I prefer God bless the child who's got his own. REH
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of D and N Sent: Friday, October 28, 2011 12:30 PM To: [email protected]; RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION Subject: Re: [Futurework] More Jobs Predicted for Machines, Not People My, my, my. I have to star this one and keep it. I used to sing that song in my hippy dayze. Simple chording if my mind serves correctly. Must dig out and dust off the old guit-box. Darryl On 10/28/2011 12:15 AM, Mike Spencer wrote: > Sandwichman wrote: > >> So I'm left wondering where this hostility comes from just because >> I'm talking about something that doesn't fit in the boxes that he >> thinks are the only boxes there are? > That's pretty much it. I long ago came to the conclusion that very many > people simply don't have inquiring minds and don't want to learn new > stuff. Some people find learning new stuff an onerous task. Some > probably are bent psychologically after a childhood and youth of being > told they're worthless. [1] In addition, there is a fear of and > hostility to ambiguity. Not to mention the inculcated notion seen in > religious doctrine and in various non-religious self-improvement > movements that what you *believe* -- having unassailable beliefs -- is > is the key to success, self-fulfillment, heaven and a better you. > (And this notion plays to the fear of ambiguity: you just *believe* > ambiguity away. Some preacher, guru, priest or 21st c. juju (wo)man is > ready to tell you *what* to believe.) > > So you get some answers, The Answer, a job and/or profession. And > then you're Grown Up. Do your job, repeat the answers (or The Answer) > to yourself and don't let nobody tell you you don't know what's what. > This is what passes as "thinking for yourself", viz, comparing what > Tom (or anybody) says to your unambiguous Answers. If they don't > match, Tom's wrong, malicious, stupid and evil. If you get to feeling > a little shaky on that, hang with your peer group and get your beliefs > firmed up again. > > All of this, I'd guess, is that from which dictatorship and other > authoritarian regimes and policies emerge. If we can't tell 'em, by > ghod we'll *make* 'em. It's for their own good. Winston (in _1984_) > tried to "tell 'em" and gave up. "There's no hope in the proles." > Minds, as well as houses, can be made out of ticky tacky. > > > > LITTLE BOXES http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/MALVINA/mr094.htm > [2] > > Little boxes on the hillside, > Little boxes made of ticky tacky, [3] > Little boxes on the hillside, > Little boxes all the same. > There's a green one and a pink one > And a blue one and a yellow one, > And they're all made out of ticky tacky > And they all look just the same. > > And the people in the houses > All went to the university, > Where they were put in boxes > And they came out all the same, > And there's doctors and lawyers, > And business executives, > And they're all made out of ticky tacky > And they all look just the same. > > And they all play on the golf course > And drink their martinis dry, > And they all have pretty children > And the children go to school, > And the children go to summer camp > And then to the university, > Where they are put in boxes > And they come out all the same. > > And the boys go into business > And marry and raise a family > In boxes made of ticky tacky > And they all look just the same. > There's a green one and a pink one > And a blue one and a yellow one, > And they're all made out of ticky tacky > And they all look just the same. > > > > Jeez, I sound kinda sour here, don't I? When my was was interviews > for her last job before retirement, they asked her that -- well, I > have to say it -- *stupid* curve-ball question, "What is your greatest > shortcoming?" And she answered, "I have no patience with stupid > people." They did not ask her to rigorously define "stupid". > > FWIW, > - Mike > > > > [1] This is probably where the notion that education amounts to > instilling "self-esteem", independent of achievement, arose. > > [2] Notes: words and music by Malvina Reynolds; copyright 1962 > Schroder Music Company, renewed 1990. Malvina and her husband > were on their way from where they lived in Berkeley, through > San Francisco and down the peninsula to La Honda where she was > to sing at a meeting of the Friends? Committee on Legislation > (not the PTA, as Pete Seeger says in the documentary about > Malvina, ?Love It Like a Fool?). As she drove through Daly > City, she said ?Bud, take the wheel. I feel a song coming on.? > > [3] The term "ticky tacky" is now included in the Oxford English > Dictionary, and credited to Malvina. [4] > > [4] But "tacky" was a southern term of opprobrium long before it > gained wide exposure via the media. > _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
