talking dogs

[Mike Weaver]

>Ben Freeman wrote:
>>        Fuck that. I'm hating it and I'm staying. America is full of
>>shit and more people need to say that, dad.
Doug Millson replied
>Recognizing the shortcomings is the easy part. I'd say, "more people need
>to DO something about the shit" and I'm also doing something about it,
>beginning with my own simple life, family, work place, community.
>
Well said, Doug, tho I'm not so sure that recognising the 'shortcomings' is
that easy  for a lot of people.  Indoctrination in the rightness of our own
dominant cultures is sometimes like a sweatshirt hood.  Easy enough to throw
off your head but it still hangs around your neck,  ready to be pulled back
up when it starts raining on you.   The ascendancy of the U.S.A. as a world
power began with WW1. A key political feature then was the way that the
(reformist) socialist parties in Europe all backed their national imperial
rulers rather than remaining loyal to the antiwar internationalism of the
global socialist movement.
        I began my life as an English  yankophile in the early sixties and
so my own later radicalisation was accompanied by an interest and awareness
of the development of the counterforce happening at the same time in the
States.  Since then I have gained a knowledge of the radical histories on
both sides of the Atlantic which actually oppose Ben's remark.  The U.S.
isn't *full* of shit,  there have always been a few flowers of hope blooming
and seeding.  TP gave a clear nod to that in Vineland.  It is possibly an
important part of the process of resistance to the imperial hunger,  to
acknowledge, celebrate and find inspiration in the past struggles whose
social bases form the healthy underbelly of U.S. history.

One little quibble,  which probably applies to most of you American talking
dogs,  please remember than the United States is only one of many nations
which make up the Americas and every time you say America or American when
you mean the United States of... or U. S. American you are going along with
your rulers arrogant imperialism.  The Canadians,  Mexicans, Chileans etc
are all American too and may not be happy to be included/excluded by your
use of the adjective.

Until next time a loyal Pynchonian signing off

Mike

   
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    Humour is the oil of the soul - Lord Buckley         
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