Toga man.

I felt like doing nothing today. Some days are just like this and I don't know why.

I just got back from a lecture about clothing in the Roman world. More speciffically, the lecture was about togas, and of course, the spiel was given by the toga man. Here are some pictures from the lecture. He was quite a character and reminded me perfectly of my grandpa: had a grandeur in his speech, was very articulate and didn't hide from being offensive and funny. I found the lecture very healthy for me because I realized how many of the roman traditions are still present in Europe, and how Americans are a little sheltered from this spartan culture.

The toga man was talking about how Romans took pride in being disciplined because they considered it to differentiate them from animals. They had to bear cold, heat, hunger, or any physical discomfort without even acknowledging it. You couldn't afford to be called a whiner or a sissy by saying: oh, my balls are cold, let me get another cloth around my waist. In a similar sense the education that people experience in Romania, and from my knowledge everywhere in Europe (especially spartan places like Germany or Britain) says that being spoiled is bad. You wouldn't see anybody whine about how bad the food at the cafeteria is, or how cold the Swedish winters are, or how empty the pockets are. Kids endure playing soccer on concrete and getting their knee caps crushed, or playing rugby without any padding. (Notice, I didn't include the French and the Italians here. They are a total different breed)

Here in the US people are taught to be spoiled. Choice is the foundation of the American society. You have to be spoiled, because as an individual you are a customer in all aspects of life and so you can make any decisions that concern you. Discipline is not an American value. Discipline can actually have a negative conotation, falling in the category of abuse. Kids can do whatever they want and parents can't have any control over them since they have no way of punishment available. This can have a very positive impact on people, helping them become very individual, but in a weird kind of way. What I mean is that people are individual, but becuase they don't have the discipline to rationalize what their options are, they fall into the smallest traps. Everybody dresses the same, but voluntarily. Everybody gets fat, but voluntarily. Everbody buys stuff that they absolutely don't need, just because they can and they want to be individual. Everbody does these things so everybody ends up being IDENTICAL.

I remember clearly how my mom use to educate me by making the same comparisons used by the Romans. In everything we do we should ask ourselves if we are acting as animals or as humans. There is a certain pride in being a human, this biped animal, very cocky and vertical. And how else can we match this pride, other than acting as a vertical being: with verticality. If we're giving in to the smallest discomforts, pleasures and gimmiks laid out in front of us, we might as well go back crawling on four limbs like animals. Sounds pretty radical to me, but I believe it to some extent, and it served me well so far.

My lazy ass roommate just got up, so I guess it's time to do something useful now.