BE ch 5 nerd wars

[Joseph Tracy]

Below is the quote, ostensibly from GR, but perhaps copied and pasted secondarily from some other source. I have a Penguin edition of GR. In that edition the last line of the quoted passage is different in 2 ways: it says “And how they know it-.
so it has the word "how” added, and it is followed with a dash, not a period.

Could someone check to see if the Viking edition has the word ‘ how’, and a dash in that line? Does the Penguin edition have an error?
> 
>> The Man has a branch office in each of our brains, his corporate emblem is
>> a white albatross, each local rep has a cover known as the Ego, and their
>> mission in this world is Bad Shit. We do know what's going on, and we let
>> it go on. As long as we can see them, stare at them, those massively
>> moneyed, once in a while. As long as they allow us a glimpse, however
>> rarely. We need that. And they know it.”

As for the passage itself, it is strong but perhaps not cosmic truth. Could it be too absolutist, a version of original sin where capitalism, and vainglory are the devil's franchise. All through history some people have declined the appeal of power and money, preferring simpler pleasures that include a clear conscience, honesty, ec. and all through history some people have fought, lost their lives and endured tremendous personal loss to follow their consciences, protect their communities, refuse what they see as evil.
    It seems to me to overdramatize an inward struggle that is part of being human, and to overstate the hold that personal comfort and social conformity has on people. It’s a new package for original sin, but at a time when boundaries are dissolving before systematic control freaks and new imperial boundaries are emerging revolving around capitalism/colonialism. This is admittedly creepy stuff Pynchon is describing in GR. But regardless of how inevitable it seems,  does it make sense to reify sociopathy as human destiny? Are all the voices for a better way fools with their fingers in the dikes while the waters rise and slosh and the karmic missiles fall?   
     

 The passage can also be interpreted through a more Buddhist framework where the me-story is The Man  and his appeal( local rep) is Egoic satisfaction, and Bad shit is the suffering resulting from yielding to Egoic desire. The idea kind of breaks down around the proposition that what inevitaby holds people back from the awakened state of non-attachment  is the irresistable apppeal of the glamor of wealth/power. Not that even Buddhists aren’t tempted by this, but a great many have chosen  austere lives of prayer, service and meditation over money. 

The degree to which the whole passage represents a final or determinative truth for Pynchon is debatable, And it is not obvious how it trumps or argues with the themes in Bleeding Edge.  If the counterforce sputters out over these pressures, don’t Maxine, March, and Reg also chump out the same way, retreating to temporary safety from the hidden violence her investigations revealed?