First, it's good that the photo bothers you. Clearly you've not spent much time in California, for your comment indicates a clear lack of knowledge about the state and its population. There is every conceivable socio-economic group that you can imagine here - hard working people - farmers, fisherman, builders, technology people, scientists, activists, pacifists, rednecks, blue color workers, blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, Asians, educators, students, radicals ... sheesh, the list goes on and on. Our environment runs from the hottest and driest place in the US to places with extreme rainfall and freezing cold winters. Some of the richest and some of the poorest people in the US live here, as well as some of the most creative and some of the most boring <LOL> Yet you choose to focus on two very small segments of the population as reference points.
It's a shame that you perceive our society as one that "sucks." While certain aspects of it do, there is much good to be found here as well. It is negativism that sucks, yours and that of others. There are parts of California where the homeless and the poor are treated badly, and there are areas in which they are assimilated into the society, accepted as one would accept someone of a different religion or culture, and treated pretty well. Berkeley happens to be such a place, perhaps because of its diverse population, intelligent people, and the impact that the university has upon the area. Frankly, I think photographs like mine do a lot more than just "let some do-gooders punish people like those ..." While one photograph posted on the web may not do much to change the problems we have to deal with, many similar photos, shown in a variety of venues, may just make a difference. You know, I've been lambasted here many times for presenting such photos, and have always wondered about how it is that so many people here fall all over themselves when it comes to complimenting sunsets and waterfalls and insects of pretty colors and odd shaped macro images. Your post has, perhaps, helped clarify that for me: people don't want to deal with or face or be reminded of that part of society that causes them discomfort, perhaps because they've never done anything to help correct the problem, perhaps because the problems are to close to home, or for any of a number of other reasons. How much easier it is to just ignore the problems, let someone else deal with it, point fingers at someone or something else, speak in gross generalities and oversimplifications, and maybe it'll, if not go away, not rear its ugliness too often. Perhaps some day society will change enough that we'll never have to look at such photos again, except in an historical context. Shel > [Original Message] > From: Graywolf <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: 10/17/2004 10:47:48 AM > Subject: Re: PAW PESO - Spare some sex? > > It does do better in the larger size. > > OTOH the photo bothers me profoundly. To me it epitomizes California, that and > the Holywood tinsel seems to be all there is out there. The bottom of society > and the fake. It says too much too clearly, and at the same time leaves me > feeling helpless to do anything about it. Our society sucks and the most a photo > like yours does is let some do-gooders punish people like those in the photo > because it makes them feel just like it does me, but they are not honest enough > to admit that they helped make the problems, we all did.
