Rocky, fella

[rich]

> For Pynchon, World War II was a monstrous holocaust, a cataclysm of 40
> million souls, resulting from a competition among technologies. The
> old dynasty, the J. P. Morgan dynasty, was built on the technologies
> of coal, steel, and railroads; the newer Rockefeller dynasty on the
> technologies of oil (petrochemicals, plastics), aluminum, and
> aircraft. Pynchon says that World War II was a corporate war
> reflecting those technologies, that for many their “first loyalty,
> legal and moral, is to the estate [corporation] she represents. Not to
> our boys in uniform [the nation-state], however gallant, whenever they
> died” (  Lot 49,  53).
>
__________________
as a theme within Pynchon's worldview and artistic renderings that is
fine but ultimately its bad history. But as we've mulled over again
and again here, Pynchon's WW2 is loosely veiled Vietnam-era America.
No great shakes there. To mistake Pynchon's WW2 however for the
historical I think can lead to some pretty unsavory conclusions, e.g.
that Hitler (or even Stalin) was only a stooge of corporate elites.
Ultimately what I'm saying (I think) is that Pynchon's critique works
much better or is a better fit for a critique of post-war American
dominance. At least that;s how I see it.

rich