Initiation, Decadence

Welcome to my blog. My name is Matt Hagan, and I'm fairly mediocre at just about everything. I can count shelves at a library and quickly turn them into linear feet, that is the one thing that I do rather exceptionally. Other than that I'm talentless.

But I am curious. I enjoy writing, reading, sports, politics, and consuming large quantities of chicken wings. I hope to write blogs covering all of these subjects and more.

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A topic that has recently piqued my curiosity is decadence. There is something about embracing decadence in this day and age that really appeals to my contrary nature. A life of flash and style is so much more compelling in times of crisis than one of substance and sense of duty. And in order to truly embrace decadence, one must actively sacrifice urges of frugality, sensibility, empathy, and reason. Instead, the decadent one gets HBO and Cinemax, lives alone in a four-bedroom house, and buys Delmonicos more often than butter.

It has been argued that entire societies have become decadent, and it you're reading this, or if I can picture you reading this, you are probably a member of one of those societies (as of this writing, I do not know any ancient Romans, although there was this old dude that used to watch our softball games in Lakewood, Ohio, USA, Milky Way, and I'm fairly certain he was around for the fall of the empire). The USA, Milky Way circa 1950-2008 was soooooo decadent.

But now it's not cool. We have this recession-depression thing (coincidentally or not, Lenin himself called this collapse of capitalism, which he decried as inherently decadent and not thriftily efficient as we've been taught to believe). And now we're forced to imagine no possessions (Lennon called this one), a world collapsing on its own gluttonous urges. This facade of a shatterproof imperialist society has shattered, and now in order to pick ourselves up, we all must walk on broken glass (Annie Lennox gets dibs on this tidbit).

After generations of decadence, have we turned a blind eye to our heritage of institutional smugness? And who, in this era, can justify the excesses of full-blown decadence (those in the financial and automotive industries get a pass, as much like Cincinnati, as Mark Twain once mused, banking and car execs are perpetually behind the times)? Now, does it seem that to be rich and full of yourself is not what we aspire to? I do know Shania Twain would say to such decadence, "that don't impress me much." We, as a society, are letting go of decadence and attempting to survive through utilitarian pursuits? I doubt it, and I'd imagine Kipling would doubt it as well, for he wrote that "never the twain shall meet." (Twain means two, jackass, and it's from the era where people wrote on scrolls and told stories about virgins having babies)

Who are these people with the ability to eschew the very real constraints that society places on such excess and selfishness? In order to be truly decadent these days, it has to be an act, executed with conviction worthy of an Oscar. You would also have to be a pretty wild dude.

"Decadence is the subordination of the whole to the parts," said by none other than Oscar Wilde.

Diggin it Oscar, and count me in. I gotta be me. So gimme some of that top shelf stuff. I'll pay for parking. And I'll let you know about it. Do I owe you money? Who cares, it's just money, I'm not gonna repay you. It's the importance of being earnest that matters, right?