New York: The Noise of the City

A view of Philippe Labro

I just spent four days in New York. Too short to analyze the current situation in America, since this one city does not reflect the whole country. It embodies, however, the symbol of American spirit: the energy, the modernity, as well as the melting pot that all ethnicities cast themselves into – this diversity that reminds me of the beautiful saying from an immigrant: “When I arrived here, I never considered myself a foreigner.”

Flaubert said, “Stupidity consists in wanting to reach conclusions.” Well, I have no conclusion, but I have some notes, taken by the rhythm of conversations and encounters from this machine of images and sensations: the television, made unbearable by the incessant news, but instructive since it reflects the mania and trends – the evanescence of its culture.

There are the words. Obama and his “stimulus plan” is the most pronounced word. He is omnipresent. He could not enjoy a single moment of this famous “honeymoon” which consists of the first 100 days of a new presidency. The Republicans did not give him any gift, but he was well prepared to let go of millions of dollars in sight to improve the economy. Adam Gopnik, from the magazine the New Yorker, who has just published a brilliant essay that establishes a comparison between Darwin and Lincoln, told me, over organic soup (everything is “organic” here, everyone escapes in the cult of fruit, vegetables and grains):

“Whatever the doubts or the critics that may exist, we must not forget that this man is supported by 70 percent of the population. We are living a schizophrenic climate: on one hand, Americans are facing the worst of crises, they are terrified; on the other hand, they know that they are lucky to have a president that is honest, sincere, supremely talented, serene. He radiates enough confidence that outweighs the temptation for desperation.”

Visions

Then, there are the visions. At Madison Avenue, where I walked under the chilly February sun from the 48th avenue to 80th avenue, where, all the international luxury brands have paraded since 30 years, I only saw emptiness. A sort of astonishment had pounded these boutiques, gleaming and deserted. Alone, erect, as stiff as the mannequins that stand to embellish the windows, the employees were waiting for the clients of the wealthy neighborhoods that did not come to quench their thirst for shopping and tame their superficial need. The taxis, that were once hard to find, were driving by without any obstacles. A contrast: in the evening, at the Waverly Inn, the trendy restaurant situated in the Village, owned by Gordon Carter, that manages the popular magazine Vanity Fair, the crowd was dense, noisy and electrified by the simple fact of being able to take part in the lining ritual, with their glass in hand, before a waiter gave you the privilege to sit down at a table that was finally available. And then we heard a joke launched:

“The crisis? But who’s talking about the crisis here?”

There are also the popular people that have disappeared from the news: Sarah Palin! Do we remember her? Last October, not too far long ago, she was the new media star. With her glasses and her hairdo, her smiling platitude, she brought luck to imitators and joy to the republicans. Where is Sarah? The American society devours, regurgitates, and rejects these temporary celebrities to fabricate others, at the rhythm of Youtube. Therefore, like Obama’s clone, we now have a Louisiana governor named Bobby Jindal, of Indian origin, that was announced as a future election candidate in 2012. Since then, obsessed with the next trend, journalists and politicians are already thinking about the next chapter. Jindal has become the hope of the Republican party. He was just rebuked by his own party for criticizing, in a quasi nihilist way, the exciting discourse on the state of the union, delivered on Wednesday by Obama. I have returned from New York, but I have some comments:

– It was a grand moment when one of my contacts, Jaimie Nogotod, a young television producer wrote me an email. Obama has succeeded to make his predecessors forgotten. We recognized him as a repentant (I am not kidding) prophet of the misery (we’re going straight to catastrophe), and now, we have rediscovered an optimist and a radiant authority. A sort of Reagan.

A Start

The comparison is not unjustified. Like Ronald Reagan, Obama belongs to the class of “grand communicators”. His critics say that he considers that the arithmetic is less important then the inspiration. His supporters say that he is the only one that can instill confidence. The genial romance writer, Tom Wolfe, who is working on his next description of his multiform country, a fiction situated in Miami transformed into a Cuban capital, offered this saying:

– What we need, is a return to a little more to morality. A little bit less of avidity and pride. America fails to die from succumbing to the seven capitalistic sins. We have to come back to a little bit of ethics. What are we capable of? Obama, can he be the grand catalyst? It is not yet the case, but that is not impossible. He holds himself well. He has the discipline. And we should not underestimate our capacity to rebound. We need a program that is as ambitious, glorifying and at the same, has the ability to create jobs, just as the one launched by Kennedy to go to the moon. A gigantic project. But on earth, this time.

His wife, Sheila, added with her soft voice:

– What I really liked about Obama. I remember this day when some member of congress listened to him with skepticism, he pronounced this simple yet strong phrases – “This is not a game.”

This is not a game. We are not kidding. The White House colleagues have embarked on an adventure that can influence the rest of the world. The Washington Post editor, Jim Hoagland, says the Americans are faced by immense tasks but not insurmountable.

For someone like me, that has seen so many governments and presidents; it is a true relief to say that there are intelligent men that fight in face of all of these problems: Pakistan, China, a war that finished in Iraq, another one that is starting in Afghanistan – and this economy, this crisis! Two things must happen. Two: they have to convince us the certainty of banks. We have to be able to see the bottom of the bottom, and, having seen that, which is not yet the case, it is important that we know that it would take off again.

Happy ending

Meanwhile, the Oscars are on television. Don’t ask yourself why the Hollywood academy has awarded eight Oscars to Slumdog Millionaire – it was not only because it is an excellent film. It was mostly because, unlike other competitors, the movie director is brave enough to propose a happy ending. A “happy ending”. everything that is desired by New York of my four days and America in its own fragile and secretive hope.