We have an ism schism! Ism is defined as “a distinctive practice, system, or philosophy, typically a political ideology or an artistic movement.” Schism is defined as “a split or division between strongly opposed sections or parties, caused by differences in opinion or belief.” These distinctive isms are often drawn as lines in the sand separating us and keeping us at odds with each other and ensuring that we don’t find any real solutions to the problems that plague us.
Would you rather work for a company that offered profit sharing, stock options or a 401K plan? It’s probably a moot question, as many of us in the audio field will never be offered either of these choices. However, if the offer were on the table to accept one of the three, how would it be viewed? Is profit sharing socialism? Are stock options capitalism? Is a 401K plan liberalism? The answer is no to all, but we could easily spin the definition of each to fit into one “ism” or another.
Isms, when mentioned, usually receive a knee-jerk response and are often used as a pejorative in promoting one’s argument. An easy example of this is found in the debate over single-payer universal health care. Some espouse this as socialism and strongly oppose it in favor of capitalism, which would allow for many different insurance companies to compete with each other to (theoretically) give the best pricing. The slinging around of isms quite often amounts to the isms being ad hominem attacks that draw an emotional response from the debate, rather than one based in logic.
Bring on the Euphemisms!
As “catholic” is a synonym for “universal,” why not substitute it for the word universal and call it catholic health care? As long as catholic health care is free of Catholicism, then those who practice Judaism, Mormonism and Hinduism might not be opposed. Patriotism evokes a sense of duty and loyalty, but can easily devolve into jingoism, which can only be countered with extreme pacifism. Unfortunately, any time one ism stands in the way of another ism, it can be construed as obstructionism, which is why when describing one’s actions, it is often best to use euphemisms. “This is not a war, it’s a police action.”
In many circles, intellectualism is frowned upon, as it can be construed as elitism or snobbism, but combating elitism with egalitarianism can lead to accusations of liberalism from those more attuned to conservatism.
Libertarianism asserts that any decision should be left up to the individual as long as they respect the right of other people to do the same. At the same time, others put their faith in authoritarianism because their egoism fears that most people need strong direction to keep them away from nihilism. In this day and age, we should try to work together for the sake of altruism and we should fear feudalism as much as we do barbarianism. Fatalism can lead to antagonism from others, because not everybody believes que sera, sera and, quite often, activism is required to get anything accomplished.
While feminism is fighting back against sexism, Puritanism is trying to control the eroticism of the masses. Existentialism can be construed as libertarianism, and there is always the fear that a surge in hedonism will give way to a rise in atheism. Egotism unchecked leads to racism, which can then lead to nationalism and separatism. Darwinism has long been at odds with creationism, which exemplifies the dualism between religion and science, and — in the end — it appears that the only isms that complement each other are masochism and sadism.
The truth is that the realism regarding the crisis of existentialism has come to a head and seems to be viewed through the lens of a prism with it’s many refractions. Therefore, the fundamentalism that has been attacking the utilitarianism and traditionalism has now given way to sensationalism. Populism has eroded the exceptionalism we have been groomed to expect, and nepotism married to cronyism has become the norm. Even our aphorisms are marred by cynicism. Professionalism is being derided as impressionism, and the criticism of progressivism is enough to send some reeling with futilitarianism. Functionalism has been pushed aside for conceptualism and sensationalism is now viewed as exceptualism. All we ever hear is opinions from talking heads, as subjectivism has become the new objectivism. Provincialism is quaint, but colonialism is outdated in its parochialism and could inevitably lead to tribalism. That said, it’s probably best that in our collectivism we rely upon our spiritualism and not the romanticism that seems to drive us.
While perfectionism is something to which we aspire it seems that surrealism is often what we get, so maybe Epicureanism is a goal to set for ourselves, although I would say that to maintain our optimism, it would probably be best to choose a path of spiritualism over the driving force of emotionalism.
Analogism vs. Digitalism?
Other than our escapism into our work, fortunately there are no isms in the world of audio to bring us down. There is no gainism to combat EQism and no soundism to compete with the lightism. FOHism is not at odds with monitorism and microphoneism is non-existent — unless you only deal with direct-boxism. Stageism is only as real as the exhibitionism by the performers, and the only ones advocating in-earisms are in their own private world anyway. The check-one-twoisms don’t really bother anyone except the piano tuners, but they are a pain anyway because they always want to do their tuneisms during a dark stage, which obviously goes directly against the unionism.
While many engineers have their own personal mixisms, it is only because they have all faced a baptism by fire when mixing shows with inadequate gear. Standing naked in front of thousands of people would be a frightening experience, and it is only our neuroticism about perfectionism that keeps us from having to unintentionally practice nudism. While the writing may be on the wall and barbarism is at the gates, I find that my escapism is to apply my own mysticism to the pragmatism of audio to avoid the skepticism of the ism schism.
