[Platt to Ron]
You left out Einstein's final paragraph:
[Arlo]
Actually. You did as well.
"Clarity about the aims and problems of socialism is of greatest
significance in our age of transition. Since, under present
circumstances, free and unhindered discussion of these problems has
come under a powerful taboo..."
Yes, they certainly have (witness Glenn Beck's "nazi tourettes"
(Lewis Black is awesome!)).
"The individual has become more conscious than ever of his dependence
upon society. But he does not experience this dependence as a
positive asset, as an organic tie, as a protective force, but rather
as a threat to his natural rights, or even to his economic existence.
Moreover, his position in society is such that the egotistical drives
of his make-up are constantly being accentuated, while his social
drives, which are by nature weaker, progressively deteriorate." (Einstein)
Sounds like Einstein had a time-travel device and was listening to
2010 talk radio.
He continues, "All human beings, whatever their position in society,
are suffering from this process of deterioration. Unknowingly
prisoners of their own egotism, they feel insecure, lonely, and
deprived of the naive, simple, and unsophisticated enjoyment of
life." (Einstein)
This is the same prison Pirsig describes in ZMM.
"Along the streets that lead away from the apartment he can never see
anything through the concrete and brick and neon but he knows that
buried within it are grotesque, twisted souls forever trying the
manners that will convince themselves they possess Quality, learning
strange poses of style and glamour vended by dream magazines and
other mass media, and paid for by the vendors of substance." (Pirsig)
"The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in
my opinion, the real source of the evil." (Einstein)
Pirsig describes the current modes of production in ZMM. "People
arrive at a factory and perform a totally meaningless task from eight
to five without question because the structure demands that it be
that way. There's no villain, no "mean guy" who wants them to live
meaningless lives, it's just that the structure, the system demands
it and no one is willing to take on the formidable task of changing
the structure just because it is meaningless." (ZMM)
Thankfully, a few do.
Moq_Discuss mailing list
Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc.
http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org
Archives:
http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/
http://moq.org/md/archives.html
