### BLOG IS BACK IN BUSINESS!!! ###
This evening in Barcelona it rained so suddenly and heavily that everyone all at once was running for shelter. Soon, people had gathered into improvised groups under awnings and doorways by the side of the street.
I started thinking then about that total blackout in New York - back in, what, 2004 was it? Apparently that evening was the nicest that people in NY have ever been to each other; just out in the street, being together.
So maybe they should make an annual event of it? Have one night a year when they just turn off the lights - everything - and people could just go out in the street and talk.
This is a bit like the old idea of “carnival”: a day when all the norms that we usually have to keep us safe and dry are lifted. Well, the norms have changed now: “normal” life is not what it used to be. Many social norms now are not so much to do with hierarchy, as to do with atomisation, and reliance on technology. So perhaps we need to invent new forms of ritual relief?
Post a Comment