VLVL Re: Majorities Moral and Otherwise

[Paul Mackin]

On Fri, 11 Dec 1998, Doug Millison wrote:

> At 10:17 AM +1100 12/12/98, rj wrote:
> [snip] Pynchon's critique of democracy (which is itself
> >the 'They' in Pynchon's fictions, or component thereof, imho.)
> 
> Mr. Pynchon equates "democracy" with the "They" in his fictions? Care to
> elaborate on this in the context of VL or M&D or both?


I know Doug is asking rj but I'll contribute a sidelight. Pynchon aside,
the evils of democracy have been in plain view on television since
Tuesday. The committe Republicans led by Bob Barr are the fruits of the
democracy the Founding Fathers feared. People somewhere somehow 
elected these folks who seem to me to be from a different planet
than people I know. Obviously they're in a minority but they're still
there.  More generally it seems to me the power of democracy is too
limited to support such a characterization as rj finds democracy to have
in Pynchon. The big D is  a nuisance ofcourse but in the end other forces
prevail. It's true that America must be ruled with the consent of the
governed--so long as we remember that some of the governed count more than
others. Your old corporate interests figure heavily here but it's complex.
A good national level politician knows how to deal with this. Except for
his little flaw, Clinton is a master.

Oh, fooey.

			P.