voted for John Kerry. Not that my vote made any difference, since it was cast in Massachusetts. Who knows if things would have been as bad under Kerry? Certainly, they could not have been any worse.
Ever since 9-11, there have been occasional displays of Schadenfreude from people I know outside the US, suggesting that the attacks of September 11, while reprehensible, were almost understandable given US policy in the Middle East. Perhaps Schadenfreude is not an appropriate word to apply to mostly well-meaning people who thought their insight might help nudge this juggernaut of a country into a change of course. But there are enough people around the world who think that we have made our own misfortune.
With the President almost wetting his pants in his zeal to send the bombers over and the cruise missiles into Iraq, it was inevitable that the cup of Schadenfreude would spill over its brim as the signs of quagmire anticipated developed into quagmire accomplished.
For us at home, there could be no satisfaction in the stumble by Dubya. When our fellow citizens are being killed daily and when the number of young lost runs into the hundreds and the wounded number in the thousands, the fact that the President’s bravado is shown to be foolish, is not cause for joy. It’s not Schadenfreude when the misfortune is our own.
The devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast have highlighted the consequences of the Bush Administration’s policies and lack of policy vision. If anyone had suggested that an American city would be destroyed in its entirety, surely New Orleans would have been on the short list of cities that we all wanted never to be changed.
If two disgruntled Americans (remember the Oklahama City bombing?) or a few foreign terrorists had taken a boat or barge loaded with explosives and blown up the levees holding Lake Ponchatrain, would the President have hesitated in sending in the Army? Oh, I forgot, the troops were busy bringing democracy to the Iraqis. But think about that for a moment. Our systems are so ill-prepared and the country so vulnerable that the Department of Homeland Security might just as well not exist.
That a hurricane caused the rupture of the levees may lead foreigners to exult at the display of the Administration’s incompetence. That this President cut funding for strengthening and shoring up the levees surrounding Lake Ponchatrain was a death sentence for many. For us, it’s not Schadenfreude when the misfortune is our own.
The problem is not just this Bush. If we look back at the Presidency and the Congress since Lyndon Johnson, something frightening emerges. I go back to Lyndon Johnson because despite Vietnam, he had a vision for this country in terms of getting a Civil Rights agenda through Congress. That is an accomplishment for which he should be honored as much as Vietnam was his undoing.
Since then, we have had successively useless Presidents – Nixon, Ford, Carter – a Reagan interlude (see below) – Bush the elder, Clinton, and Dubya. Ronald Reagan, whatever his shortcomings, lifted a country out of its deep malaise and undid the Soviet Union. Other than that, none of the others has had any vision for the country or any sense of purpose to improve the lot of Americans as a nation.
The Congress is equally to blame. Senator George Mitchell as Majority Leader in the Senate and Newt Gingrich as Speaker of the House, worked to polarize the nation and the parties. Since then, Trent Lott, Tom Daschle, and Bill Frist, have all viewed their job as one for settling scores and championing or opposing any Administration policy, no matter how meritorious or absurd.
The outpouring of special interest money makes one think that this group of leaders is a venal group. There is nothing venial about their conduct.
As we look forward, the Republican hopefuls – McCain, Gingrich, Frist – and the Democratic hopefuls – Hillary Clinton, Corzine, Edwards, Kerry, Bayh – promise more of the same, an empty leadership without vision or purpose.
We have lost a great city and many thousands of Americans. We would have been better off losing the entirety of our so-called leadership. Would things have been any better? Certainly, they would not have been worse.
It’s not Schadenfreude when the misfortune is our own.
Cheerz….Bwana
