Work

[gumbo at fuse.net]

David Morris:

> What are "the government's purposes?"

Sinister, of course. Obviously you haven't been keeping up with Doug's posts.

> These generalities are not only meaningless and wrong, but they ignore the
> specifics of the novel. 

Sorry, man. I'll try to work harder.

Of course they're generalities. I was trying to sketch a system in which the government (that would be Hector, Brock, the Vineland School District, the Social Security Administration, the U.S. Forest Service, Mr. Ronald Reagan, and some other people) might find it useful for the press to concentrate its efforts on goofy infotainment instead of examining some of the things its various agencies, bureaus, departments, task forces, sewer districts, and other appendages are doing. Part of that infotainment is provided by Zoyd, who as has been noted, is working for the government when he plunges through glass.

I wasn't describing Zoyd's deal with Brock, but one of its (probably unintended) effects. You're not buying it. That's okay.

D.C.





> 
> From: David Morris <fqmorris at yahoo.com>
> Date: 2003/07/22 Tue AM 10:27:26 EDT
> To: Don Corathers <gumbo at fuse.net>,  pynchon-l at waste.org, 
>   Richard Fiero <rfiero at pophost.com>
> Subject: Re: Work
> 
> 
> --- Don Corathers <gumbo at fuse.net> wrote: 
> > it suits the government's purposes for reporters to turn their attention from
> substantive stories to entertaining but meaningless crap.
> 
 The generality above is meaningless and
> mushy, IMHO.
> 
> > The natural order of things is that the bad stories force out the good,
> because they're cheaper to produce and they don't piss anybody off. This is a
> principle of journalism that anybody who has worked for a small-town newspaper,
> or any newspaper or television news program, will be able to recognize.
> 
> This is a function of the business side of the media.  It has nothing to do
> with "government" (again, whatever you mean by that word).
> 
> > The government is obliged to provide bread and circuses. In Zoyd's case, they
> are distributing bread and getting a little circus in return.
> 
  Zoyd was essentially forced into a deal (or be sent to
> jail forever).  The deal was very personal between two individuals, and has
> nothing to do with a generality called "government."
> 
> David Morris
> 
> 
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