Traditional virtue and contemporary culture, Mankad

 

Oblivion conquering Fame
Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898)
Photo Credit: Birmingham Museums Trust [CCO] 

...What is most notable is that this instant outpouring of media praise for the Queen's traditional virtues comes amid a contemporary culture that elevates daily, even hourly, a value system of self-regard, self-promotion, changeability, acting out and anything-goes behaviour that is the polar opposite of Queen Elizabeth's.

The celebration of the Queen's traditional values suggests an unexpected recognition of the extreme artificiality of our now dominant culture...

"Influencer" is the defining word for our times.

An influencer's success depends overwhelmingly on one thing: self-promotion accomplished by rising in the hot-air balloons of Instagram, TikTok and other social media. The goal is to marry marketing with fame. Because influencers do it, millions of others, often young women, make preoccupation with themselves the one habit that directs their lives...

In the new ethos, a well-ordered life is measured by one's commitment to notions such as social justice, equity, inclusion and - undeniably the most dominant modern virtue - saving the planet...

One effect of giving social responsibility more weight than personal responsibility is that it gives people a pass on their personal behaviour. So long as one's life is "centred" on some larger social good, the conduct of one's personal life is, well, irrelevant...

(Daniel Henninger, The Times, 2022)

What an interesting article contrasting the personal traits of the dead Queen - reserve, self-containment, duty, responsibility, graciousness, civility, prudence and fortitude with the traits associated with the "influencers" - self-promotion, self-aggrandisement and the importance of social, rather than, personal responsibility. 

Mankad

I recall an anecdote sent to me today from an old teammate at Woodhouses [Cricket Club in Manchester]; we had a bowler called Len Piggot, the local farmer, who was bowling at a batsman-son combination.

He warned the father about backing up too far and then ran out the son without warning. When the son asked why no warning he said, "One warning per family only."

(Mike Atherton, The Times, 2022)