The Recovering Choir Director

Earlier in the week at LewRockwell.com (before the latest LRC/NRO catfight), there appeared an astute observation and critique of American society. Titled “The Veneer Society”, its British author describes how, in the 20th century, “American quality” turned into an oxymoron.

The coup de grâce naturally appears at the end of the piece:

Then, finally, as we were travelling in an elevator lined with what was supposed to be a plush green carpet and walls of rich cherry panelling – neither of which was, in reality, more than a poor facsimile of quality – it suddenly struck us: America had degenerated into the archetypal Veneer Society, a land where the superficial impression is one of great wealth, but which, underneath that thin, misleading outer layer, is made of cheap, short-lived and inferior quality materials – all bought on created credit – the better to give its insistent consumers, but increasingly uncompetitive producers, a phoney feeling of well-being, so they might maintain the necessary belief in the superiority of their ways and so conceal the true depths to which a century of Collectivist thinking has reduced their once-shining Republic of sovereign individuals.

Yes, the more we thought about it and the further we extended the metaphor to consider its corporate, governmental, financial and monetary systems, the more it rang true that America has become the Veneer Society – a triumph of outward style over real substance.

It must have been what fourth century Rome felt like, too, for those unlucky enough to have experienced it.

Rereading the article, I reflected on all of the images and words I have seen over the Internet these past few years. What Mr. Corrigan might have not picked up on was that we Americans have even been so rash as to replace things of quality with cheap veneer! One prime example is the embattled city of Detroit, Michigan. Now, I don’t intimately know the history of Detroit, but I do know what that history hath wrought. I also know that solidly built edifices have been destroyed to make room for chintzy Anystores. (Take a look at this site to see the wreckovation—and sometimes restoration—of this city.)

My thoughts then turn to the American Catholic Church, its seeming obsession with veneer, and its apparent eagerness to replace solidity with veneer, even when it may not even be able to afford the “cheap stuff”. Have you seen the picture of the dumpster outside a church that contained the remains of a well-crafted (and probably donated) high altar? It was replaced with some table, no doubt. In other churches, we either have pipe organs replaced with burp-boxes, or in new churches the pipe organ isn’t even considered (no doubt because of economic factors). Look at our Catholic product catalogs, and you will find mass-produced doodads branded with the ubiquitous phrase, “Made in China”.

And then, of course, there is liturgical music and everything that surrounds it.

With the good musicians out of the way, the hacks took over. Guitar-strumming Jesuits, who had never focused on the arts, and others, began to dominate Catholic music. Dan Schutte and Marty Haugen became the Palestrina and Victoria of our epoch.

Incredible. All you hear Catholics turning out these days are pop versions of the old Protestant anthems. Catholic publishing houses grind out this stuff and make zillions of dollars. But there is nothing worth anything in it. Certainly nothing of lasting value.—Richard Morris

Over the weekend, Melissa and I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and were able to view the exhibits of ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome as well as those of Byzantium and Medieval Europe. What struck both of us was the attention to detail and the care that the artisans took in their work. Surely the quality of their craftsmanship suggests longevity if not timelessness, regardless of the genre or era.

And today we have particleboard, plastic, and Today’s Missal. Surely we are richer for it, are we not?