_1984_ Foreword Re: Fact and friction

[Otto]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "pynchonoid" <pynchonoid at yahoo.com>
To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2003 9:56 PM
Subject: Re: _1984_ Foreword Re: Fact and friction 

> --- Otto <ottosell at yahoo.de> wrote:
> > I refuse to call our president a fascist. I have
> > great trust in the American
> > people.
> 
> "our president"?  You mean the US president?
> 

The real decisions are being made in Washington, not in Berlin. 
I doubt that we are a fully sovereign country like France or Russia. 
We haven't been for more than fifty years now. Schroeder's 
attempt to change this has failed, now he's been stabbed in the 
back  by Chirac and Putin. Mr. Bush knew that according to our 
constitution no German government would have been able to join 
this illegal war, neither with troops nor with money.

> When we have a reasonable chance of being well
> informed so we can make good decisions, I think we
> ordinary Americans -- if not our elites -- are
> trustworthy. 
> 

To me the problem seems to be that there's too much information: 

"Our nominally free news media are required to present "balanced" 
coverage, in which every "truth" is immediately neutered by an 
equal and opposite one." (xiii)

> > 
> > What are we doing next, Doug?
> 
> No, thanks.  Last time I helped organize a group
> reading and I'm still being accused of a dastardly
> deed for having done so.  

I did not do that but of course I respect your decision.

> I suggest you enlist
> Terrence's help to organize the next reading. 
> 

We shouldn't abuse Terrance for this, he's required 
to do the real work when the reading has begun.

Otto