George Weber, my beloved mentor (of homosexual persuasion), and author of the scholarly Chinese Bronzes of the Late Chou Period (1), once confided to me that respecting sexual passion nothing matched his lone experience with an Andalusian flamenco dancer.  A woman.  And on an intellectual plane, he passionately defended the Roma's way of life as equal to anything Chinese civilization had to offer.

Their word for "to know" (*chanelear*) included the use of intuition, and that had won him over in a deep way.

Weber's love for the *gypsies* surged through his pores.  And stories poured out about how this or that that he did provoked the Roma to declare "ique gitano!" ("how gypsy-like!")...over many meals, many years. (2)  He appreciated their passionate contribution to the forces of *anti-civilization*, and they, in turn, showed their appreciation of the academic *payo*. (3)

George Monbiot, in an article which tries to reconcile romanticizing the Roma and our envy of them (4), shows quite clearly that beneath the world's enduring hostility to gypsies "lies an ancient envy of the nomadic life." That the Latin root in *Civilization* ( "civis," a townsperson ) reveals how "the culture of those whose homes do not move" clashes with those who would not be "sedentarised by decree." How and why we "fear people whose mobility makes them hard for our settled systems of government to control."

Yet, not all gypsies are nomadic.  Most Spanish gypsies, for example, are fairly well-integrated into that country's society, retaining their idiosyncratic culture without traveling as per the common perception of Roma.  In fact, it is the gypsy passion for something else that works up the common *payo*.

To wit, the neurotic way in which Westerners carefully plan the whole of their lives is anathema to the Roma, ( perceived as ) *anal retentive* at best.  Utterly incomprehensible, really.  According to art historian/author Michael Jacobs, "In their philosophy, to be practical is to be boring and not to appreciate life to the full." (5)  He cites Irving Brown (6), who points out: "Gypsies are not content with spending their last cent: in order to be happy they must defy all sense of practicality."

This is a point of view that is easily accessible in a film such as Tony Gatliff's "The Crazy Stranger" ( *Gadjo Dilo* ), but not so in something like Guy Ritchie's "Snatch."  As much fun as the latter can be, the work of Madonna's husband portrays gypsies in a light that can be easily misleading.  Reassuringly so to the run of the public.  Gatliff's work, on the other hand, is part of a trilogy that's quite on target for the most part.  A welcome relief from the ignorance compounded upon ignorance concerning the Roma.

In literature, we find a mixed-bag of responses to the Roma, some misleading, some misinformed, some well-meaning, some mean-spirited.  The great Cervantes had it all wrong with his characterization of the gypsies as thieving, "born into the world for the sole purpose of being thieves, they study in order to be thieves, and they end up past masters in the art of thieving." (7) Others, too, such as Henry David Inglis, Theophile Gautier, Alexandre Dumas *pere*, Baron Charles Davillier, Thomas Roscoe and Prosper Merimee (author of the original Carmen, the inspiration for Bizet's work) must all be approach with various degrees of caution.

When one dips into 19th century Richard Ford and George Borrow, however, one begins to enter much healthier ground respecting the passion of the Roma.  And with Frederico Garcia Lorca, a compassionate genius (who my Uncle George knew quite well), the air gets quite clear.

As the incomparable Ian Gibson points out (in his definitive biography of Lorca): "As a child the poet had known various Romany families in Fuente Vaqueros...and during his adolescence frequently visited the caves of the Sacromonte, where he made friends with the dancers and singers.  *Gypsy Ballads* was to spring in part from Lorca's contact with these exotic people of Indian extraction...." (8)

Although it's true that Lorca could never be relied upon to tell the truth about himself, my Uncle George assured me that the poet was indeed feted by Gypsies as if he were one of their own.  If such is so, this rarest of relationships should be remembered by those seeking out literature to enlighten...respecting the passion of the Roma.

George Borrow, eventual author of The Zincali: or an Account of the Gypsies of Spain, had his youthful interest in the Roma piqued by privileged glimpses into gypsy encampments in early nineteenth-century Norfolk, England.  And that area, ironically, is not so very far from a recent, impassioned anti-gypsy demonstration which took place in Firle, Sussex.

Of all the insights offered by the Monbiot article mentioned above, none is more devastating than the official attitudes expressed regarding injustice dealt to the Roma.  Home Secretary Jack Straw is quoted as supporting notions which echo the racist ignorance of Spain's Isabella, King Philip IV, and many other outdated prejudices.  And Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker, normally someone the Left can count on, provided the most socially-unconscious lift to skinheads imaginable.

In effect, the Bonfire Society of Firle was encouraged to burn in effigy a vehicle with caricatures of gypsies festooned across its windows.

Why?  To answer that we must return to my points about the Passion of the Roma.

Their outlook on life --which leads to great extremes of pleasure and pain-- is not something that today's dominant society can condone.  It's a very different philosophy than that which is exemplified by those, say, who partake of extreme sports.  Or disgusting Reality TV.  And only a very narrow vision will pigeonhole them into the same category.

For one, my subject here is politically threatening, the rest is not.

Excessive pleasure, Uncle George once told me, is the fulcrum which supports the emotional, spiritual and physical life of the Roma.  And I've found that confirmed by a number of sources. His time with them in Santiago in Guadix and la Chanca in Almeria -- and in other European locales outside of Spain -- taught him that what the typical Westerner recoiled from in horror (Deep Passion over Death!) Gypsies embraced wholeheartedly.  They directed their Sorrow, they didn't become its victim.  And coping with Sadness was much more than getting by, *getting through* an event.

The Politics of Distress is much in evidence in our civilized circles, the manicured way in which we are subservient to Control. 

The Gypsy doesn't need to control his emotions.  And he/she certainly won't allow others to do so...to him/her.

A gorgeous political george, yes?