The Art of War

[Mark Kohut]

a cut to the heart; a bottom-touching cuttingly; no exception to American 
exceptionalism,
and Yes...................................................

Unless it is that almost-infinite, still an undiscovered country masterpiece, 
Against the Day



----- Original Message ----
From: alice wellintown <alicewellintown at gmail.com>
To: pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Wed, December 29, 2010 4:47:07 PM
Subject: Re: The Art of War

After America,  war, there is a poem that ee cummings wrote about this
sort of thing, a satire that begins:

"next to of course god america i / love you land of the pilgrims' and
so forth oh"

but after America, war became a huge problem for nation states. Not
that it wasn't a bit of problem for monarchs in Europe and other forms
of government elsewhere but things did change after America. After
America,  Governments, as Richie Havens sings, lie to their people /
nations are driven to war / by men who stand in the shadows / telling
us who are enemies are. Not that they didn't before America, but it
was before America. America has, whatever we may say about American
exceptional ism, changed the way we see governments. I don't know if
Plato may be called a fascist, it matters not at all, but nation
states are held to a standard now that we did not have before America.
Do the policies of the government represent the idea or attitudes of
the people governed and are these policies a reflection of the
elections of people who hold these ideas and policies out to the
governed for review and correction, even reversal when necessary? Are
there rules? Laws? Are all the people (of a certain age) given a vote,
a voice? China is no America. Right? Not to get all jimgoistic or
nothing, but there is something about this America that is different
from what was before it. The wars America is engaged in challenge this
idea of America. America is not a nation that respects the rule of
law. America is a fascist state. An AmeriKa. But you've got to allow
that next to America or after America is something, if only a missed
opportunity. Maybe we should read M&D next?