Culture vs. Economy

--Who are you?
--What is your destination?
--Who is your captain?

These are three classic questions signaled from passing ships. H. Michael Hartoonian, an expert in the field of American cultural studies, asks these questions routinely while giving addresses.

The point, obvious or not, is to incite the individual to conduct a philosophical analysis of one's self. This is not meant to be a one-time inquiry, however. Instead, the hope is that through careful introspection we uncover who we really are, our wants and desires, and our ability to take control of our own lives and culture.

Speaking of culture, Hartoonian has also proposed that we look at "culture" and "economy" as two entities on opposite ends of a continuum. Like this:

culture<---------------->economy

You might remember this continuum from your high school government class:

liberal<----------------->conservative

These two continuums are not (necessary) related to one another, but I digress. Anyway, Hartoonian claims that our society is constantly defining itself along the culture/economy continuum by the decisions we make in our private, public, and political lives.

What does this have to do with anything?

A lot, and anyone who saw yesterday's Paris-Roubaix bicycle race saw this culture/economy battle play out on the biggest stage in one-day bicycle racing calendar. Mere kilometers from the finish line, a freight train forced two groups chasing the race leader to slow, with one group forced to stop completely.

[photo caption]World Champion Tom Boonen, Alessandro Ballan, and Juan Antonio Flecha are forced to yield to a French freight train. (photo courtesy: Graham Watson)

Somehow, some way, the "Queen of the (one-day) Classics" -- an immense cultural event in both the cycling world and in northern France -- was brought to a complete standstill by a train carrying economic wares.

The final score from yesterday's Paris-Roubaix classic:
Economics: 1
Culture: 0
[photo caption] Though Boonen would later say, "Normally you don't have the chance to look around like that. The birds were flying, the sun was shining and a train passed us, it was beautiful," this photo seems to depict Boonen frantically looking behind him in an effort to spot any chase groups behind his own. Awfully nice of him to insult our intelligence after the fact, however. (photo courtesy: Graham Watson)

PS: Belgian racer Peter Van Petegem receives "props" for calling all of France out, declaring, "It was all very strange that in one of the top races in the season and a train is passing that could make the difference between winning and losing. In Belgium for sure they would try to stop the train." Petegem, who finished third, was later disqualified for going around the railroad crossing arms.