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Wednesday, March 8, 2023 The Press-Dispatch D-3 OPINION Submit Letters to the Editor: Letters must be signed and received by noon on Mondays. Email: editor@pressdispatch.net LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Your letter must include your name, address, phone number and email. No anonymous letters will be printed. The Press Dispatch strives to provide an open forum for all opinions. However, we reserve the right to reject letters. Submit your letter to the Editor by Friday at Noon. Email: sherri@pressdispatch.net Heritage Viewpoint By Paul Zepeda Monumental disappointments in our public spaces Monuments and memorials by na- ture long have stood, quite literal- ly, in the public square. But within a few short years, radicalized Americans have turned on these taciturn fore- bears like Moses on the golden calf. The year 2020 wit- nessed great anguish on this subject among part of the U.S. popula- tion. Realizing that our nation was dotted with monuments commem- orating sinful men rather than an- gels, it was imperative for these icon- oclasts that the likenesses of bronze and marble be cast down from their pedestals. The magnitude of the crimes was irrelevant: Defenders of slavery, frontier missionaries, or big game animals all were subject to the great cleansing of America's historical im- agery. With most of the offenders top- pled, it should have been easy to please the more liberal-minded with acceptable replacements. Workers' rights, women's empowerment, ra- cial justice, or the glorification of all sexual expression: There was no shortage of subjects in the panthe- on of the fashionably self-righteous from which to choose. It's curious, then, that the two most recent examples of contempo- rary statuary, while proudly stand- ing above the heads of Bostonians and New Yorkers, have fallen so flat in the public's opinion. "Embrace" is Boston's new hom- age to the relationship that Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, had with the city where they first met. Standing in a corner of Boston Common, the structure consists of two bronze arms inter- twined in the namesake position. Unveiled in January, the work was the object of much confusion and outright derision. Some described it as "a horrible piece of art" and like "an alien." One woman called it "in- explicable … it is worse than I ever expected." Seneca Scott, a cousin of Coretta Scott King, referred to the structure as "a grotesque symbol of postmod- ernism," "an atrocity," and, well, a few more graphic descriptions. The primary objections to the $10 mil- lion work were its faceless, alienat- ing quality and what some took to be an appearance rife with innuen- do. Citizens felt that they had been left with a work of art that was bi- zarre and unmoving. New York City's faux pas arrived on top of the New York Supreme Court building in the form of a gold- en female figure emerging from a lotus with stylized tendrils in lieu of limbs. Standing alongside stone lawgivers of the past such as Moses and Justinian, "NOW" (as the piece is called) is meant to serve as an affront to the all- male cohort lining the Manhattan court- house's roof and to pro- test the U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade. Hard to miss in its glaring incongrui- ty with the surround- ings, the golden statue elicited strongly negative opinions from public officials and private cit- izens alike. New York City Council member Vickie Paladino, a Repub- lican, asked: "Was there any public input whatsoever before a satanic, golden Medusa demon with tenta- cle arms was installed atop a down- town courthouse?" Commenters on The New York Times' glowing review of the stat- ue did not share the outlet's ecsta- sies. Many, while admittedly sup- portive of the message, decried the work as "hideous and not depict- ing a strong feminine side" and "a grotesque monster." One reader, referencing Boston's "Embrace," quipped: "Arms and no body. Now a body with no arms." Both pieces ought to have been easy wins for the notably progres- sive citizens of their respective cit- ies, but as illustrated in comments on the street and in editorials, opin- ion was substantially negative. How could the celebration of these sanc- tioned ideals elicit such an agonized response from their proponents? Looking at some successful ex- amples of monuments, we can see where these older works succeed in moving the viewer and where their contemporary counterparts fail. Turning our gaze to more than a century past, we are presented with no shortage of acclaimed and suc- cessful examples of monuments. Washington, D.C.'s "Ulysses S. Grant Memorial," San Francisco's "California Volunteers," and Spring- field, Massachusetts' "The Puri- tan" are all arresting in their beau- ty, compelling the viewer to engage with the message. Robert Barron, bishop of the Dio- cese of Winona-Rochester in Minne- sota, describes the effect of this en- gagement: "The objectivity of [beau- ty] stops me in my tracks, works its way into my soul, and reorders me." Looking upon these works, we feel the weight of war upon the shoulders of a tired Gen. Grant, flanked by charging cavalry. We are caught up in the excitement as California sends men to fight in the Spanish-American War. We gaze with admiration and some trepida- tion at the colonial New Englander boldly striding toward a new Amer- ican future. Each piece addresses subject mat- ter whose gravity is humbling and the beauty of these depictions pierc- es the soul of the viewer, allowing the virtues espoused to seep in. Sir Roger Scruton, the late En- glish philosopher, once stated that "beauty brings consolation in sor- row and affirmation in joy." Those pieces of art that are effectively som- ber or celebratory, and move us to emotion, are such because of the beauty that they possess. In comparison, the two new sculp- tures in Boston and New York lack the qualities that would render them