Cherries or Dollars?

Just about every institutionalized human atrocity—colonialism, genocide of indigenous people, chattel slavery, war, the Holocaust, the NRA, industrial ravaging of the natural world, exploitation of workers, that long long list of human failing coded into a sustaining narrative and cultural practice that encourages its perpetuation— boils down to the those three revealing words: 

 

“Follow the money.”

 

It also is a pretty good diagnosis of the toxic physical and mental illness that we all inherit and that only the strong and courageous and alert amongst us can recognize as an illness in itself rather than the prime motivating goal media, schools and churches keep dangling in front of us. People like Bezos, Zuckenberg, Musk and the whole sad list of the 1% modern-day robber barons are still idolized as cultural icons that our youth aspires to rather than seen as sick, sick people taking far too much of their share at the expense of the planet and its people.  You can see the whole sickness at play in the film The Wolf of Wall Street, though the title is insulting to wolves, who would never purposeful devastate their own species the way that we do in the name of “success.” You can notice in in Dickens view of America as far back as the 1840’s, as written in his novel Martin Chuzzlewit. Listening to the conversation of the Americans he met, Martin noticed that it all boiled down to—

 

Dollars. All their cares, hopes, joys, affections, virtues and associations seemed to be melted down into dollars. Men were weighed by their dollars, measures gauged by their dollars; life was auctioneered, appraised, put up and knocked down for its dollars. The next respectable thing to dollars was any venture having their attainment for its end…Make commerce one huge lie and mighty theft. Do anything for dollars!”

 

Often when I practice piano, I open my jazz fake book to a random page and see what I can do to make that song come alive. Today’s roulette wheel spin landed on a song I remember playing as a kid from some sheet music— Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries. A somewhat corny pop song written in 1931 at the beginning of Depression when money indeed really meant something! Not to amass and hoard, but simply to survive. We would do well to remember that amidst America’s obsession with “Dollar! Dollars Dollars!” there is another strand that warns us against money as the standard of health and happiness. Think of the films “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “You Can’t Take It With You.” The lyrics of this song, at first glance, frivolous and light, are actually somewhat profound and a good reminder to us all to keep on the right track. To remember that Death doesn’t care about your Dollars and indeed, you can’t take them with you. The lyrics, by Lew Brown, who also wrote other similar songs like The Best Things in Life Are Free, Button Up Your Overcoat, You’re the Cream in My Coffee and Sunnyside Up, border on deep Buddhist truths:

“Life is just a bowl of cherries, don’t make it serious, life’s too mysterious.

You work, you save, you worry so, but you can’t take your dough when you go, go, go. 

So keep repeating “it’s the berries,” the strongest oak must fall.

The sweet things in life to you were just loaned, so how can you lose what you’ve never owned.

Life is just a bowl of cherries, so live and laugh at it all.”

 

Indeed, our very bodies and minds are simply on loan to us and the cherries as well. But better to use the privilege of a human incarnation to savor their sweetness, cherries and enjoy some good jazz music (thanks, Ray Henderson) and remember to laugh much and celebrate life. While the worst amongst us think money and power make them strong and we who sustain life are weak and cowardly, they have it backwards. Helping each other out, working together in community, gathering together in song and dance with home-baked cherry and berry pies is as American as—well, cherry pie! We just have to pick the right films and songs and books to remind ourselves.

 

And then teach the children.