Thinking Publicly - Issue 4 - What is Basic?
from The Snow Leopard, by Peter Matthiessen via epigraphs by phoebe pan via laura olin's newsletterReflections on Last Week
Thoreau thought rather poorly of the man who, as soon as he wakes, asks:
It's important to note, Thoreau was just as grumpy about the coffee as he was about the obsession with news. And I drink a lot of coffee. So let's not pretend he approves of my lifestyle more than anyone else's."Pray tell me anything new that has happen to a man anywhere on this globe"--and he reads it over his coffee and rolls, that a man has had his eyes gouged out this morning on the Wachito River; never dreaming the while that he lives in the dark unfathomed mammoth cave of this world, and has but the rudiment of an eye himself.
Unlike Thoreau, my mom thought my argument went too far, but she also approaches the news with a great deal of skepticism and filters out a lot of junk. Similarly Jeff writes,
There are still valuable resources (propublica, lawfareblog) doing good work as well as some individuals (see David Fahrenthold at WaPo and his investigations into Trump's businesses for example) so as long as individuals use critical thinking and analysis they should be able to stay informed without being manipulated."
So you weren't alone if you disagreed with me, but I still think I'm 100% right.
Poetry Interlude
Ross reminds me that April was national poetry month. Here’s one of his:
And here’s one from Brennan:the light
divinity is the lightalwaysbut sometimessome lightfinds a wayto illuminatesomething greaterfor meit’s the treeswhen their leavesfind the sunjust soperfectlycaught up in everything
Sympathy Dart Frog
I have to hire
a sympathy dart frogto sit, and wait, in the palm
of my handto mutter the things
that feel strange for me to sayand so that I can effortlessly hand
to strangers this frogwhen they are crying on the train, and
my body languagewill convey something about
the universal nature of human sufferinginstead of something about the
prevalence of human apathy
Ross also recommends June by Alex Dimitrov. Here's an excerpt:
I would like to say
something to everyone I see (an entire
city) but I’m unsure what it is yet.
Basicly
I thought hard about giving up on this topic because talking about basic-ness easily devolves into shallow sexism. The term “basic” is shorthand for “basic bitch” and it’s only halfway applied to men, aka bros or Chads. But I have decided to forge on because I have a strong sense that DC suffers from an epidemic of basic bros, and I want to figure out what exactly I so dislike about them.
Basic isn’t a well defined term, but it generally describes an odious and vapid conformity. It is nearly always an insult, including the “I’ll call myself basic before anyone else can” move. And it only functions at a distance. Once you try to understand someone, it’s nearly impossible to think of them as basic.
The meaning changes over time. In college, basic was north face fleece jackets (not guilty, but not by choice), polo shirts (guilty), and sperrys (guilty) or uggs (not guilty). The pumpkin spice latte (not guilty) was the key signifier circa 2014, but they’ve become passe even for the basic.
Based on dozens of hours of anthropological observations and interviews conducted from behind the counter at Q and 7th St. NW, I have concluded that basic in DC currently includes (but is not limited to) the following:
- Brunch (not guilty except when I have to do it to see friends or family)
- Carrying around a yoga mat (mostly not guilty but only because my gym provides them)
- Quarter-zip fleeces (guilty until very recently)
- Chipotle (guilty, because who isn’t?!)
- Going to gay bars even though you aren’t (guilty)
- Barbour jackets (not guilty)
- Ubering everywhere (no longer guilty)
- Baseball hats (not guilty)
- Professional sports fandom (haven’t been guilty for a while)
- Untucked collared shirts and/or ill-fitting athletic shorts (sometimes guilty)
Still, isn’t all fashion conformity? Hipsters end up looking the same because they’re trying to be unique in exactly the same way. And the hippie’s reflexive rejection of social standards was just as simple, and as easily commodified, as the basic bro’s acceptance. At least Chad is honest about his attempt to just fit in.
But this is unfair to fashion and too generous to Chad. Yes, fashion is always an attempt to distinguish one’s self as a member of a group. Like all art it is never original - it always relies on what came before. As a result, art changes only incrementally, which means making it is often very hard and unrewarding. But that doesn’t excuse us from our duty to create and remix. Basic is boring because it fails to contribute new combinations or new perspectives to the collective project of making culture.
Basicness is social striving by an already very privileged class. And thus it seems to demonstrate an ignorant and selfish enjoyment of privilege.
I may also find basicness to be gross because it is conformity to the mainstream and I presently find that mainstream icky. Consider, for example, the bro who dresses as if he were still living in the frat. I’m much more concerned by this basic bro than by the modern valley girls because the bro has a aura of violence. These bros must be aware that their style and manner align them with a group of people with a reputation for sexual assault. Does this mean they simply aren’t worried about people thinking they are date rapists? Or given the near universal complicity of men in sexual violence, does it simply not matter how we dress?
Perhaps basicness bothers me so much because it hits too close to home. The basic bro is my least liked self. I’m scared of being the lazy non-creator, the witless cultural appropriator, and the young man causing harm because he’s confused about sex.
Mariana suggests that the criticism of basic-ness is used to police the boundaries of the elite. Basicness is a way of othering. Yes, these people do and buy many of the same things as I do and, but I do it with a special knowledge - I have style. This seems right. And maybe this boundary also protects me from becoming a lamer version of myself.
Tunes
If you want some contemporary jazz that isn’t boring, Sons of Kemet, My Queen is a Reptile (spotify) is very fun to listen to. Bonus: each song title is an inspiration for a mini-self-directed history lesson. I found it on an endlessly groovy spotify playlist by Four Tet.
If you want to seed a youtube auto-playlist of amazing, chill, and upbeat tracks, there’s maybe no better place to start than with Mariana’s recommendation: Oatmeal by Sudan Archives (youtube)
Related Thoughts + Links
- In a wild interview the legendary, Quincy Jones reminds us that “Rock ain’t nothing but a white version of rhythm and blues, motherfucker.” And he seems to have found the Beetles to be especially basic, which is very satisfying to my personal views.
- Alexa is Basic (h/t to Anne): “The Echo Look won’t tell you why it’s making its decisions. And yet it purports to show us our ideal style, just as algorithms like Netflix recommendations, Spotify Discover, and Facebook and YouTube feeds promise us an ideal version of cultural consumption tailored to our personal desires.”
- Jesse Thorn thoughtfully reflected on fashion literacy, something the basic are sorely missing:
The most sophisticated dressers are engaged in a three-way conversation – between the creator of their clothing, themselves, and the people they interact with while dressed. This happens in the context of a broad set of only semi-shared cultural values.
- Ingrid Goes West (youtube trailer) is very funny and tense and just absolutely spot-on about the costs of living basically. Beyond the excellent acting, the best part was rooting for the horrible characters but never really figuring out what I wanted for them.
- This oral history shows Jeff Goldblum as delightfully un-basic. But idealizing him might be.
- I’m not going to link to any of the many think pieces that described or defended basic-ness. In part because I only mostly only read their headlines. And in part because I’m with Ludwig Wittgenstein (h/t to Josh) when he writes:
“I do not wish to judge how far my efforts coincide with those of other philosophers. Indeed, what I have written here makes no claim to novelty in detail, and the reason why I give no sources is that it is a matter of indifference to me whether the thoughts that I have had have been anticipated by someone else.”