Come Back, MZ, All Is Forgiven

Whatever you can say in favor of blogs, they have generally not raised the quality of civil discourse. And I’ve been no help there.

In my last post, I observed that there is currently no dominant cultural/media paradigm. Yuppies? Preppies? Slackers? Gen-Xers? We don’t have anything like that. Our decade doesn’t even have a name.

A commenter named “MZ” took me to task:

“Are you serious? The 'naughts' are about the 'hipster.' Have you really never heard either of these terms? You are not qualified to write this article then. At the last marketing conference I went to we had a session on hipsters and their consumer choices. The term is now becoming mainstream which means that it is no longer hip. But that's OK, they have been a major market force for at least 5 years now.”

Following the long-hallowed traditions of the blogosphere, I naturally posted a snarky reply. I won’t repeat it here (though it’s still posted), because I kind of regret it. Not that I think I was wrong, exactly. But my response wasn’t the whole story. For a lot of reasons, I should be grateful to those few commenters I receive.

Besides, although I have heard those terms, MZ is right: I’m not qualified.

Next month, I turn 50. I’m not complaining: These things happen. It’s liberating, actually. I’m no longer obligated to know anything about the latest bands or anything else “cool” (i.e., what white people like).

Nor do I have to pay close attention to “trends” like microblogging. I’m barely hip to macroblogging.

Full disclosure: I don’t have cable. I don’t watch TV at all, except for NFL games. And even that will come to an end in 2009, when digitalization will cause my small, elderly set to burst into flames.

This may sound like bragging. Maybe it is. Or maybe I don’t know what’s really true about my fellow humans. Maybe stuff—wine bar chic, calling purses “handbags,” Barack Obama’s lousy bowling, the buzz being woven around the Sex and the City movie—does point to something deep about our culture and ourselves. Maybe Oscar Wilde got it right when he wrote that there’s nothing more profound than surfaces.

Or maybe a lot of “consumer choices” have nothing to do with real life, but some alternative “life” we imagine for ourselves. Or have been “taught” to imagine.

But again, I’m not qualified to say for sure. I’m certainly not the smartest guy in the room. My point: Who is?

So I say to MZ and anyone else: feel free to harsh my mellow. (See? I am hip, at least circa 1983.) We’ll all learn something. Even when it’s about something that’s not quite real.

Comments

[Allison Boreen]

Hrrmmm..Hipsters, the Naughts? This is the label I fall in? I am worried. I also am secretly hoping "MZ" is not in my generation. No offense. But whatever you call us (born in the 80's), one thing I do know, some of your traits (turning 50), your habits (watching TV for sporting events only), your lies (come on- we know you had to research Sex and the City, wine bar chic and "handbags"), I am left feeling envious. Your lifestyle is the kind I want, and there are times I feel held back because of my generation. Sad huh? But the fact is we do not all fit the mold. Perhaps we market to the mass but acknowledge the unique? Although I was born in a different generation, I like yours better. And, I am okay with that. And to be frank, I like that you are not quite as "qualified" to write the article. It makes it...more real. Uniquely you.