Happy Emperor Norton Day y’all.
September 17 marks the day in 1859 that a San Franciscan named Joshua Norton declared himself emperor of the United States.
The truly remarkable part of Norton’s story is not that he declared himself a sovereign entity, but that nearly the entirety of San Francisco went along with it.
He was never allowed real political power, but he was respected to the point that he ate at fine dining establishments for free, always had a reserved place at plays and even got out of an arrest for insanity because the public outcry was so vociferous that the chief of police issued a formal apology; from then on, the police would apparently salute him on sight, likely relieved (I’m not joking) to have been granted an imperial pardon.
Because he was short on money after running afoul of the Peruvian rice market, he created his own tender which was useable in the city, briefly declared himself Protector of Mexico, and when a dog that was associated with him (one of two dogs who were local celebrities for reasons unrelated to Norton) died, the writer of its eulogy was none other than Mark Twain, who also based the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn character the King on Norton.
Upon Emperor Norton’s death, the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, “Norton I, by the grace of God, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, departed this life,” and, depending on the source, his funeral had at least 10,000 mourners.
September 17 also marks the day before the second full week of class, when stress kicks into high gear.
In order to make the best of this year, whether you’re nearly ready to graduate or are one of seemingly 15,000 freshmen, I recommend looking to Emperor Norton’s lessons on success.
The first tip you should take from Norton is to take control.
Just from taking a quick look at Facebook, one of the biggest stressors right now is our political climate; many of us are on a pendulum, swinging from disgust toward the Trump administration to a deep sense of exhaustion that comes from being too immersed in the political world for too long.
According to Psychology Today’s unintentionally scathing blog post “How to Cope With Trump Anxiety” written by Steven Stosny, Ph.D, “anxiety and nervousness arise when we feel powerless.” The article further stresses the importance of empowering ourselves and focusing on what we can control.
Emperor Norton took a stand in the name of common sense, and was also sick of political sparring; one of his royal decrees thus abolished the Democratic and Republican parties. While Norton and Stosny applied this Nietzschean coping strategy to politics, it is entirely relevant to every aspect of life.
There is no use stressing about your past performance; what you can control is how much you study today, whether or not you do your homework, or apply for a job, or ask out your crush.
In this vein, the best thing you can do at this young and spry time of your life is try.
Take risks: Before he was a ruler, Norton lost his fortune on rice, but that’s not why he has a Wikipedia page. Even if you fear being unable to succeed, at least try. You may not accomplish everything you wish to do, but you’ll achieve lots more if you make an attempt than if you don’t.
Our boy Norton dealt with his policies being ignored by pretty much everyone, but, 61 years after Norton demanded a suspension bridge be erected between San Francisco and Oakland, a bridge of these specifications began construction. While this was likely not the Emperor’s doing, it illustrates the value of both not giving a hoot about what others think of you and voicing your ideas about how to improve the world.
Finally, and I think most importantly, consider surrendering to your lunatic impulses.
To be clear, I am not suggesting that we all metabolize our deaths, but have as much fun as you can without fatally damaging your GPA.
After you graduate from college, you’ll have the rest of your life to work until you retire and die shortly thereafter. This happens to be comforting to me, because I’m a reclusive, task-oriented capitalist, but even I see the value of dropping your inhibitions like a hot potato.
Even if you get nothing done, you’ll have a better chance of being loved by those close to you, and one could do much worse than that.
Brooklyn is a junior majoring in English. What are your thoughts on Emperor Norton and some of the skills we could perhaps learn from him? Would you follow his lead during your college career? Please send questions, comments or concerns to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
