At the circus: July 06, 1998 issue of New Thinking

July 06, 1998 New Thinking:
At the circus

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July 06, 1998

At the circus

By Gerry McGovern

Driving home this evening I passed ‘The American Circus,’ bedecked with star spangled banners. A few miles on I came across Duffys Circus. ‘Proud To Be Irish’ it proclaimed, with many tricolors flying proudly. I remembered the last circus I had taken Aonghus and Fionn to. It was called ‘The Russian Circus.’

I have no facts but I would think that the circus business is not what it used to be. We have television and all the other modern media, making it more difficult for us to be amazed. Still, children are children, and my children, no matter how much TV they watch, like going to the circus.

We live in a world constantly seeking balance. Balance between what is feared because it is strange and what it is to be wondered at because it is strange. Balance between what we see as custom and culture because it is familiar and what we see as boring and dreary because it is familiar.

Generally, it would have to be said that we prefer what we know, that the great sway of us prefer to live predictable, definable lives. Last night I was at a 21st Birthday Party. There were neighbors and friends, laughing, eating, chatting, singing songs.

There were babies, children, teenagers, adults and old people, all in the same garden. These people would all go to the circus on another day, to laugh, eat, to be amazed at fantastic things and perhaps be scared at the primal power of even tamed lions.

The American Circus. The Russian Circus. Other countries possess the fantastic. It is not the lions, tigers and elephants we are going to see, but rather something American, something Russian. And Duffys, to counter, play on nationalist feelings. (Strange, that the lions, tigers and elephants are all African.) A paradox, surely, that the steps to the fantastic are made of basic flags.

The Internet is a bit like a circus. It can be wild, unpredictable – you never know what you might find! There is Russian and American and Chinese and all sorts. There is a website for every feeling and dark desire. The Internet is also a lot like every day. There are bus timetables and restaurant menus and the daily newspapers.

People don’t go to the circus every day. That would soon become boring. What we are finding on the Internet is that even though there is so much to see, most people are looking for the things they look for every day. They are looking for common things – for local news, for business information, for education.

No matter how global the marketplace becomes, life for the vast majority of us is an intensely local experience. We like it that way too. We don’t want cake all the time – we prefer bread. We are common people and there is nothing boring about that.

The circus cannot exist unless it has a normal society to excite. A truly global planet defeats its own purpose as it would flatten and even-out the world. Difference is an important cog in the world economy, because while we live normal lives we increasingly consume – in films, television, books, video games, World Cups - that which is different.

Gerry McGovern

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Difference is an important cog in the world economy.