Colonial Sadness

[Henry M]

It's called contrast. A useless factory-made toy. Frozen snow. 
I haven't heard such thoughtless defense of colonialism in years. 
"If they want it, it must be good for'em." It may be inevitable, and 
I would never dream of keeping such blessings as guns and big macs 
outta the hands of anyone that has been taunted with them, but to 
feel no regret...

On 11 Dec 96 at 8:48, LBernier at tribune.com wrote:

> From:          <LBernier at tribune.com>
> Date:          Wed, 11 Dec 1996 08:48:17 -0600
> Subject:       Re[2]: the Voice of Steely
> To:            pynchon-l at waste.org

>      Craig opines
> 
>      > Reminds me of a photograph way back in a 1970s _National >
>      Geographic_, showing an Inuit hunkered down in his igloo for
>      the > night, playing with a battery-operated motor-racing
>      track. One of > the strangest and saddest photos I have seen.
> 
> 
>      Why was this sad, Craig? - would you rather see the Inuit
>      eating chewing on some dried seal meat while his fat pregnant
>      barefoot wife sits next to him repairing his mugluks with a
>      bone needle and polar bear sinews?  Damn those third worlders
>      (although Alaska was part of the US last time I checked - or
>      was this a Canadian Inuit?) who just won't stay quaint and
>      backwards!
> 
>      Jean.
> 
> 
> ______________________________ Reply Separator
> _________________________________ Subject: Re: the Voice of Steely
> Author:  "Craig Clark" <CLARK at SHEPFS2.UND.AC.ZA> at Internet_tco
> Date:    12/11/96 8:56 AM
> 
> 
> David Casseres <casseres at apple.com> writes:
> 
> > One of the most heartbreaking examples I've read about is the
> > passage in Paul Theroux's _Happy Isles of Oceania_ about Cook
> > Islanders, who once had a particularly appealing version of
> > Polynesian culture, vegging out on the sofa and watching imported
> > porno videos....
> 
> 
> "Living inside the system is like driving across
>  the countryside in a bus driven by a maniac bent 
>  on suicide."
>    - Thomas Pynchon, "Gravity's Rainbow"
> 

Keep cool, but care. -- TRP
Moderation in moderation. -- Husky Mariner

http://www.nicom.com/~gravity