P3D Re: Alternatives

[Bruce Springsteen <bsspringsteen@xxxxxxxxx>]

Well, I finally decide to lie low and keep my philosophical fingers to
myself, and a seminar in alternative culture and art and 3D and sex and
elephant dung and the 60s and who knows *what* else breaks out! How'm I
supposed to stay on the wagon with this going on?

I believe a near-synonym of "alternative" is "choice".  When individuals
or groups perceive themselves to be in a minority, or powerless to promote
their tastes and values, they come to feel unduly constrained in their
choices of what to consume, produce, say and do.  When such a person or
group tries to assert its presence in the public arena, it will often call
itself "alternate" or "alternative".  Bob Maxey correctly notes that
"alternative to what?" is the important question.  To those declaring
themselves "alternative", the answer is obvious and the question is taken
as evidence of obliviousness to their perspective, intensifying their
disaffection.  The typical truth is that "alternative" is not waved as a
banner of conviction, but as a declaration of what one is NOT - a
self-definition by negation.

Young people, as a group, tend to be out of power, displeased with the
world they have been handed, burdened with the idea that everything
happens expressly to demean and oppress them (delusions of reference), and
very focused on predictable priorities - sex, liberation from parental
authority, acceptance by peers.  So it comes as no surprise that each
generation of teens and young adults produces "alternative" culture in a
dizzying variety, mostly harmless.  While potentially creative, it's
generally pretty narrow, shallowly conformist, and temporary - so the
older generations tend to laugh it away, having been there themselves with
different music, clothing and language.  (They have presumably learned to
live in shallow conformity without pretension or denial, and are proud of
that evolution.)

Anyway, most people find their way into some kind of "alternative"
self-identity as adults.  Many retain the fixations of youth, tried and
true, but we also assert new "alternatives".  Conservatives see themselves
as alternative to a permissive, wasteful and parasitic rabble.  Liberals
see themselves as alternative to an arrogant, over-privileged and
rapacious power elite.  Moderates and reformers see themselves as
alternative to the old political dichotomies.  Artists are an
underappreciated segment of society, photographers a disrespected subset
of art, stereographers the neglected step-children of photography, erotic
stereo-windowless dung-flinging anaglyphic medium-format stereo innovators
can't get shown at 3D meetings, ad infinitum I suppose.
 
I want a new definition of "alternative".  As I have gotten older, my
tastes in food have expanded to include almost everything edible,
including many things I wouldn't touch as a young person, if they are
well-prepared. My tastes in art have also expanded - varied life
experiences have led me to appreciate sentiments from mawkish to
vitriolic, in styles from turgid to completely unaccountable, and subjects
from the tame to the tawdry, with fortunately a rich variety between these
extremes.  So I declare that I'm an "alternative" diner, in that I enjoy
as many alternatives as I can, and seek new ones.  Similarly I am an
"alternative" artist, in that I will find value and expressive potential
in as many ways as I can, without categorical and permanent exclusion of
styles or subjects or media.  The question then becomes not "Do you like
classical, or country, or rap music?" but "Do you enjoy good classical,
good country, and good rap music, and know the difference?"

What say you, folks?

Bruce (Give me one of everything, please.) Springsteen





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