ORDINARY IS AN INVENTION

ORDINARY IS AN INVENTION

Opinion by Charles E.J. Moulton


The term “ordinary” compares and judges people according to social stature. It forgets that humans are so different in their ways of life that comparisons are pointless.
Many people would testify that not being a member of the upper ten makes them “ordinary”. A generalization here would be dangerous, of course. But, as I aim to prove within the next few pages, the term ordinary is an invention. It is a superficial stereotype.
The gap between the ruling classes has always existed. In that sense, it is nothing new. In ancient Egypt, the pharaoh was considered more of a God than a person. There were rulers like Ramses II, who died when he was 96 years old. Three generations of Egyptians had only known Ramses as a pharaoh. In that respect, it was no wonder that they felt he was a God and that they were close to nothing. But the assumption was wrong, of course. Ramses bled, slept, ate food and drank liquids just like everyone else and he was just as special as the dork on the corner.
In his book “The Marx Brothers in Petrograd”, the Swedish historical researcher Peter Englund claims that the tolerance level has sunken dramatically over the course of last three hundred years. Beggars were a more accepted sort and a part of society in the 16th century.
Today, being a beggar is nearly a criminal offense. All you have to do is to look at how people react to homeless people.
Why is that? The biggest problem, as I see it, is the mainstream of modern youth and fame culture. Although we are all part of it, the standards of beauty and fame have been so specialized that anyone outside of that pattern is discarded as boring. Again, look at the way many people behave when they encounter something unsual. Media manipulation is high, most of all because of the constant input of brand interest.
You invest in relationships, have quality time with your family and speak in a cartoon-like idiom about the excursions with your family.
But if this term, “ordinary”, is so common and it always has been, why is it dangerous? I mean, if people live in their little houses and congregetions and groups – is that a threat?
Not persay, no. Clubs and groups are a part of society. They have to exist. The problems begin when these groups begin to exclude each other.
Let me give you an example. Nazi Germany was such a society. The Jewish community profiled themselves in the late 19th century as financial experts. So much so, that they were criticized as a definate threat to Germany. It really did become a question of “us” and “them”. Hitler used the ordinary, normal, common and “Arian” stereotype to claim that everyone else was wrong and he wasn’t. The whole problem was only that Hitler was frustrated and excluded those who were different for personal reasons.
Now, look at it from the other angle. Orthodox Jews will claim that anyone except them does not belong to the community of God. Go to Harlem in New York City as a white person and see what it feels like to be “special”. Live a different lifestyle, listen to strange music, leave your garden untidy in the summer and then you will see what real mobbing is like. Break the norm, the normal stereotype, and challenge what people are used to: then you will definately see how evil people can be.
As of July 1st 2013, the world has 7,162,119,434 people. We often forget that all of these people, young and old, big and small, are all unique humans and cannot be compared with each other. The stereotype or cliché of generalizing people and smoothing them out to fit a certain standard simply comes from a very common fact: we don’t want to take the trouble of going out there and understanding everyone. The horrible thing begins when we tell ourselves that we are not special. That is sad, because we are.
Everyone is special. Kings are just as special as janitors. No more and no less. And here is the amazing thing, a paradox for you: the more we realize that we are special, the more we can see that we have in common with other people. In our diversity, we are one. Plus attracts minus, yin attracts yang, male atttracts female.
Today’s commercial infrastructure appeals to hierarchy, status and having to be a certain way to be accepted. Facebook is such an example. Countless teenagers have been subjected to ruthless torture and complete alienation by their classmates on social media because they were not “ordinary”. That is one reason why the term “ordinary” not only is an invention, but constitutes are real threat. Companies and brands sell their products based on what they think people expect and, in turn, people behave like they think society expects them to be in turn. It is a dance, a ping-pong-game, that seems to be transformed only when someone breaks the mold and tries something new. But because people are habitual animals, they have a difficulty in accepting anything that is new.
To sum up the problem: this attitude creates fascism and bigotry. The Nazis chase the Jews, the Syrians chase the Turks, the Chinese chase the Africans, the terrorists chase commercial society.
If you have the attitude that people are unique, that there always will be unusual people and in fact that there will always be different than you, then you will accept anyone who has another attitude.
The trouble always begins when people say: “We are all the same!”
That is, as I have pointed out, a dangerous way to be.
We need to be different.
That makes us interesting.
The same? Now, wouldn’t that be boring? Everyone would listen to the same music, eat the same food, have the same jobs, live the same way, drive the same cars, have the same attitude.
We would learn absolutely nothing.
So, accordingly, next time when you complain about how strange someone is, stop for a moment and think about what you are saying. Strange is good. Strange is interesting. Strange is different. Maybe the guy you are complaining about thinks you are strange, too. Ask him what makes him tick and why he behaves differently than you. Then, maybe, you will actually find a common denominator and realize: that in your diversity you are one.
We have a lot in common, but we are all special.
Those especially special should be tolerated, not pushed away.
As I have proved, ordinary is an invention.