(no subject)
Eight hours down, four more to go.
I finished A Man Without a Country. Brilliant as ever. I was mildly embarrassed by some of the notes I scribbled in the margins when I read it 2.5 years ago (a fucking RENT lyric I thought applied, not-so-nice reactions to socialism that made it seem like I wasn't even paying attention to what Vonnegut was writing, ...) and became even more embarrassed when I remembered that I borrowed it to Christian, post-scribbling. Blah.
"Persuasive guessing has been at the core of leadership for so long, for all of human experience so far, that it is wholly unsurprising that most of the leaders of this planet, in spite of all the information that is suddenly ours, want the guessing to go on. ... Some of the loudest, most proudly ignorant guessing in the world is going on in Washington today [2005]. Our leaders are sick of all the solid information that has been dumped on humanity by research and scholarship and investigative reporting.
... Loaded pistols are good for everyone except inmates in prisons or lunatic asylums.
That's correct.
Millions spent on public health are inflationary.
That's correct.
Billions spent on weapons will bring inflation down.
That's correct.
Dictatorships to the right are much closer to American ideals than dictatorships to the left.
That's correct.
The more hydrogen bomb warheads we have, all set to go off at a moment's notice, the safer humanity is and the better off the world will be that our grandchildren will inherit.
That's correct.
Industrial wastes, and especially those that are radioactive, hardly ever hurt anybody, so everybody should shut up about them.
That's correct.
Industries should be allowed to do whatever they want to do: Bribe, wreck the environment just a little, fix prices, screw dumb customers, put a stop to competition, and raid the Treasury when they go broke.
That's correct.
That's free enterprise
And that's correct.
The poor have done something very wrong or they wouldn't be poor, so their children should pay the consequences.
That's correct.
The United States of America cannot be expected to look after its own people.
That's correct.
The free market will do that.
That's correct.
The free market is an automatic system of justice,
That's correct.
I'm kidding."
Moving on to White Like Me. I glanced at some of the pages Jane marked first and saw "Rachy!" with an arrow---Color of Fear!! Do we believe that Tim Wise is friends with Victor, J? Why does that just seem farfetched to me :/ I don't know.
I was going to mention this when I write you back today, but I'll just say it now: We should forever send each other books we've just read with notes and ideas and exclamation points, lol. Til we are wrinkly old women on opposite ends of the world (or next door neighbors).
I finished A Man Without a Country. Brilliant as ever. I was mildly embarrassed by some of the notes I scribbled in the margins when I read it 2.5 years ago (a fucking RENT lyric I thought applied, not-so-nice reactions to socialism that made it seem like I wasn't even paying attention to what Vonnegut was writing, ...) and became even more embarrassed when I remembered that I borrowed it to Christian, post-scribbling. Blah.
"Persuasive guessing has been at the core of leadership for so long, for all of human experience so far, that it is wholly unsurprising that most of the leaders of this planet, in spite of all the information that is suddenly ours, want the guessing to go on. ... Some of the loudest, most proudly ignorant guessing in the world is going on in Washington today [2005]. Our leaders are sick of all the solid information that has been dumped on humanity by research and scholarship and investigative reporting.
... Loaded pistols are good for everyone except inmates in prisons or lunatic asylums.
That's correct.
Millions spent on public health are inflationary.
That's correct.
Billions spent on weapons will bring inflation down.
That's correct.
Dictatorships to the right are much closer to American ideals than dictatorships to the left.
That's correct.
The more hydrogen bomb warheads we have, all set to go off at a moment's notice, the safer humanity is and the better off the world will be that our grandchildren will inherit.
That's correct.
Industrial wastes, and especially those that are radioactive, hardly ever hurt anybody, so everybody should shut up about them.
That's correct.
Industries should be allowed to do whatever they want to do: Bribe, wreck the environment just a little, fix prices, screw dumb customers, put a stop to competition, and raid the Treasury when they go broke.
That's correct.
That's free enterprise
And that's correct.
The poor have done something very wrong or they wouldn't be poor, so their children should pay the consequences.
That's correct.
The United States of America cannot be expected to look after its own people.
That's correct.
The free market will do that.
That's correct.
The free market is an automatic system of justice,
That's correct.
I'm kidding."
Moving on to White Like Me. I glanced at some of the pages Jane marked first and saw "Rachy!" with an arrow---Color of Fear!! Do we believe that Tim Wise is friends with Victor, J? Why does that just seem farfetched to me :/ I don't know.
I was going to mention this when I write you back today, but I'll just say it now: We should forever send each other books we've just read with notes and ideas and exclamation points, lol. Til we are wrinkly old women on opposite ends of the world (or next door neighbors).