| I admit, $2000 soup bowls tends to bring out the Savanorola in me, and makes me yearn for a good bonfire of the vanities. It reminds me of the difference between aristocratic and republican government: one set out to adorn a particular class and insist upon its superiority with all sorts of loopy indulgence, the other to show sincerity, virtue, and the holding of office as a form of service. Aristocracies became extravagant, republics sought austere dignity. Of course, the growth of the democratic element in republics complicated matters, by making patrician dignity itself suspect, and celebrating ruder, more vigorous, more populist styles. Part of Clinton beating Bush pere was based on this: Bush retained his blueblood modesty and self- control, and Clinton was a "man of the people", full of coarseness, overt appetitiveness, and "bad boy charm". Hillary, on the other hand, remains the one with the aristocratic streak, but full of noblesse oblige: she will save us from ourselves! To the weak- minded, that sounds like a good deal......... |
