I spent the week close to tears watching and reading all the news about Israel and Palestinian people who were murdered by the terrorist organization HAMAS. Our daughter has gone to Israel 3 times in the last ten years. Each time she assured us that she was safe because Israel has a great army and Air Force. But now I wonder. Bibi allowed this crime against his citizens and should be prosecuted for it! I pray for peace for all the people in the Middle East/world. Thanks for saying it’s still okay to laugh. Peace and Love to all 🙏
One reason to think about the Roman Empire is how it arose from the Roman Republic it destroyed. Following the final Roman victory in the Third Punic War, Rome was the strongest power around, an empire in all but name outside its borders. The attempt to remain a Republic domestically while being an empire internationally created a tension that took about 245 years to reconcile. Those making money from the Empire became increasingly unwilling to put up with the restrictions of the Republic and bought and paid for those willing to knock it down. Those who represented the people not getting rich from the Empire sought to maintain the Republic by keeping the Empire under control, with intermittent success.
Eventually the corruption of the Republic created by the ones getting rich from the Empire led to its increasing dysfunction and the common people wanted to Make It Stop. They supported Julius Caesar, who was both successful militarily and a successful political populist. Most people with at least a semi-education beyond public school know the basics of the rest of that story.
The story of Rome has much to do with the story of the United States, since the Founders were all readers of Polybius, who had outlined the strengths of the Roman Republic that allowed it to fight and win the Punic Wars despite much travail in the process (in the First Punic War the Roman army was defeated by Hannibal every year for ten years. The Romans raised a new army every year regardless; the army raised in the 11th year defeated Hannibal.) The founders thus formally adopted the structure of the Roman Republic, since it was the longest-lived Republic, in hopes the problems of that system would be dealt with successfully by people of virtue, people like the Romans who won the Punic Wars.
The Second World War was our Punic Wars and the American republic became an empire internationally while attempting to remain a republic domestically. Like Rome, those making money from the Empire have become increasingly unwilling to accept the restrictions of the Republic. In our case it didn't take 245 years, since it no longer takes six months for the memo to reach all interested parties for a decision to be made. We're at the point Cicero wrote about where the corruption and rot started to become obvious. It's been done within the lifetime of a person (me) born on the high tide of the American Republic, the year America liberated the world.
So yeah, there's a lot of reason to look to the Roman example. To me, it's for lessons of what not to do. The old Roman republicans saw the problem and the solution, but weren't strong enough to execute it. We need to smack down the oligarchs making money from the Empire and destroy their power if we want to keep a Republic.
Thanks for this. I just finished reading MESSALINA, a new history from Honor Cargill-Martin, which I highly recommend. It's all about the first wife of Claudius and the court system at the time. As I read the chapter about Caligula, all I could think of was Elon Musk. Maybe that sort of psychopath rises up in moments like this? The book is also about the perceptions of women, and there's a lot to learn there.
I would push back on the American Empire, just to qualify that except for the brief flirtation after the Spanish-American War, the U.S. has never tried to expand its borders and acquire new territory, which Rome and other empires did. But your point stands. The foreign policy is at odds with the domestic policy. And now the fascists at home are running amok. As you perfectly put it: "those making money from the Empire have become increasingly unwilling to accept the restrictions of the Republic." It's a scary moment.
My senior year of HS, we debated back and forth about the Spring Musical. It came down to "The Music Man" vs "Pirates," and the director that year, a substitute from the usual woman who ran the drama department like Stella Adler, FINALLY decided on "The Music Man," because "Pirates" was TOO HARD! So dumb and annoying because gods forbid students in their senior year should learn to STRETCH themselves in preparation for college. I WAS the very model of a modern Major-General and I got blocked by 76 trombones! I bowed out of that and was the House Manager. Stupid fascist high school!
But I have always loved "Pirates," and sometimes still find myself humming tunes from it. And yes, comedy MUST be a part of our lives, or we die from despair, simple as that. After 9/11, there were many TV shows and comedy clubs that simply closed down for weeks. SNL opened weeks later with Lorne Michaels asking "America's Mayor" if it was OK to be funny again. It's happening quicker now. January 6th humor, because take away the implications and the whole day was a ridiculous farce, was almost immediately OK. The war in Israel and Palestine, not so much, but it will happen.
It's how we deal with things that are too much to contemplate otherwise -- that's what I believe, anyway. Frequently, if we don't laugh, we'll cry, and a good cry is good, but laughter is FAR better!
I don't know about anybody else, but now that Greg has outed himself as having performed as the Major-General, I would expect, at some point, to hear a Five-8 Karaoke based around, "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General." DO IT!!! lol
I also love The Music Man. I always wanted to be Harold Hill, but when we did the show, I was young and wound up singing bass in the barbershop quartet. Music Man has its moments of quiet subversiveness: "I hope / And I pray / For Hester to win just one more A." Come to think of it, both Pirates and Music Man have similar endings: the anti-heroes get out of trouble (with a capital T) because of some silly social reason (they are noblemen / the River CIty parents are so happy their kids are playing instruments that they don't are how bad they sound).
