(President Reagan addressing the British Parliament, London in June 8, 1982)
by Plinio Correa de Oliveira
One pays debts at the very first opportunity. I recall this banality to do penance before my readers. In my latest article I announced that I would soon deal with a certain topic. Then, a legislative bill was proposed which would have changed the period for bringing suit to recover property claimed by others under squatters’ rights and adverse possession, and I was led, by special obligations from my remote and recent past, to address that issue first.
During this time, the almost inconceivable excess in my present occupations prevented me from writing for the Folha. And so it is that, with the somewhat bad conscience of a deadbeat, I try to remedy today the delay with which I return to the promised topic.
In my article, “Modern, Cutting-edge, Riding the Wave” (Folha de São Paulo, Oct. 24, 1981), I wrote about the profound change taking place in ample and important sectors of the American nation. Yes, profound, for it affects a psychological zone that encompasses at the same time language, dress, manners, home choices, utensils and objects of decoration, the way of facing the country’s internal and external problems, and the choice of candidates to all elective offices—from a modest city councilman of a little city lost in the vast expanses of U.S. territory to candidates to the House and Senate and the presidency as well.
I wrote about the profound change taking place in ample and important sectors of the American nation. Yes, profound, for it affects a psychological zone that encompasses at the same time language, dress, manners, home choices, utensils and objects of decoration, the way of facing the country’s internal and external problems, and the choice of candidates to all elective offices—from a modest city councilman of a little city lost in the vast expanses of U.S. territory to candidates to the House and Senate and the presidency as well.
In more concrete terms, the motives that led many Americans to prefer Reagan to Carter also cause them to choose wood furniture in some delicate traditional style instead of Formica furniture; to wear suit and tie rather than sleeveless T-shirts; to wash, cut and comb their hairy
President Jimmy Carter autographing a book
In more concrete terms, the motives that led many Americans to prefer Reagan to Carter...
growth up until recently loose in the wind; to employ a personal language and treatment marked by distinction instead of the “spontaneity” or “relaxation” that until recently served as bywords for vulgarity and uncouthness. Note that as far as dress is concerned I only mentioned masculine attire, as I would naturally have to dwell much longer on feminine fashion.
Objective minds eager to remain abreast of the more recent trends of modernity cannot ignore the fact that the United States—the nation that holds the commanding baton of what is “modern”—is, here and now, part and parcel of modernity.
Family Dining Room at the White House
...also cause them to choose wood furniture in some delicate traditional style...
Unfortunately, there is precious too little information on this matter being published in Brazil. That gap was recently plugged in a well-documented, ample and finely penetrating report in a fully dedicated special issue of Catolicismo, the brilliant cultural monthly founded by the illustrious Bishop Antônio de Castro Mayer and adroitly directed by Prof. Paulo Corrêa de Brito Filho (no. 368-370, August-October 1981; phone 221-8755, São Paulo).
... instead of Formica furniture;
* * *
I go on to mention some of the news items presented by Catolicismo.
Under the title, “Language Lib” in The New York Times Magazine of March 1, 1981, William Safire commented: “As Americans yearned for the old standards and values, both the politics of language and the language of politics became more conservative. As a literate public happily aroused, permissivism became a dirty word. ‘Anything goes’ no longer went.”
Sensitive to this new wave which so benefited his election, “Reagan has been as meticulous in his dress as he has been with his use of language.… What men of power sometimes forget is that they are creations of other times and other events and other people. Dignity is a demonstration that they understand, and that they pay special tribute to as something beyond themselves.” (“Demonstrations of Dignity,” Time, Mar. 9, 1981 at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,920999-1,00.html )
Consonant with this transformation, elementary norms have been reinstated in the White House such as a dress code and rules for good manners. (“Let them eat cake – but not on their work desks,” Newsweek, Feb. 9, 1981.)
Let me give you a few examples: a) blue jeans have been banned; b) so were pants for women; c) suit and tie has become obligatory for men;
plastic cups have been replaced...
...with porcelain ones
Let me give you a few examples: a) blue jeans have been banned; b) so were pants for women; c) suit and tie has become obligatory for men; d) “Mister” has been reinstated while addressing co-workers, rather than using only the first name”); e) plastic cups have been replaced with porcelain ones; f) functionaries have been forbidden to eat lunch in the office; g) the press room has been placed in order: reporters should “remain seated, raise their hand and wait for their turn” during interviews. “In spite of being used to jump and shout, the bulk of the press corps has obeyed – a well-bred beginning to a new era of politeness,” Newsweek magazine comments.; h) another novelty is politeness among White House workers; Chief of Staff Baker commented they are a symbol for the nation and thus should behave appropriately, even when not in service (Cf. Time, March 9, 1981); i) norms of courtesy, dress and discipline have been reinstated in the Armed Forces.
...the press room has been placed in order: reporters should “remain seated, raise their hand and wait for their turn” during interviews. "In spite of being used to jump and shout, the bulk of the press corps has obeyed – a well-bred beginning to a new era of politeness.
What reflexes have these events produced on the people? Let us hear an expressive testimony by MIT’s Rosalind H. Williams: “In 1976 we witnessed a presidential inauguration of shoe leather, business suits and off-the-rack dresses, and four years later, a spectacle of limousines, morning coats, and hand-embroidered gowns. The contrast is far more significant than one of personal taste. It points out to a fundamental conflict of social values.” (“High Life in the Oval Office,” in The New York Times, Feb. 25, 1981 at http://web.mit.edu/~rhwill/www/Williams_High-Life-in-Opal-Office.pdf )
For this reason, and in this line, the atmosphere in the White House has changed. All is in order; a general cleanup has taken place and the painting has been redone. (Cf. Time, Mar. 9, 1981.)
Official Portrait of First Lady Nancy Reagan in the Red Room of the White House
“In 1976 we witnessed a presidential inauguration of shoe leather, business suits and off-the-rack dresses, and four years later, a spectacle of limousines, morning coats, and hand-embroidered gowns. The contrast is far more significant than one of personal taste. It points out to a fundamental conflict of social values.”
* * *
Only frivolous minds could say that such changes in the building from where the country is governed and the other changes introduced by a newly-elected president eager to be in sync with the nation, are not important. On the contrary, they express a happy transformation in what is most central to the heart and soul of extremely important sectors in the country. That can be gauged even better by looking at the admirable reinvigoration of family values taking place in those sectors.
Knowing the interest of our public in these matters, I intend to deal with them in the next article…hoping the circumstances will allow me not to be a deadbeat.
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