Swans Commentary http://www.swans.com/ March 23, 2009
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Note from the Editors: "If all economists were laid end to end, they
would not reach a conclusion," quipped George Bernard Shaw, who must be
turning in his grave over the global financial crisis, the increasingly
obscene transfer of money from the working class to the privileged few,
and the "socialistic" epithets that have successfully transformed the
idea of universal health care in America into a sinister and
threatening ideal. More on the current crisis later -- let's begin with
a Shavian retrospective by a few of his Swans admirers, beginning with
Isidor Saslav, whose story describes the infatuation that began as a
teen, influenced him as an adult, and inspired a collection of over
8,000 items, mostly books, which he's traveled far and wide to
discover. Peter Byrne explores Shaw's rebellion, the family roots that
shaped it, and the sociopolitical views of this creative rebel. Charles
Marowitz, whose connections to Shaw are also covered by Saslav and
Byrne, reviews the recent revival of "Candida" and ponders the
contemporary relevance of GBS -- a similar question posed by Louis
Proyect, who watched six film adaptations of Shaw's work to find the
answer. Finally, Art Shay, who like George Bernard Shaw does not suffer
amateurs lightly, shares humorous antidotes of those would-be
playwrights and photographers that hounded each of them over the years.
Enjoy this wonderful retrospective of a personage whose influence is
sorely needed today, then get out and rebel for change!
Winds of change are systematically blowing away the newspaper industry,
and one recent casualty is The Canyon Country Zephyr, whose digital
debut is welcomed by Martin Murie and Gilles d'Aymery, with some
additional thoughts on the demise of "dead-trees publications" by
Aymery. Michael Barker unravels the arguments used by G. William
Domhoff in his advice to the Left to stop blaming the media for
manufacturing public consent for elite interests, while Michael Doliner
manufactures consent for public interest in his innovative solution to
the financial crisis that challenges the elite to their own game.
Western interests are certainly well represented in the mainstream media
when it comes to justifying its imperialism, so it is appropriate to
turn to our Ghanaian reporter, Femi Akomolafe, for an understanding of
Zimabweans' support for Robert Mugabe and their view of Western hypocrisy.
>From the culture corner, Raju Peddada recalls his childhood bliss of
going to the movies with his father, and Guido Monte describes,
poetically, our indifference in front of world calamities such as
poverty. Scott Porter offers his take on the financial crisis and the
mind change that will cure it, which brings us back to the beginning
and the global financial meltdown. Our Martian Blips report on what the
mainstream media doesn't, from the near- collapse of the global money
market revealed by Representative Paul Kanjorski; following the bailout
money, where all roads lead to Goldman Sachs; the not-so-coincidental
takedown of Eliot Spitzer; to the endangered FDIC and the expanding US
federal debt, and more.
# # # # #
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/saslav12.html How I found Shaw -
Isidor Saslav
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/pbyrne95.html GBS: The Future Of A
Rebel - Peter Byrne
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/cmarow133.html Probing GBS - Charles
Marowitz
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/lproy53.html A Guide To G. B. Shaw On
Home Video - Louis Proyect
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/ashay10.html Giftless Amateurs Bug
Shaw And Shay - Art Shay
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/murie66.html Welcome To The Digital
"Zephyr" - Martin Murie
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/ga266.html A New Zephyr Breezes Over
The Worldwide Prairie - Gilles d'Aymery
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/barker16.html Blame The Media -
Michael Barker
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/mdolin42.html Feral Reserve: My
Solution To The Financial Crisis - Michael Doliner
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/femia07.html Zimbabwe: Constructive
Engagement - Femi Akomolafe
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/rajup10.html With My Father, To Where
Eagles Dare - Raju Peddada
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/gmonte64.html Poverty - Far -
Multilingual Poem by Guido Monte
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/porter16.html Social Democracy,
Anyone? - R. Scott Porter
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/desk083.html Blips #83 - From the
Martian Desk - Gilles d'Aymery
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/letter161.html Letters to the Editor
# # # # # Please, consider
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"Hungry man, reach for the book: It is a weapon." B. Brecht
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