Pynchon Interview Playboy Japan -- Translation Questions

[S.R. Prozak]

howdy,

Useful point regarding the super-rich, but remember that in the Soviet Union they killed aristocrats under the same language and were vigorously defended by the leftist groups in America. Hence I am suspicious of generic references such as "rich," which to me means the upper 2% of America which includes several million not-super-rich but I'd say at minimum "wealthy" people who aren't assholes, necessarily. Further, if he's targetting those who become wealthy through greed, he's short-sighted, as it takes a system of corruption to support the truly irrational in the name of wealth. However, I apologize if my post seemed unduly attacking you for what is a linguistic misunderstanding, as it is not my intent to defend the impune false elites. These are a faux aristocracy manufactured by our time, a product of class and not caste. And that's about the meanest thing anyone could say about them.

cheers

SRP





 
----- Original Message -----
From: <barbara100 at jps.net>
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 19:03:56 -0800
To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Subject: Re: Re: Pynchon Interview Playboy Japan -- Translation Questions

> I was thinking the kind of "rich" that makes Pynchon's stomach turn are IB
> Farben and Shell types, or their modern-day equivalents. You know, the super
> rich.
> It's not so unhealthy a feeling, is it? To be sickened at the realization
> that only a few thrive on the backs of many? I certainly wouldn't call him a
> hypocrite. His father was a city Superintendent of Highways, and whatever
> money he has he earns, don't you think? There's a nuance in the word "rich"
> that you two seem to be missing:
> 
> [  ]
> 
> The higher one goes up the income scale, the greater the rate of capital
> accumulation. Economist Paul Krugman notes that not only have the top 20
> percent grown more affluent compared with everyone below, the top 5 percent
> have grown richer compared with the next 15 percent. The top one percent
> have become richer compared with the next 4 percent. And the top 0.25
> percent have grown richer than the next 0.75 percent. That top 0.25 owns
> more wealth than the other 99 percent combined. It has been estimated that
> if children's play blocks represented $1,000 each, over 98 percent of us
> would have incomes represented by piles of blocks that went not more than a
> few yards off the ground, while the top one percent would stack many times
> higher than the Eiffel Tower.
> 
> Marx's prediction about the growing gap between rich and poor still haunts
> the land -- and the entire planet. The growing concentration of wealth
> creates still more poverty. As some few get ever richer, more people fall
> deeper into destitution, finding it increasingly difficult to emerge from
> it. The same pattern holds throughout much of the world. For years now, as
> the wealth of the few has been growing, the number of poor has been
> increasing at a faster rate than the earth's population. A rising tide sinks
> many boats.
> 
> [  ]
> 
> The Super Rich Are Out of Sight
> by Michael Parenti
> 
> http://www.michaelparenti.org/Superrich.html
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "S.R. Prozak" <prozak at post.com>
> To: "Scott Badger" <lupine at ncia.net>; <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2003 5:17 PM
> Subject: Re: Re: Pynchon Interview Playboy Japan -- Translation Questions
> 
> 
> >
> > > A Man They Call Pynchon:
> > > When I see a wealthy person, I instinctively feel
> > > anger deep in my stomach.
> >
> > Nietzsche calls this a form of resentment, and revenge. He's right. No
> healthy person would feel this.
> >
> > > Barbara:
> > > > the poor's (justified) hatred of the rich, the easy shift between
> points
> > > of view--
> > > > all sounds like Pynchon to me.
> Proz
> > The rich should be rounded up and put into gas chambers for not wanting to
> lower themselves to the levels of the generalized masses? How revengeful.
> 
> "Scott Badger"
> >> Given the Pynchon family's income bracket, past and present, you're
> saying
> > > it sounds like Pynchon because he's generally such an hypocrite? And
> > > prejudiced?
> 
> Proz
> > WASP guilt - it's easier than designing a long-term solution. Find an
> enemy instead, even if it's you. A predominant reason why many of us quit
> being liberals.
> 
> 

-- 
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