(If you are a hermit crab, please note that this Harlem Shake has taken place in Greece on and off over the last 2 years.) If we attempt to lock our different economies in a single currency, for instance, for a little while weвЂ™ll all be just like sleepy Greeks with one gyrating German in our midst, then all of a sudden everyone will jump up and down and hurl Molotov cocktails and nail-studded baseballs or whatever, into jackbooted paramilitary police who dance frantically away from fire. Why, he can expect the Harlem Shake, of course. The growing interdependence of financial and political power structures, along with the accompanying disintegration of border security and the de-emphasis on nation state sovereignty begs the 21st century citizen of the world to wonder what the hell he can expect in the days of an open global society with no borders but with intensive central planning. The progressive moral degradation that belies the innocence of the Harlem Shake presents a picture of what to expect with ever increasing globalization. In this way, the universally appreciated transition from discretion to indiscretion makes the Harlem Shake an apposite metaphor for globalization. ItвЂ™s this necessary maneuver that makes us laugh because it is undeniably lighthearted and energetic itвЂ™s a salve on the mundane decorum that the entire world is obliged to endure. To recognize the universality of the human condition, we must fall from a productive team around a conference table to a room of flesh without purpose. In other words, to find common ground, we must gravitate from protector and defender of the peace-highly skilled and highly trained-to raving, abortive pumpers and grinders. (I know no more than this, as math is anathema to me.) The erotic chaos in the second half of the videos, which counters each cultural norm at the start, reduces man to animal instinct. Essentially itвЂ™s the smallest integer divisible by each denominator in a set of fractions. One mathematical system for fractional computations is the lowest common denominator. WhatвЂ™s clear by the variety of the tribes and the global success of the trend is that disparate cultures feel united by it I propose that the reason for this effect is simple math. The common story in each seems to be something like, вЂњno matter what culture you live in, weвЂ™re all the same on the inside,вЂќ though this interpretation may be a bit Unitarian. In thirty seconds the video goes from social etiquette to private impulse from genteel to unsavory from productivity to impotence. Either way, a tribe is necessary for the effect: a paradigmatic shift. To stage a Harlem Shake, you have to get people in your tribe together, or you get a disparate group together and fake a tribe. The obvious reason is that these are staged, while the Macarena is impromptu. The groups were usually eclectic the Harlem Shake groups are tribes. you, like everyone, jumped up and danced. When another equally vacuous dance came out in the 90s, the Macarena, it didnвЂ™t matter where you were or who was around when the song started. In fact, what makes the Harlem Shake work is the tribalism. You can find student versions, office versions, at least one with firemen, a military version, and underwater swim version, and so on.

Some are raunchier than others, unfortunately. In one, a man seems to be punching a large stuffed animal in the head over and over again.

The videos usually include someone wearing a weird costume. Everyone in the opening scene flails and dances erratically. Then, the music breaks open and the scene changes. If youвЂ™ve not seen one of these videos, they go like this: It opens with a large or small group of people going about daily life, except one of them is mildly gyrating to a minimalist electronica dance song.

What struck me, aside from the fun of it, was the endless variety. (This began as prison fashion and is now proudly worn by many young men, including affluent and middle class males who think it unfair that they have to drive the Volkswagen, and not the BMW, to school.)ДЄfter numerous requests to вЂњjust give it a try,вЂќ I watched one. First, it would be impossible to pretend that watching these videos has any merit, and second, I assumed the Harlem Shake has dubious roots, like the source of the idea behind wearing oneвЂ™s pants below oneвЂ™s buttocks. So, when a friend enthusiastically described to me the newest fad, the Harlem Shake, I immediately dismissed it for two reasons. I like to waste time just like everyone else, but only in ways that can be excused as important: reading news, answering E-mail, looking for productivity apps for my smart phone, etc. This is David CambridgeвЂ™s photo from Wikimedia, but the article does not reflect his views.

Harlem shake poop edition