tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8709052517699784943.post664443727161803736..comments2024-03-24T05:20:55.209-04:00Comments on Greater New York: Where Beethoven Never Gets Rolled OverRob Snyderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14297706005998824168noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8709052517699784943.post-30710732212220741232011-01-21T18:12:09.417-05:002011-01-21T18:12:09.417-05:00The question of the triumph of the ordinary in con...The question of the triumph of the ordinary in contemporary culture? Huge question. I imagine the Tiger Mother may be asking that question at this moment.<br /><br />I suppose one could come up with a number of reasons for the triumph of mediocrity particularly in "democratic" settler societies like the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Democracy (really faux democracy, of course; oligarchic republics remain the dominant species in the West)? The decline in educational standards? The democratisation of culture? The near death of classical music and the marginalisation of jazz by "democratic" pop music? The triumph of the Lucas-Spielberg tween film and the demise, by and large, of interest in fine art in the corporate world? The triumph of commodity aestheticism (the notion that all value and beauty is a function of how much money "art" can make)?Ronald Helfrich Jnr.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01979221009291819300noreply@blogger.com