Michael Vick apologizes; Heidegger remains silent
Jean Jacques Rousseau, Arthur Rimbaud, and Jean Genet are just a few canonical writers who could be seen to have questionable character. Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot were fascists or held views that could be connected to such political “philosophy.” Martin Heidegger, asshole, was a Nazi who never once renounced his views. I wonder if he ever noticed his predecessor, Friedrich Nietzsche, held opposing ideas but no tenured chair. Many, many famous writers have abused their wives and girlfriends or left them with kids and no emotional or financial support. These include half of my favorites: Sherwood Anderson, Saul Bellow, Fred Exley, Ray Carver, Richard Yates, and John Cheever. Can you write great fiction without at least a broken marriage on your transcript?
Do any professors and graduate students appalled by the Michael Vick signing ban these writers from their syllabi? One could argue Ernest Hemingway has done far more to glamorize the inhumane treatment of animals than any other 20th century American, and yet I don’t hear the calls to boycott Scribner and ban his books. Don’t we hate that certain moralizing student who says he couldn’t read Lolita because Humbert Humbert is such an evil man? Does that same student go to slasher films and get wasted on the weekends? Does he watch TV? Does he drive drunk or covet his roommate’s girlfriend?
Jason Kidd beat his wife. Kobe Bryant committed rape or adultery depending on who you believe. A bunch of Pittsburgh Steelers grinned and waved AK-47s with Pennsylvania State Troopers. Ty Cobb is rumored to have killed a man. Donte Stallworth appears to be incredibly distraught because he did so by accident. Lyle Alzado died for his steroid sins. To this day, Jose Canseco is one of the few sluggers of major-league baseball who has come clean on his steroid use. No one seems to think much of Canseco’s character (shoot the messenger?), but so far, most of his allegations have proven true. Rafael Palmeiro and Roger Clemens lied on Capitol Hill, and even Mark McGwire seemed contrite about his actions but failed to clearly enunciate his guilt. Michael Vick, unlike so many, has acknowledged his guilt and stated it was wrong.
People who want a sanitized NFL (or any major sports league) are looking for an illusion that cannot exist. The competition is too great, the chances of success too slim. On every team in every professional league, there are mean men; these include drug users, drunk drivers, rapists, men who batter women, and even accidental killers and accessories to murder. There are other players who have never committed a crime in their lives and yet, they might be accused of being a poor tipper, not always smiling at the public, or making enough trips to hospitals to give stuffed animals to the disabled. There are many major leaguers who from an outsider’s perspective appear to be perfect human beings. Is this why we watch these saints? No.
Like Donovan McNabb, I see myself as a dog lover. I don’t know Michael Vick, and I don’t like what I do know of him. He tortured dogs. We rarely see outright violence like this from our leaders of other institutions, but we do see significant crime and unethical behavior. Our white-collar thieves in finance and insurance? Our nation’s major and minor politicians? Check out the roll call for professors and administration at the probation office of our best universities—pedophilia, date rape, embezzlement, hiring relatives and lovers at publically-funded schools, theft of intellectual property, and completely legal but unethical pay raises for everyone except the teachers and security guards, the two groups on the front lines for our students.
Unlike many affluent criminals, Michael Vick suffered consequences for his actions. He spent 18 months in jail, a place America generally reserves for the poor and disenfranchised. I’d suspect almost every adult American has committed some kind of illegal act, at the very least traffic violations, and I suspect a strong American majority participated in under-aged drinking. Most of us have never been fined or spent a day in jail. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. I’m going to take a wild guess that the first guy to say that wasn’t God, but the words seem relevant here.
Woody Allen. Bill Clinton. Louis Kahn. Ted Kennedy. John Edwards. Eliot Spitzer. We don’t even need to name Republicans to build a list of fallible men. In a world where your entire privileged first-world life has been given to you by the unethical, marauding acts of our ancestors and existing multinationals, try to avoid stupid, binary good v. evil passion when it comes to Michael Vick. If you want John Wayne riding in on a horse, go to the movies. You’ve been brainwashed by Superman and Star Wars and other false binaries; our nation and too many of our citizens have a bad habit of seeing ourselves only on the side of peace and justice and the arbiters of right and wrong. By some measures, we live in the midst of the most violent society in the history of the world.
I don’t condone violence, against dogs or anyone, but I dislike hypocrisy; I doubt the latter can be avoided. All the same, I won’t be watching Michael Vick on Sundays, but it’s because I don’t have television, not because I’m boycotting the doggy killer. If you are boycotting Vick on Sundays, don’t let me catch you sneaking a peek at your Heidegger.
Latest posts by Alex Kudera (Posts)
- Back and Broke in Philly - June 18, 2017
- An Interview With Rebecca Schuman - April 13, 2017
- A Poor Man’s Christmas - December 25, 2016
- Excerpt from Auggie’s Revenge - December 2, 2016
- The Writer’s Parents - September 18, 2016
Print This Post
Absolutely right, and well stated. I think it’s an especially American idea to sanitize the idea of a hero. I always like to think of Sophocles’ Ajax, who tortured and killed a bunch of sheep. The play says Athena tricked him into believing the sheep were the Greek leaders who had deprived him of Achilles’ armor. A modern view is that Ajax had PTSD. But there is no question in Sophocles’ mind that Ajax was a hero. I guess he figured that people could figure out that the sheep-killing part wasn’t the aspect of his oeuvre to emulate. Thanks, ALex!
Excellent column, Alex. Of course, a lot of the opposition to Vick here in Philadelphia is based more on the fact that he hasn’t proven himself to be a Bellow/Hemingway class quarterback (yet) than on any crimes or depravities he might have committed. Vick might still be a real evil dude, but it’s safe to say that he won’t repeat that particular offense again. Drugs and domestic abuse seem to be harder habits to break, but he hasn’t been accused of those (has he?), so from the Eagles’ perspective, he’s a good bet to stay on the right side of the law.
Excellence in leadership should always be followed. Intelligence should always be taken as a guide. Skin color shows the content of character. The power of seduction is a infallible indicator of sexual perfection.
Or perhaps not. Perhaps Heidegger is silently leading the blind.