"Major General" is too obvious to ever parody. Part of the fun for me is trying to come up with things that are out of left field a little. Also, the original is already a parody, in a sense. I come up with funny rhymes sometimes, but I will never, ever best "lot o'news"/"hypotenuse." He must have been so tickled when he thought of that.
The Music Man was fun, but still... I remember trying to help the "Gary, Indiana" boy sing that song. It just went on and on and on, and finally he could manage a version of it for the show. This HS musical version cast more on what a person looked like (he was a junior that looked 12) than if they could sing or not. Damn if I can remember the character's name without looking it up! Memory is going. "House Manager" seemed to mean whatever the director needed, as were all of the peripheral crew. We were all assistant directors.
On opening night, I wore a Pittsburgh Pirates hat to the show. The director saw it and was like, WE MUST USE THAT. So at the part where the Major General is made an honorary member of the pirate band, the Pirate King handed me the hat. Ha! I love anachronism humor.
I spend more time than I’d like to admit on Facebook, but precisely because it’s an almost endless source of postings of current-theme absurdities that make me laugh. My wife and I have a pact that we’ll each seek out our share of laughs every day to help us deal with the greed and inhumanity that’s in the news. But the analytical part of me really appreciates what this piece provides: a serious discussion about humor, its historical contexts, and why it’s important. And, as usual, you help me appreciate cultural phenomena—like songs, movies, poems and plays— that I’d never bothered to experience before.
To be fair, WS does have his moments. There's that great line from I think it's one of the Henry IV where the mystic says "I can summon spirits from he vasty deep" and the other guy says, "So can anyone, but do they come?"
I played Edith in my high school's production of Pirates and I still love the play. I agree that the humor is timeless.
It's impossible, I think, to be in it and not love it. There's just too much cleverness to admire, and too much great music.
"To whom, Lady Astor, referred to as 'That b!@#$.' A NYC publication, early 2000s." Media
Yes. I am grateful for a sense of humor every day. It's a blessing that sociopaths clearly lack.
Their "humor" is always grounded in meanness and sadism.
Absolutely.
I spent the week close to tears watching and reading all the news about Israel and Palestinian people who were murdered by the terrorist organization HAMAS. Our daughter has gone to Israel 3 times in the last ten years. Each time she assured us that she was safe because Israel has a great army and Air Force. But now I wonder. Bibi allowed this crime against his citizens and should be prosecuted for it! I pray for peace for all the people in the Middle East/world. Thanks for saying it’s still okay to laugh. Peace and Love to all 🙏
And three days later, it only gets messier, bloodier, and sadder. Peace and love indeed.
Wish I could remember that far back when my junior high music class covered "Pirates." All I remember is being delightfully entertained.
IMO, comedy is not disrespectful in these times. Comedy is necessary so our brains can still function. So, yes, let's Make Rome Great Again!
This six-minute video by Jordan Klepper carries the comedy flag as well as you did (and do), Greg.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQMkuJoo70U
Thanks, Lynell!
Bravo, Greg. Well explicated, very well enjoyed. Thanks for an uplifting Sunday read.
Thanks, Judy.
One reason to think about the Roman Empire is how it arose from the Roman Republic it destroyed. Following the final Roman victory in the Third Punic War, Rome was the strongest power around, an empire in all but name outside its borders. The attempt to remain a Republic domestically while being an empire internationally created a tension that took about 245 years to reconcile. Those making money from the Empire became increasingly unwilling to put up with the restrictions of the Republic and bought and paid for those willing to knock it down. Those who represented the people not getting rich from the Empire sought to maintain the Republic by keeping the Empire under control, with intermittent success.
Eventually the corruption of the Republic created by the ones getting rich from the Empire led to its increasing dysfunction and the common people wanted to Make It Stop. They supported Julius Caesar, who was both successful militarily and a successful political populist. Most people with at least a semi-education beyond public school know the basics of the rest of that story.
The story of Rome has much to do with the story of the United States, since the Founders were all readers of Polybius, who had outlined the strengths of the Roman Republic that allowed it to fight and win the Punic Wars despite much travail in the process (in the First Punic War the Roman army was defeated by Hannibal every year for ten years. The Romans raised a new army every year regardless; the army raised in the 11th year defeated Hannibal.) The founders thus formally adopted the structure of the Roman Republic, since it was the longest-lived Republic, in hopes the problems of that system would be dealt with successfully by people of virtue, people like the Romans who won the Punic Wars.
The Second World War was our Punic Wars and the American republic became an empire internationally while attempting to remain a republic domestically. Like Rome, those making money from the Empire have become increasingly unwilling to accept the restrictions of the Republic. In our case it didn't take 245 years, since it no longer takes six months for the memo to reach all interested parties for a decision to be made. We're at the point Cicero wrote about where the corruption and rot started to become obvious. It's been done within the lifetime of a person (me) born on the high tide of the American Republic, the year America liberated the world.
