M&D Deep Duck: Contract with the City

[Monte Davis]

"Term" and "a function of simple Density" also have that TRP mathematical
subtext:

a term in an equation

an equation balances the terms on each side of the =, as a contract
balances "what I/you give" and "what I/you get"



On Wed, Jan 14, 2015 at 1:39 PM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:

> The Social Contract.
>
> On Tue, Jan 13, 2015 at 9:00 PM, Monte Davis <montedavis49 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > IN M&D's first meeting, at 14.16, Dixon asks how Londoners avoid brawls
> and
> > duels. Mason replies :
> >
> > " 'Oh, one may, if one wishes, find Insult at ev'ry step,-- from insolent
> > Stares to mortal Assault, an Orgy of Insult uninterrupted,-- yet how
> does one
> > proceed to call out each offender in turn, or choose among 'em, and in
> > obedience to what code? So, one soon understands it, as yet another Term
> in
> > the Contract between the City and oneself,-- a function of simple
> Density,
> > ensuring that there never be time enough to acknowledge, let alone to
> > resent, such a mad Variety of offer'd Offense.' "
> >
> >
> > Over the next few pages, while it is clear that they are finding each
> other
> > congenial, it is also clear that they are negotiating their own contract:
> >
> >
> > "Taking it for the joke it must be, Dixon laughs..."
> >
> >
> > "Dixon decides to register only annoyance..."
> >
> >
> > "...Dixon...  finds himself laughing without... honest Mirth..."
> >
> >
> > "Mason has been edging away..."
> >
> >
> > "Mason retreats from  [Dixon's clasp] in a Flinch..."
> >
> >
> > "...in some Uncertainty as to how the power may come to be sorted out
> > betwixt 'em"
> >
> >
> > Dixon "...seems disappointed in Mason, --or so the Astronomer, ever
> inclined
> > to suspicion, fears."
> >
> >
> > It's a perverse strength of this friendship that it will never lack for
> > variety of offer'd offense.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
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