Egypt, Twitter, and the Collapse of Top-Heavy Societies

[Mark Kohut]

Michael F. wrote:
Here's a favorite Frost poem(he had a whole bunch addressing the human
issues posed by New Deal initiatives and the results)

yeah, right....this darkest of bleak poems by one of our most feelingful, 
angriest, abyss-articulating,
so secretive even friends could not tell his politics---see Stanley Burnshaw, 
among others----
is about "the New Deal and its initiatives"....

surely NOT about much more horrid existential realities....
surely could not, in the mind of Frost's genius, have been conceived during the 
horrid depression 
by someone who trusted almost no one, no State, no institutions, certainly not
the stock exchange.....who felt "I told you so" to all who had had faith in 
their government from
way before 1934................

But rather, here, instead have 'friends' you've boughten earlier, perfectly 
aware of the 
oxymoron of such friends......perfectly aware of the brilliant twist on whoredom 
he states...

with all its immoral resonances, yet.....

and, and, how 'f'in near-nihilistically-ironic IS this poem? 

yes, and Gravity's Rainbow is about Nixon and his policies and...........
I could go on............


"Provide, Provide"

The witch that came (the withered hag)
To wash the steps with pail and rag,
Was once the beauty Abishag,

The picture pride of Hollywood.
Too many fall from great and good
For you to doubt the likelihood.

Die early and avoid the fate.
Or if predestined to die late,
Make up your mind to die in state.

Make the whole stock exchange your own!
If need be occupy a throne,
Where nobody can call you crone.

Some have relied on what they knew;
Others on simply being true.
What worked for them might work for you.

No memory of having starred
Atones for later disregard,
Or keeps the end from being hard.

Better to go down dignified
With boughten friendship at your side
Than none at all. Provide, provide!

Mike



On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 1:28 PM, Joe Allonby <joeallonby at gmail.com> wrote:
> I need to eat and sometimes I've needed to find a place to live. As a
> chronically employed person, I don't qualify for government assistance
> in those areas, nor should I. But some people either can't find or
> even perform employment that provides sufficient compensation to meet
> those needs. Government should help them. Begging on the streets,
> living in abandoned cars, prostitution, selling contraband, and eating
> in soup kitchens are not productive alternatives.
>
> A functioning pluralistic society needs an educated populace.
> Therefore: public education.
>
> Seems pretty simple to me.
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 12:07 PM, Michael F <mff8785 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I enjoy reading philosophical discussion, and when it borders on the
>> political with "reason" I'm even motivated to engage.  Please, Ian,
>> what do you see as "needs" and how are they ignored by Modern
>> politics?  I will agree Modern politics do ignore the basic needs of
>> man, but on the same side of the issue Modern revolutions can only
>> present Modern politics as a cure, which have historically been shown
>> to be a precursor to chaos and societal collapse.  People are always
>> "hungry", and people at the top are always taken care of first.
>> Shouldn't this motivation to not be at the "bottom"?  Me personally,
>> I'm not a religious man, and don't see myself as a martyr, Jesus-type
>> figure.  Saving one's self should be top priority.
>>
>> Mike
>> On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 8:07 AM, Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com> 
>>wrote:
>>> Gee, that's great. All your needs are well "fulfilled".
>>>
>>> On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 7:59 AM, Michael F <mff8785 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> I'm 33 and in fine physical shape and spend my time working out and
>>>> reading.  All the cosmetic procedures and emotional pornography(aka
>>>> Reality TV) is for the masses, not me.  A few individuals can truly
>>>> find out what they "need" and understand the concept of "Eros".  But,
>>>> when left to the masses to decide on their own you end up with what
>>>> the Modern World is and what Pynchon presents in his novels.  So, no,
>>>> none of the "needs" of the massses relate to my personal "needs", and
>>>> I don't like it when doofuses at California Universities and folks at
>>>> MIT speak for my needs.
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Feb 9, 2011 at 9:09 AM, Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com> 
>>>wrote:
>>>>> Uh, wow. Strange takes on needs. How's that workin' for ya?
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 7:57 AM, Michael F <mff8785 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> Our "common needs"?  American Idol on 7 nights a week?  Botox and
>>>>>> gastrobypass paid for by the people?  I'm sure I'm missing a few...  I
>>>>>> loathe the fact that "we" want gov't to respond to our needs.  I work
>>>>>> with "the masses" out here in CA and I see daily what the people view
>>>>>> as "needs", and to have anyone respond to those needs is a disturbing
>>>>>> thought.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 7:43 AM, Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com> 
>>>>>wrote:
>>>>>>> Yeah, my point exactly. Except for the evening out bit. As long as we
>>>>>>> are busy fighting each other we will never unite to make government
>>>>>>> respond to our common needs.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 11:19 PM, Humberto Torofuerte
>>>>>>> <strongbool at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>> I may just be speaking from my own bias as a vato from LA...but I'm
>>>>>>>> pretty sure that in human history televised team sports have caused
>>>>>>>> about as many riots as they've prevented.  So it pretty much evens
>>>>>>>> out.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Sun, Feb 6, 2011 at 10:19 AM, Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com> 
>>
>>>>>>>>wrote:
>>>>>>>>> um. Really? All the money is at the top, but the weight, steam and
>>>>>>>>> impetus of all societies comes from the bottom. People go where the
>>>>>>>>> food is, and only with a full belly will a soul cast a longing gaze at
>>>>>>>>> the wispy summits where the glamor flashes. That has only begun to
>>>>>>>>> change with advent of television, really, by the worship of which
>>>>>>>>> every impoverished soul learned how delightful, sexy, and intriguing
>>>>>>>>> the "lives" in "Dallas" and "Santa Barbara" are. What's happening in
>>>>>>>>> Egypt is that too many bellies are lean, so television hasn't the
>>>>>>>>> power to distract them.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> And, in honor of Super Bowl Sunday, I have to throw in my two bits
>>>>>>>>> about team sports. How many fights will break out between Americans
>>>>>>>>> today over who's better--the Steelers or the Packers? How many
>>>>>>>>> arguments will erupt in normally sedated barrooms? How is it that team
>>>>>>>>> sports do so much to divide the people against one another? If
>>>>>>>>> Americans were less distracted by so many divisions, I wonder how long
>>>>>>>>> it would take to fill the streets with the disaffected many.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On Sun, Feb 6, 2011 at 9:04 AM, Michael F <mff8785 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> This stuff kills me...  Every society ever has always been "top
>>>>>>>>>> heavy".  They always will be.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> On Sat, Feb 5, 2011 at 8:10 PM, Dave Monroe <against.the.dave at gmail.com> 
>>>
>>>>>>>>>wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>http://unbridledspeculation.com/2011/02/05/egypt-twitter-and-the-collapse-of-top-heavy-societies/
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>/
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Thanks, Christine K.!
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>> Klaatu barada nikto
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> Klaatu barada nikto
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Klaatu barada nikto
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> "Psyche pasa athantos." --Plato
>>>
>>
>