Thanksgiving piece, including Hawthorne, Emerson and 'when American liberty also meant an obligation to the common good'

[Ian Livingston]

> i fear i've outgrown Pynchon

I once thought that. Then I reread the work with some other insights
on the side and found that I had merely been blinded to Pynchon by
having bought my own delusions. I guess you've just graduated a phase
and may learn more about P and the world.

American ideals? That's one of those phrases my neocon stepdad pulls
out along with his third beer. Once a Kennedy supporter, he now abhors
both Kennedy and all that has become of America. Thinks America is all
about shooting pigs for Thanksgiving and mounting snouts on the wall.
Drives a Volvo with an American flag on the bumper. Thinks he's a
great former warrior for having served 6 years in peacetime, and that
everyone who joins the army to go kill towelheads is a true American
patriot.

Fact is, we are each and all full of American ideals, and fatuous
nihilism rates as importantly as warmongering and Walmartianism.

"What happened to the American Dream? It came true!" -The Comedian.

The melting pot boileth over. I wonder if it will be someday for the
western hemisphere as it is for Europe after Rome?

The Revolution lives. Choose it.

On Thu, Nov 25, 2010 at 8:13 AM, rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:
> religion aside not sure i believe in american ideals or if i ever did
> so quickly have I forgotten them. we just have more guns and assholes
> i fear i've outgrown Pynchon
> America these past 60 yrs is the undeserving sibling of inheritance
> wondering what ever to do to pass the time. if Pynchon spirited the
> way of self-discovery not sure its become all the same song we all
> know--resistance, satisfaction, on to the next cause
> not a nation of shopkeepers but a nation of whistleblowers and paranoids
> Pynchon is that old teacher you loved and respected but don't really
> listen to anymore
> why should America be any different?
>
>
> On Thu, Nov 25, 2010 at 10:49 AM, Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> I don't think so at all.....P felt the Calvinist distinction no matter how much
>> it existed in reality
>>
>> And, I think his vision of America--of life-- contains notions of active
>> liberty, of working against the death of America's ideals
>> as we all discussed in Vineland and passive politics.................
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----
>> From: rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com>
>> To: Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com>
>> Cc: pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>> Sent: Thu, November 25, 2010 10:25:02 AM
>> Subject: Re: Thanksgiving piece, including Hawthorne, Emerson and 'when American
>> liberty also meant an obligation to the common good'
>>
>> which if true pretty much scotches much of Pynchon's underlying
>> assumptions and worldview which I find deeply suspect anyways.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Nov 25, 2010 at 8:17 AM, Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> Peace, Love and Puritanism - http://nyti.ms/fcdRhO
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>



-- 
"liber enim librum aperit."