We have a thing in Australia known as the "Tall Poppy Syndrome".
I don't know if other countries have it- I assume some must- but I grew up and live in OZ, so I'll stick to my own back yard.
And it is a back yard in DESPERATE need of a tip run.
"Tall Poppy Syndrome" is when someone has attained a certain level of fame, fortune or success that could be regarded as star spangled, meteoric...
and we have to run them down.
It's jealousy.
Think of it as a kind of Reverse Darwinism.
Like it's not hard enough getting ahead...but once you ARE there...all these other bastards want to knock you off yr perch.
I never saw it in Amercia on a domestic level; but in terms of their foreign relations...the yanks simply bomb things they don't like to blossom.
We don't even have the BALLS to bomb anybody.
We just bitch about them like winey infants.
It's pathetic.
We can't quite do it...so woe betide those who can/do.
I say 'THEY'...
But I know I can't say that.
I can't talk about our country- ANYONE'S country- like it's a single entitity.
It is faulty logic. I'm supposed to be evolved.
I'm not talking about them...'those out there'...
I'm actually talking about ME.
Allow me to tidy up my own back yard first.
I am guilty of this practice of cutting down tall poppies.
Or, rather, TRYING TO.
I can't even criticise with any great aplomb
But I still try, like an impotent clown who is too pathetic to get his dick hard. So I blame the weather. The booze. The lateness of the hour. Or her.
Anything but me.
I do it a lot.
Sometimes I don't even realise I'm doing it.
Let me give you an example. I'll be reading the news or something, and there will be a story on some poor bastard who has finally made it to the top in the arts.
Say, and Aussie actor or something.
Now...all he/she has done is rise to the top of his/her profession- achieve international recognition- after what might well have been a lifetime of struggle.
This is his/her only crime.
And because I have not achieved the same level of recognition...
What do I do? I bitch about it.
Well, I don't bitch out loud.
I have evolved far enough along to keep my mouth shut.
Bite my tongue.
Because I KNOW it is not what I want to be.
But I still THINK it.
It just pops in there, like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
Like a knee jerk reaction.
At least I admit it.
And that is part of the way to resolving it, right??
So why do I do it if I don't like it?
I mentioned Darwin. Is it in the blood?
Woven into our DNA??
Maybe. Doesn't mean we have to buy into it.
Especially if we want to evolve.
Is it socialisation? Also possible.
It might be systemic. A cultural thing.
My father was like it, too.
Nothing and no one was good enough.
And neither was I.
So I pass it down the line.
Well, I did.
No more.
I don't like it.
I want it gone.
So...from now on...I'm gonna' learn to be more gracious.
I am going to CONGRATULATE successful people.
All the actors, directors, artists, writers, poets, scientists, doctors...
WHATEVER.
People who go out there and MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE.
Rather than just talking about it.
Or worse still, bitching about those who do it.
I might one day be able to stand alongside these great people...
But then again, I most likely will not.
The odds are not in my favour.
WHO CARES?
I can keep trying...AND be gracious toward those who do reach their goal.
And my reward will be the satisfaction of being a nicer fellow.
Thankful for the beauty of these tall poppies.
Which we all get to enjoy.
I mean...is there really a lovelier flower in the world than a poppy??
AND THE TALLER THE BETTER!!
So...grow my beauties.
GROW...
