Sea Voyages & Insanity

[Paul Nightingale]

My first thought when I saw this on the evening news - quite unpatriotic of
the market to fall several hundred points just like that. Then I was
reminded of a letter published in Friday's Guardian newspaper here in
England. With businesses/schools/offices etc closing down for the day, as a
mark of respect - in the middle of London an arms fair was proceeding as
normal. Some people do have an appropriate sense of priorities, it seems.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Doug Millison" <nopynching at yahoo.com>
To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Monday, September 17, 2001 4:53 PM
Subject: Re: Sea Voyages & Insanity


> I wonder what Pynchon might make of this morning's
> scene at the NYSE, the singing of "God Bless America"
> as a NY police office and fire fighter pushed the bell
> to open the market. The stock market = America?  In
> the  Puritan ethic that runs through Pynchon's work,
> perhaps that equation does reflect reality. Are the
> police and fire fighters and other people involved in
> the rescue effort are digging and putting their lives
> on the line to make the world safe for corporate
> earnings and share prices? Or might they be viewed as
> among Pynchon's Preterite, the people whose good
> intentions and sacrifice are hijacked to serve the
> needs of Capital -- motivated in part by the sort of
> religious sentiment that now wraps itself in the U.S.
> flag.
>
> A local SF Chronicle columnist encouraged us all this
> morning to buy stocks in companies that sell
> electronic surveillance equipment, as U.S. residents
> -- the pollsters and politicians now claim -- express
> their willingness to sacrifice civil liberties to help
> the government launch another witch hunt like the one
> that Pynchon criticizes in Vineland.  A terrorist
> under every bed seems to be the tenor of quite a bit
> of commentary out there-- terrorist cells are active
> in California, one of our Senators said.  Terrorists
> may be living in the house next door -- if U.S.
> leaders follow the logic of their promise to root out
> and eliminate this evil, we'll be at war with just
> about everybody, everywhere, if in fact terrorists are
> everywhere.
>
> I think it may have been GE that announced earnings
> last Friday and attributed a 4 cent/share loss to the
> 911 attacks, and CNBC has been full of market
> observers and corporate executives calculating the
> cost in dollars of the tragedy, as are insurance
> companies (Pynchon mentions actuaries at least a
> couple of times in his novels; that's Takeshi's job in
> Vineland, if I remember correctly -- trying to fix the
> odds on tragedy so his company can profit no matter
> what).
>
> War means work for all, They say.
>
> Terrance:
> > It's not quite a critique of Capitalism, but of
> > something,
> > as Weber taught Pynchon,
> > Spiritual.
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Terrorist Attacks on U.S. - How can you help?
> Donate cash, emergency relief information
> http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/Emergency_Information/