So yeah, there's a lot of reason to look to the Roman example. To me, it's for lessons of what not to do. The old Roman republicans saw the problem and the solution, but weren't strong enough to execute it. We need to smack down the oligarchs making money from the Empire and destroy their power if we want to keep a Republic.
Thanks for this. I just finished reading MESSALINA, a new history from Honor Cargill-Martin, which I highly recommend. It's all about the first wife of Claudius and the court system at the time. As I read the chapter about Caligula, all I could think of was Elon Musk. Maybe that sort of psychopath rises up in moments like this? The book is also about the perceptions of women, and there's a lot to learn there.
I would push back on the American Empire, just to qualify that except for the brief flirtation after the Spanish-American War, the U.S. has never tried to expand its borders and acquire new territory, which Rome and other empires did. But your point stands. The foreign policy is at odds with the domestic policy. And now the fascists at home are running amok. As you perfectly put it: "those making money from the Empire have become increasingly unwilling to accept the restrictions of the Republic." It's a scary moment.
My senior year of HS, we debated back and forth about the Spring Musical. It came down to "The Music Man" vs "Pirates," and the director that year, a substitute from the usual woman who ran the drama department like Stella Adler, FINALLY decided on "The Music Man," because "Pirates" was TOO HARD! So dumb and annoying because gods forbid students in their senior year should learn to STRETCH themselves in preparation for college. I WAS the very model of a modern Major-General and I got blocked by 76 trombones! I bowed out of that and was the House Manager. Stupid fascist high school!
But I have always loved "Pirates," and sometimes still find myself humming tunes from it. And yes, comedy MUST be a part of our lives, or we die from despair, simple as that. After 9/11, there were many TV shows and comedy clubs that simply closed down for weeks. SNL opened weeks later with Lorne Michaels asking "America's Mayor" if it was OK to be funny again. It's happening quicker now. January 6th humor, because take away the implications and the whole day was a ridiculous farce, was almost immediately OK. The war in Israel and Palestine, not so much, but it will happen.
It's how we deal with things that are too much to contemplate otherwise -- that's what I believe, anyway. Frequently, if we don't laugh, we'll cry, and a good cry is good, but laughter is FAR better!
I don't know about anybody else, but now that Greg has outed himself as having performed as the Major-General, I would expect, at some point, to hear a Five-8 Karaoke based around, "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General." DO IT!!! lol
Thanks, Steve.
I also love The Music Man. I always wanted to be Harold Hill, but when we did the show, I was young and wound up singing bass in the barbershop quartet. Music Man has its moments of quiet subversiveness: "I hope / And I pray / For Hester to win just one more A." Come to think of it, both Pirates and Music Man have similar endings: the anti-heroes get out of trouble (with a capital T) because of some silly social reason (they are noblemen / the River CIty parents are so happy their kids are playing instruments that they don't are how bad they sound).
"Major General" is too obvious to ever parody. Part of the fun for me is trying to come up with things that are out of left field a little. Also, the original is already a parody, in a sense. I come up with funny rhymes sometimes, but I will never, ever best "lot o'news"/"hypotenuse." He must have been so tickled when he thought of that.
The Music Man was fun, but still... I remember trying to help the "Gary, Indiana" boy sing that song. It just went on and on and on, and finally he could manage a version of it for the show. This HS musical version cast more on what a person looked like (he was a junior that looked 12) than if they could sing or not. Damn if I can remember the character's name without looking it up! Memory is going. "House Manager" seemed to mean whatever the director needed, as were all of the peripheral crew. We were all assistant directors.
I shared this with my friends Diane and Bob Linder (Bob conducted many, many G&S productions over the years.) Thanks for the Sunday lift!
Thanks, Ellen!
Thanks
Dude! In high school, I played the Major General, too. I was so cute. Loved it. ♥️
And I'm sure you were great!
On opening night, I wore a Pittsburgh Pirates hat to the show. The director saw it and was like, WE MUST USE THAT. So at the part where the Major General is made an honorary member of the pirate band, the Pirate King handed me the hat. Ha! I love anachronism humor.
I spend more time than I’d like to admit on Facebook, but precisely because it’s an almost endless source of postings of current-theme absurdities that make me laugh. My wife and I have a pact that we’ll each seek out our share of laughs every day to help us deal with the greed and inhumanity that’s in the news. But the analytical part of me really appreciates what this piece provides: a serious discussion about humor, its historical contexts, and why it’s important. And, as usual, you help me appreciate cultural phenomena—like songs, movies, poems and plays— that I’d never bothered to experience before.
Thanks, Earl. Laughter really is the best medicine. Unless you have an infection, in which case antibiotics work better. : )
Honestly, I love that line of Shakespeare’s; I didn’t really think of it as a joke, but a truism.
To be fair, WS does have his moments. There's that great line from I think it's one of the Henry IV where the mystic says "I can summon spirits from he vasty deep" and the other guy says, "So can anyone, but do they come?"
Apparently, today: Oct. 25, 2023 -- the Johnson came.