Health and Diet Scottish Recipes Ferret for Ferrets


RE: [pf] "Babbitt" by Sinclair Lewis
by David A
03 December 2000 22:34 UTC

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prichter1@aol.com wrote:
> Nan and Kaleopono have been on this list for at least 
> a couple of years, and I think deserve more respect than what you 
> have been giving of late.  John, whose piece you took such umbrance > 
> with, has been with this list off and on for a long time as well.

I regret upsetting you, Priscilla, but in this case I still stand by my 
remarks. While those in question do often contribute interesting posts, 
their tenure on the list is no excuse for their original insults. 
 
> I still don't understand your problems with John's Babbitt piece, 
> but am only interested in hearing them if you can do so in a way 
> that give all of us  respect and a fuller hearing without putting 
> these good folks down. 

I've tried this before, but I'll try one last time. John wrote:

  "P.S. According to Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, a   
babbitt is 'a business or professional [person] who conforms   
unthinkingly to prevailing middle-class standards.' To this I would   
add: an excessively teamplayerish person who seems incapable of      
expressing even the faintest glimmer of individuality."

It's this last sentence that is his own and which expresses his thoughts 
that I find so insulting. Few things are worse than to proclaim a human 
devoid of individuality -- indeed (and I'm only making this comparison 
to make my point clearer, not to accuse anyone) this is one way that 
societies choose to punish prisoners, by stripping them of their 
individuality, giving them a number and a uniform and a cell 
indistinguishable from the rest. It's part of how militaries treat 
prisoners, part of how Hitler treated the Jews. They weren't individuals 
with hopes and fears and loves and needs, they were in his eyes...well, 
just members of their team. 

So for John to dismiss "excessively teamplayerish" people with no 
further thought to their motives is, IMO, very disrespectful. Unless 
you're living in a tent, "prevailing middle-class standards" covers a 
lot of how all of us live our lives--even John. There are plenty of good 
people who live lives of prevailing middle-class standards--a white 
picket fence, 2.6 children, and all that--and who are certainly 
individuals, with their own unique stories and their own unique lives. 
Maybe the Babbitts are doing the best that they can. Maybe they have 
other things they think about, or have other priorities, or are 
conformists on the outside but struggle mightly on the inside. And maybe 
some of them are happy JUST THE WAY THEY ARE. Where do all these shades 
fall in John's broad, black brush?

David