I just realized today that our society in the usa is one where people are not accustomed to giving thanks to those who produce excellence.

There is a way that the passion of people gets expressed when they find excellent stuff. They generally get passionate about the parameters the artist or maker of the good has set out for herself or himself, which will let her produce that good or service. What's the passion over free music downloading via napster, or pirate bay, or limewire? Well, the passion of people who tout the ideas of Lawrence Lessig when they talk about their love of getting free stuff off of the internet has some roots. It originates in the fact that people have been desperate for good music and good film which the behemoth music and film industries in the usa are not producing. Folks are finally finding quality stuff out there on the internet, and they see that those who produce that kind of good art are choosing to usually make it available for free.

In the same way, people have become passionate about shopping at health food stores, which inundate us with exciting and exotic new kinds of foods, with pretty packaging, and interesting flavors and textures.

Another movement I have seen rise in my lifetime has been the outdoor movement. People are passionate about getting all this cool gear. When I was a kid in the 1970s, the standard for camping equipment was army surplus or things from the Coleman company. But there was one trend setting company who seemed to change all that - the REI cooperative built a new store in seattle in the 1980s, which strove to support upstart equipment manufacturers who had creative ideas, and produced things in smaller quantities.

But these passions that people have about the business strategies of folks do not translate to actual words of appreciation to those who produce excellent things. I have, in recent years, become very fond of the computer manufacturer: Asus... They make high quality computer equipment... but I haven't written them any letters of thanks or appreciation. Their slogan: "Rock Solid, heart touching," while very original and very nice, seems almost kind of odd exactly because "heart touching" implies some sort of human exchange of appreciation between consumers and producers of equipment. And that just doesn't happen in the usa.

So musing about why our society has become so thankless towards people who's work is otherwise very appreciated, I asked myself why. Well, the thing that I've seen in my lifetime has been the wild fandom that surrounded musicians. Fan comes from the word "fanatic" - and those music afficiandos who expressed their appreciation to the artist became seen as a nuisance. I haven't been to a rock concert in a long time. I live in a little tourist town, which doesn't often get itself on the tour map of folks. But as I remember rock concerts from my teen years... the enthusiasm seemed to surround the fact that there was such a big jump in technical quality when people started buying compact discs rather than vinyl records and cassettes. I kind of feel the same thing is true today about young people's enthusiasm for modern film and video games. Even though the quality of the art and storylines is very low... the quality of the technical graphics is just superb. And rock musicians have sought to exploit the passions of their fans, by selling out large stadiums - this is where musicians get most of their money - from performances. Musicians have actively and foolishly encouraged all sorts of out of control fanaticism around their performances, hoping that they will sell more tickets because of it.

So what of fanaticism or fandom? I think that the flames of these passions are fanned intentionally by performers and music marketers. On the other hand, there is certainly a common effect which is completely organic. I was working for a while with a very prestigious musician who had in previous years performed on stage with big name music stars. And I saw an interesting dynamic around her. People who wanted to get to know her would trip over their words and ideas, and somehow wouldn't recognize that they were acting weirdly. When you have placed someone up there on a pedestal in your mind, you tend to think that you can be more childlike around them, I think. One steps back in time to that mode of being a child around parents or caregivers.

Generally, however, expressing appreciation is important. I never get any words of appreciation when I write my ideas in discussion forums on the internet. Usually I get combative people wanting to antagonize or "debate" me. It's quite disheartening. And this phenomenon is one factor in a decision of mine that I will not ever try to make money from publishing my philosophical musings in the usa. People just seem to be too anti-intellectual here. Another big litmus test for me was seeing how Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich came to be perceived by the general public during the 2007-2008 presidential campaign. These are two very erudite wise people... but the mainstream media painted them up as if they were cranks - and that's what people came to see them as. Someday, if I emigrate from the usa, then I might decide to publish a book or two. I just don't see it as being a safe lifestyle to be a writer or speaker who talks about grand new ideas in the usa.

There are areas where I do see more appreciation for what I do... working with children, and singing with a small choral group. And these things have consequently become greater passions of mine - although these things will not be things which help me financially with income.

Expressing warmth, affection, and appreciation to folks who produce excellence in a sea of others who produce mediocrity goes a lot farther to encourage those few to produce more of the same than just passionately supporting the parameters they seem to need to produce their material.