_NP?_ "the_formerly_colonised_coming_back_to_haunt_us"

Dave Monroe davidmmonroe at yahoo.com
Mon Dec 23 16:09:58 CST 2002


Hey, if the hippies could make a counterculture
classic of a novel (1) written by a generally
right-leaning libertarian (2) who subsequently
published a novel in which the silver lining of that
mushroom-shaped cloud was the post-apocalyptic
possibility for racial cleansing (3), well, just goes
to show how a little (or a lot of ...) dope, acid
and/or patchouli'll take the political edge right off
yr so-called "counter"culture and/or force.  As with
the aforementioned, the readership that elevated TLOTR
to US Pop Cult status was hardly yr so-called "New
Left," hardly "progressive," and certainly, as may be
obvious given the pastoralism of the texts under
consideration, not in the sense of "forward-looking." 
See, e.g., Todd Gitlin, The Sixties ...

--- jbor <jbor at bigpond.com> wrote:
> It is indeed an incredibly odd argument which says
> on the one hand that the book is "racist" and then
> tries to factor that into the book's immense
> popularity with the counterculture of the 60s, which
> is where "White Male Guilt Studies 101" and the
> like originate.

(1) Stranger in a Strange Land (1961)
(2) Robert Anson Heinlein (1907-1988)
(3) Farnham's Freehold (1965)

> best to all for the festive season

But once again we find ourselves in agreement.  See
y'all at the Kwanzaa bazaar ...

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