Medieval Markets
Metaphors and colloquialisms describe situations in our lives, in ways that go beyond the individual meaning of their words. When “…the cat is out of the bag”, it’s much more than just opening a bag and seeing a cat. There’s the mewling, the clawing, and the racing through the streets that comes with the newly freed feline. To get back to its Medieval origins, “cat in the bag” seems to relate to another phrase, “buying a pig in a poke”. If you buy a pig in a poke, a bag, you might really be buying a much cheaper cat. But you won’t know you’re swindled until “the cat’s out of the bag”: the secret is revealed.
We may not know what the actual origins of “cat out of the bag” are, but we definitely understand the meaning. When the “cats out of the bag” the secret is out. It’s in the streets, spreading to all. If you let “the cat out of the bag” everybody knows.
On the Farm
Many of our favorite colloquialisms are based on farms. “Don’t have a cow”, “stop beating a dead horse”, “a hard row to hoe”, and “when pigs fly” are all in our daily speech, even in areas where the nearest cow or row to hoe is miles and miles away. One of my favorites is “closing the barn door”.
“Closing the barn door” is part of a larger phrase, “closing the barn door after the horses are out”. It’s a clear story – someone left the barn door open, and the horses got out. Now, what once solved a problem, closing the barn door, doesn’t solve it anymore. The problem is getting the horses back. You can “have a cow”, or even “beat a dead horse” by blaming Little Boy Blue over and over again. But the reality is – you’ve got to go get the horses, wherever they are: “…the sheep’s in the meadow, the cow’s in the corn…”; and the horses are out. Someone screwed up.
Tik Tok
From ancient farm stories we move to a most recent trend in modern life: Tik Tok. The social media application is used by over 150 million Americans, and a full one billion worldwide. Tik Tok allows users to post brief videos of all sorts of things. Us older folks who don’t have the app still are exposed to Tik Tok through other social media. A significant portion of my “old school” Facebook feed seems to be from Tik Tok. The videos can be anything; school pranks to dances, insults, arguments and fights, to jokes and cute babies. It seems harmless.
But Tik Tok has become a new political metaphor for losing control of our youth. The company ultimately is owned by the Chinese Government (or to use the new “hate speak” – the Chinese Communist Party). And now Congressmen from across the political spectrum (and even President Biden) are sounding the alarm: social media collects data that can be used later.
Really? That “cats” been out of the bag for quite a while. Weren’t these guys at the 2016 election, when Cambridge Analytics taught the world how to manipulate social media users to their particular political goals? These politicians are a little “late to the game”, aren’t they?
Perfect Storm
But now we have the “perfect storm” for politicians against social media. It’s Tik Tok; it applies mostly to Gen Z (born after 1996) and seems extraneous to older folks, and Congressmen (that’s kind of redundant). And it’s owned by the “new” bête noire, China. We can retread the old story about “ evil Communism” to a whole new generation. To some that might be “beating a dead horse”, but Gen Z doesn’t know that.
What they do know is that a whole bunch of old people are telling them what they can and can’t do. Old folks who don’t have a clue about how it works, or why its interesting. Old folks what are saying “…do what I say, not what I do” as they use Tik Tok themselves to reach younger voters.
And don’t think it just the “grandstanding” of Congressmen in the House of Representatives. The state of Utah last night, signed a law ( Black Letter Law) that:
- prohibits kids under 18 from using social media between the hours of 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m.
- requires age verification for anyone who wants to use social media in the state
- requires parental consent before kids can sign up for sites like TikTok and Instagram.
I guess we can expect the Utah police to now kick down the bedroom door and arrest fourteen year old’s huddled under the sheets, watching viral videos in the middle of the night: “Up against the wall, drop the IPhone, and stop dancing, Damnit!”. (At least, let’s hope their dancing).
No Way
It all makes for great television. The Tik Tok CEO didn’t help his cause yesterday, when he said “…I wouldn’t call it spying” at a Congressional hearing. But the “adults” have missed reality: this cat’s really out of the bag. The barn door was wide open, and all the horses, cows, pigs, sheep, and even the barn cats are out in the fields.
Drug dealers figured this out a long time ago. They created “designer drugs”, drugs that were chemically just a molecule different than the drugs that were illegal. But because of the difference, they didn’t qualify as illegal under the law. Remember bath-salts? If it’s done with drugs, it most certainly will be done with social media on the internet.
We can close this barn door, but it’s far too late. All we are doing is making Tik Tok an even more seductive product: one that “adults” are against. We are in a modern process of banning “rock and roll” and television shots of Elvis’s pelvis. We are telling kids to cut their hair and stop wearing tie-dye. The new litany is: no drugs, no sex, no Tik Tok. And Gen Z is saying: “no way”.
We are, in fact, beating a dead horse.
