In his brilliant essay, "Jay Gatsby is a Man For Our Times," writer Adam Cohen makes a strong case for the timelessness of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. What's important here is how the American Dram is defined mostly by materialistic criteria. That is, financial success is valued as the pinnacle of the dream and achieving that success by any means necessary is the reality that sustains.
In fact, Cohen goes so far as to suggest that the green light at the end of Gatsby's dock functions as a sort of traffic signal indicating "Go, get on with it, move, act, the coast is clear. That's why the dream can become a nightmare for those who blindly go forward without heeding or caring about danger from blindly going all in. It is also why so many times things American tend to be over the top. There is no caution, no reflection, often no regard for consequences. Some would argue further that this over the top mentality is a sure sign of a culture in decline.
So it was with this in mind that I began to think about the revelation that the Houston Astros cheated in winning the 2019 World Series. Ironic that it comes 100 years after the famous Black Sox scandal from the 1919 series. Dramatic proof that that green light continues to shine bright.
So the Astros were stealing signs on the Dodger pitching staff. Somebody's conscious decision to break the rules had to impact the entire team. Did they want to win that bad that they had to devise an elaborate system to gain an illegal advantage? Apparently so. What's worse is that on some level they all decided this was OK and that they could live with themselves just fine. I can't wait to hear their explanations. That will be useful.
Of course, the fact that something so American as the World Series can be corrupted will hit hard. Not as hard in 2019 as in 1919, I suppose. Just look at the state of the union today. It seems only natural that in this era of "fake news" and the lack of civility that everything is vulnerable to the forces of corruption. That the American Dream (whatever you deem it to be) is powerful is clear.
In fact, Cohen goes so far as to suggest that the green light at the end of Gatsby's dock functions as a sort of traffic signal indicating "Go, get on with it, move, act, the coast is clear. That's why the dream can become a nightmare for those who blindly go forward without heeding or caring about danger from blindly going all in. It is also why so many times things American tend to be over the top. There is no caution, no reflection, often no regard for consequences. Some would argue further that this over the top mentality is a sure sign of a culture in decline.
So it was with this in mind that I began to think about the revelation that the Houston Astros cheated in winning the 2019 World Series. Ironic that it comes 100 years after the famous Black Sox scandal from the 1919 series. Dramatic proof that that green light continues to shine bright.
So the Astros were stealing signs on the Dodger pitching staff. Somebody's conscious decision to break the rules had to impact the entire team. Did they want to win that bad that they had to devise an elaborate system to gain an illegal advantage? Apparently so. What's worse is that on some level they all decided this was OK and that they could live with themselves just fine. I can't wait to hear their explanations. That will be useful.
Of course, the fact that something so American as the World Series can be corrupted will hit hard. Not as hard in 2019 as in 1919, I suppose. Just look at the state of the union today. It seems only natural that in this era of "fake news" and the lack of civility that everything is vulnerable to the forces of corruption. That the American Dream (whatever you deem it to be) is powerful is clear.
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