mic check goes Presidential

[Ian Livingston]

I do not think, Henry, that in such a brief symbolic picture of
passive cooperation as the dance presents, we are tasked to say the
lack of collision is in itself anarchical. The anarchist miracle is
that no harm occurs, no one bumps anyone else's partner off the floor,
& c. The deaf dance to their own individual, subjective music and yet
remain aware and respectful of each other, despite their handicap. I
think, yes, that is desirable insofar as it goes, but, as a metaphor,
it matters how far you stretch it. Can we observe others without being
seduced to their subjective realities, and is it okay that we do not
need to persuade others to ours? Anarchy need not be political, and it
need not be chaotic.

On Fri, Nov 25, 2011 at 12:38 PM, Henry M <scuffling at gmail.com> wrote:
> It's great that they're able to dance, but they ARE deaf.  Is their ability
> to dance together because of not hearing enviable or even desirable?  How
> how is the lack of collision, whether in spite of a disability or not,
> anarchical in any reasonable sense of the word?  Answered or not, my
> questions are NOT rhetorical.
>
> AsB4,
> ٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶
> Henry Mu
> http://astore.amazon.com/tdcoccamsaxe-20
>
>
> On Fri, Nov 25, 2011 at 3:06 PM, Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> > It seems we differ on what we believe are Pynchon's feelings concerning
>> > social movements.  We see it abused in every one of his books, and the
>> > anarchist mute dance is a marvel and very nice for the dancers, but
>> > accomplishes nothing but a good feeling, and only for the few deaf
>> > participants.
>>
>> I am unwilling to speculate on what Pynchon the man supports or
>> dislikes in contemporary politics. I do, however, think the mute dance
>> of CoL49 is emblematic of the Anarchist Miracle, rather than a
>> diversionary entertainment. Why are the dancers deaf and mute in this
>> example? Are deaf to seductive tones of others' music, unable to
>> persuade with their own voices? Do they act without direction because
>> there is none, or because they are immune it?
>> Just askin.
>>
>> On Fri, Nov 25, 2011 at 10:58 AM, Henry M <scuffling at gmail.com> wrote:
>>  very difficult to believe that the narrator believes in the purity of
>> even
>> > the purest movement.  The chanting of insipid slogans ain't anarchy
>> > where I
>> > come from.  Even if it existed, that airship of which you speak doesn't
>> > have
>> > room for the poor, and it takes a pilot and knowledgeable crew; sentient
>> > dogs alone won't do.
>> >
>> > AsB4,
>> > ٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶
>> > Henry Mu
>> > http://astore.amazon.com/tdcoccamsaxe-20
>> >
>> >
>> > On Fri, Nov 25, 2011 at 12:39 PM, Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com>
>> > wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Pres Obama did say to the mic check Occupyers, off-TV-cameras, that
>> >> "you
>> >> are the reason I ran for office"....I still want to and do believe
>> >> that of him......maybe "common ground between us"? ....
>> >>
>> >> As I see it, your either-for-certain-political-social actions or the-
>> >> Occupyers- are- wasting- their -and-our-time is an example of the
>> >> either-or
>> >> thinking
>> >> I was referring to.........it leads you to minimize any meanings re
>> >> Homeland Security actions.....that conference call gave more than a few
>> >> 'talking points' that sometimes had little to do with reality as
>> >> justification for forcing out Occupyers. OWS was not 'dirty;
>> >> unhealthy"....it WAS
>> >> camping out in a park which had now outlawed THAT.....UC Davis
>> >> Chanceller
>> >> used the 'unhealthy; disorder' line when she OKed campus police
>> >> to .....clear them out....[those pepper-sprayed were not disorderly,
>> >> unhealthy where they were]......your general critique of 'lefties'
>> >> falls
>> >> into the
>> >> either-or prism clearly, I say. ---either we do direct political party
>> >> or
>> >> social action...help the poor get more....or we are......wrong, acting
>> >> wrongl
>> >>
>> >> The Excluded Middle is the Occupyers ,so to analogize......it was
>> >> direct
>> >> 'action' of simple presence...outside the simplistic either-or
>> >> paradigms....
>> >>
>> >> What your argument lacks, imho, ---in pynchonian terms ---is seeing the
>> >> Occupyers as the positive 'movements' Pynchon has
>> >> in his vision:    The Occupyers are 'the anarchist mute dance' from Lot
>> >> 49.....The Occupyers set up an 'underground' communication sytem
>> >> ala The Trystero, complete with mailboxes and libraries.....The
>> >> Occupyers
>> >> all wear T-shirts taken from the pile, so to speak
>> >> "closest thing you are going to get to pure anarchism" sez someone from
>> >> Against the Day.....
>> >>
>> >> the Occupyers want a new airship. ....
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> "Less than any man have I  excuse for prejudice; and I feel for all
>> creeds the warm sympathy of one who has come to learn that even the
>> trust in reason is a precarious faith, and that we are all fragments
>> of darkness groping for the sun. I know no more about the ultimates
>> than the simplest urchin in the streets." -- Will Durant
>
>



-- 
"Less than any man have I  excuse for prejudice; and I feel for all
creeds the warm sympathy of one who has come to learn that even the
trust in reason is a precarious faith, and that we are all fragments
of darkness groping for the sun. I know no more about the ultimates
than the simplest urchin in the streets." -- Will Durant