successful. The subject of the MLK tribute, "Embrace," is debatably worthy of commemoration as much as it is a noteworthy chapter in King's larger story, but its execution is contrived, alien, and discomforting. The view- er is left wondering as to its purpose. The statue entitled "NOW," on the other hand, is in harmony with its pro-abortion message of the slaugh- ter of innocents. The ugliness, in- congruity, and inhuman qualities of the piece are visually offensive be- cause they commemorate a message that is morally offensive. The piece never could be beauti- ful while celebrating an act of cru- elty. For a monument to succeed, it must be beautiful both in its mes- sage and its execution. I suspect that some Americans may have objected to tearing down historic statues not so much out of admiration for the individuals who were memorialized but because they feared that those statues would be replaced by something far worse. If so, those fears may well have been justified. Whether or not the men depict- ed were truly virtuous, their mon- uments at least portrayed heroism, magnanimity, and greatness of soul that could be beautifully and inspir- ingly rendered. "Embrace" and "NOW" do no such thing, instead confronting us with the contrived and the inhuman. The great American journalist H.L. Mencken famously joked, "No one ever went broke underestimat- ing the taste of the American pub- lic." Be that as it may, it would seem that at least in this instance Ameri- cans still can see junk for what it is, even when gilded. If we want to create monuments that move us, then we cannot be de- ceived into letting modern pieties re- place eternal virtues, nor novelty re- place beauty. Paul Zepeda is an administrative assistant in the Simon Center at The Heritage Foundation. Race for the Cure By Star Parker Ramaswamy: Bring down 'woke,' bring back America The 2024 presidential race gets more exciting each day. Now 37-year-old entrepreneur businessman Vivek Ramaswamy has entered the race as the newest Republican candidate. Wheth- er this po- litical nov- ice has a chance at winning the highest elective of- fice in the land remains to be seen. But for sure he has something to say and contribute. And worth noting is now the first two candidates to announce following former President Don- ald Trump's entering the race, Ra- maswamy and Nikki Haley, are chil- dren of Indian immigrants. I requote the statistic I cited last week that "more than half of Ameri- ca's start-up companies valued at $1 billion or more" were founded by im- migrants. Inside our country, a vast left-wing culture has risen to power, peddling a message that ours is an evil, rac- ist country that can only be fixed by seizing power and force-feeding "woke" values onto all our institu- tions. But these successful first-gener- ation offspring of immigrants raise the important question: If our coun- try is so horrible, why is there no place on earth where more want to come and gain the privilege of citi- zenship? And when they come, they know what to do. They study, work and fol- low the path to great success, which is only possible in a country that is free. At age 37, Ramaswamy's resume includes degrees from Harvard and Yale, founding and leading a suc- cessful biotechnology start-up firm, founding an investment firm that fo- cuses on traditional goals of profit- ability and merit, and disavowing the politically correct ESG agen- da, which has captured so many of the largest investment firms. And authoring two hard-hitting books, "Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate Amer- ica's Social Justice Scam," and "Na- tion of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back to Excellence." Ramaswamy is showcasing his own life as proof that the Ameri- can dream is alive and that the re- al threat we face is the "woke" cul- ture that wants to turn our free na- tion over to left-wing politicians to force their agenda on everyone and have taxpayers pick up the bill for the trillions spent doing it. There is a reason why the na- tion is now staggering under mas- sive debt and growing at a rate one- third more slowly than the average for a half-century after World War II. Growth comes from productivi- ty; productivity comes from efficient use of capital; and capital is used effi- ciently only when businessmen and entrepreneurs can invest as they wish, according to their best eco- nomic judgement. The takeover of American busi- ness by politically correct ESG stan- dards - - environmental, social, and corporate governance - - is destroy- ing our efficient use of capital, per Ramaswamy. If a business causes clear environ- mental damage, it should be respon- sible. But climate change science is not at all clear, and forcing firms to make decisions based on what is ide- ology rather than science hurts all of us. We must stop, he says. Similarly, businesses must be free to make their own decisions who they hire and the values they choose to support. We cannot have business hamstrung by an agenda set by left-wing politics. The way to help more minorities succeed is not government-mandat- ed affirmative action, but demand- ing excellence from them as from ev- eryone else. This is the social agen- da - - classic American freedom - - that will work for everyone. But I wonder what Ramaswamy means when he writes, "We must restore merit for who gets to come to America" and, "we must em- brace merit in who gets to succeed in America." If we have freedom, merit will arise on its own because it is what a free society demands. We certainly don't need merit itself being defined by those with political power. Vivek Ramaswamy is for sure a model success story, and every American will benefit by knowing about it and hearing what he has to say. Star Parker is president of the Cen- ter for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show "Cure America with Star Parker." CREATIVITY. OUR SPECIALTY. 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