Re: [MOPO] DEAR OLD OLD OLD OLD FREINDS and all the Ships at Sea!!!

[Dave Rosen]

JR:   Agree with what you say.   My real point was that we live in an age of self-absorption. Ignorance of history is just one small symptom of that. My parents went through crushing poverty during the Depression, then both served through a horrific war. This and their insistence that we educate ourselves helped give me and my siblings some context into which we could place our lives and experience. What I see around me now is an almost willful ignorance of the world that does not bode well for the future. (Jeez, I can't believe I just used the word "bode" in a sentence.)   *sigh*   BTW, I do know who Winchell was, can still his nasal voice-overs from The Untouchables, which I watched as a kid. Later I found out what a despicable little weasel he was during the McCarthy era. Give me the other Walter (Lipmann, not Cronkite), anytime. Now does anyone here remember who Drew Pearson was? Hmmm?   Cheers, Dave     Dave,   I agree with all you say -- except the implied statement that it is somehow *just* the North Americans who are "ramping up their pursuit of self-indulgent happiness to the detriment of the planet as a whole." Been to Europe lately? Autobahns and Expressways crisscrossing the continent now, with everyone doing 90 to 150 mph as a matter of course on the open stretches. That's going the North Americans one better by a whole magnitude of gratuitous waste. In China, it is reported that Buicks are selling like hotcakes as the emerging Chinese middle class rushes headlong into consumerism. In India and the rest of Asia, it's a similar story and applies to all the other goodies -- from plasma screens to expensive sneakers, and to people all over the world. The minute they get a little cash or credit they rush out to start plundering the planet, driven by a pent-up lifetime of consumer-envy. As for the dumbed down media... most of the TV and radio in other countries is actually *far worse* and more mindless than the American variety. Hard to believe, but true. The North Americans were just ahead of the exploitation curve because of our unique position at the end of World War II -- but the rest of the world has now caught up and is trying hard to surpass us. So I'd suggest widening the scope of your indignation.   Not sure what this thread had to do with movie posters, but since everyone else was in an off-topic mood I thought I'd join in... :)   -- JR ----- Original Message ----- From: Dave Rosen To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 17:03 Subject: Re: [MOPO] DEAR OLD OLD OLD OLD FREINDS and all the Ships at Sea!!! Agree with all this but also believe that education, like everything else, really begins in the home. Or at the very least, needs to be supported there by parents with an awareness of its value.   Reading is especially crucial for developing intellectual curiosity and independent thinking. I am still stunned when I walk into someone's home and don't see a book anywhere in sight. Meanwhile, the TV (sometimes more than one) blares away, whether anyone is actually watching it or not.   Lulled by the big-screen nanny, many parents no longer see or understand the value of reading to their children and helping them to develop an interest in the world outside their subdivision.   Meanwhile, the news and entertainment media serve up funhouse mirror views of the past, where nothing pre-dates the Second World War or WW I at the earliest because the optics are not good enough to interest someone brought up on high definition, plasma screens and CGI.   Even when post-WW II events are dealt with we are usually handed a pastiche of top-40 hits and clips from old TV shows instead of proper scholarship and analysis. Talking heads are BORING. Going into the reasons things really happen is BORING. Real history is BORING. That's the message.   Yet nothing could be further from the truth.   I see this increasing lack of interest in or understanding of or even simple recall of history as distressing while North Americans ramp up their pursuit of self-indulgent happiness to the detriment of the planet as a whole.   (Sorry to go all earnest on you. Guess who was a history major in college?)   Dave   Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.