One of the more entertaining spectacles of the modern era is the way in which our ruling class so successfully combines barbarism and priggishness. Here are two examples via blogger Scott Burgess. The first, for barbarism, concerns something called the Sonning Prize, which is supposedly awarded for an “outstanding contribution to the advancement of European civilization.” Previous winners have included Winston Churchill, Albert Schweitzer, Niels Bohr, Bertrand Russell and Vaclav Havel. Now they will be joined by Mona Hatoum, a Palestinian artist living in London.

Mr. Burgess has been <a href=”

http://dailyablution.blogs.com/the_daily_ablution/2004/01/european_civili.html”>checking out her oeuvre. Who could not be impressed by efforts such as Roadworks? Burgess quotes one commentator : “By tying a pair of military-type Doc Martens boots to her bare ankles and dragging them behind her in the street, Hatoum created a metaphor for the frustration and helplessness characteristic of the times.”

Roll over Raphael.

And then there’s the priggishness, also via the good Mr. Burgess:

A art gallery owned by a local authority in the North of England has removed a 19th century painting because some people might find it “demeaning to animals” and “offensive.” The Monkey’s Music Lesson depicts a monkey wearing a fez and reading from a musical score. According to the Daily Mail (link not available):

“… the eight gallery trustees decided it and the other [simliar] paintings should be taken down while ‘research’ is conducted into their origin.Gallery manager Graham Riding said: ‘Opinions on such works may have changed and some people now find them demeaning to animals and possibly offensive’.”

Burgess notes that the article makes no mention of whether any monkeys have complained as of yet.

But if the simians, a lazy and complacent crew (with seven million years of pathetically slow evolutionary progress behind them, I’m not expecting much) don’t get a move on, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals almost certainly will – so long, that is, as they are not too busy defending the rights of <a href=”http://dailyablution.blogs.com/the_daily_ablution/2004/01/rspca_fights_fo.html

“>maggots, roaches and ants.