Tribute to past greatness －過去の偉大さへの賛辞－

For older people to complain that society in some way is not as good as it used to be is so common that it has become a cliché.  “We didn’t have these smartphones when I was young, and we got healthy exercise by playing in the streets.”  “Back in my day, young people respected their elders.”  “When I was a lad we didn’t have to worry about this global warming.”

So is a feeling of nostalgia for the past always wrong?  Because we know that people tend to fondly remember their youth, should we always dismiss the idea that things of the past were better?  Hugh McIlvanney, a Scottish sports writer who died this week at the age of 84, didn’t think so.  He has been called the greatest sports writer in the English language, and became friends with great sporting figures such as Mohammed Ali and Sir Alex Ferguson.  A few years ago he wrote a tribute to the great Brazilian footballer of the 1950s, 60s and 70s – Pele.  In his article, he argued that we should not assume that modern players such as Messi are better than Pele was.  As a small tribute to Hugh, I’d like to include an edited extract of his article.  Sports writers today are not like they used to be... 

An edited extract of Hugh McIlvanney’s tribute to Pele:

Nostalgia is rightly regarded as a constant threat in the accurate assessment of the greatness of the past, especially the rather distant past.  A gulf of decades can impart a rosy glow to feats of long ago, making them seem more remarkable than they really were, particularly in the memory of those seeking to revive and re-validate the thrills of their own younger days. 

But some of us of fairly advanced age believe that we can and do resist major distortions in perspective.  Our determination to continue doing so is strengthened by recognition of another menace to the true judgement of former glories – one just as damaging as nostalgia.  That is the tendency among more youthful generations to over-worship the triumphs and triumphant figures of the here and now.

Any slight blurring of the awareness of just how wonderful past achievements were is no more than must be expected with the passing of time.  Only fools waste regret over the inexorability of the diminishing of such vividness.  But what can be annoying is the evidence in too many quarters of an urge to acclaim the present as in every sense the unchallengeable peak of greatness.

Vocabulary:

a cliché – something so commonly said that it has become boring or uninteresting

a lad – a boy

fondly – with affection or liking for someone or something

a gulf – a huge gap

a feat – an achievement

to revive – to bring back to life

to (re-)validate – to confirm or accept the worthiness of (again)

a distortion – a false view of the shape or state of something

a menace – a danger or threat

inexorability – unstoppability