On Thu, 15 Apr 1999, Lawrence Walker wrote:
> I used to admire your brash freshness and sense of social justice but now I
>must question which brand of the new Soviet mafia you are enamored of .
I am a sort of intermediary between the various factions...
> Correct me if I'm wrong Max but I believe you live in NYC. Are you telling me
>that everyone in NYC has a computer who desires one ? This glut of computers
>that you had "fun" destroying, was there really any attempt to distribute them
>to the various communities and people who might desire a computer?
Actually, I live in Boston, but your point remains the same. The problem
is simply that these computers aren't new enough. They can be used for
anything that a new one can be used for, but they won't read the newest MS
Word files. Microsoft made sure of that. Believe it or not, people can be
very picky about such things. Also, there is the issue that the computer
will never be used, or will get thrown away the next day, whatever. The
point is that there is no justification for the trouble it takes to
distribute computers to individuals. If these individuals want to get a
computer, fine. I have found dozens of computers in garbage cans, I'm sure
they can do no worse.
> United States is held in contempt by much of the world just because of it's
>gluttinous consumer society attitudes. Surely CC is an example that shows
>that that is not the prevailing belief.. Most of us have respect for the labor
>and industry that went into these creations, usually ill-rewarded and often
>unrecognized. I would like to think that is the deeper feeling that motivates
>us, not the rising E-pay prices.
The USA is held in contempt for many reasons, and the consumer society
attitude is part of a larger problem. Personally, I do not like to damage
anything, but once in a while, I like to have some fun. If I didn't do
that, I wouldn't be motivated to do anything useful in between. These
computers aren't classic, and aren't examples of labor/industry. They
weren't made by human hands, they mostly weren't even designed by human
hands. The only place where human hands stood to get mangled was by
getting paper cuts against the dollar bills and credit cards.
> I have been fascinated by the destructive angst of North American kids and
>have equivicated it to powerlessness and a reaction against a materialistic
>society but have still watched in awe as some project kids gleefully reduce
>an auto to meaningless junk. If it was my own kids I would kick shit out of
>them and realise I knew them not.
My rising familiarity with technology past and present leads me to
question whether it wasn't meaningless junk before...seriously, if these
kids didn't own the car, they have a bigger problem, and should probably
get a sound beating. If it was their car, I can quite understand their
desire to release their exasperation. Isn't it better to smash a car than
a person? I guess you have lived a good life, and so have I, but even I
sometimes feel like nothing matters anymore, I'm so frustrated. And for
people living in the projects, it must be so much more serious.
>when indoor toilets were a luxury I sometimes take a reality check and am
How old are you, anyway?
>astounded at what we now take for granted. I can actually record any event
>audio or visually and manipulate that data. I can print without typing or even
>print my voice dictation. I can hear a printed text if I desire or have access
>to a vast library of books or other media. Not to mention encyclopedias
>without end and news without editorial control.
So what? I haven't found any useful purpose for recording events visually
and manipulating the data. The government sure has, and I think that's an
important fact. It's the government and the corporations that use this
technology, not us. But, we make use of such notions as generosity and
altruism, which a country or a corporation is incapable of.
> I am reminded that my mothers fresh home made bread was accompanied with an
>admoniton that we had to stop feasting our avericious young appetites on the
>delicious warm fresh loaves with fresh butter since it would make us sick if
>too much was ingested. It took me years to discern that it would also deplete
>the stock of bread from our sparse larders. Try and explain that to a kid in
>North America (not Mexico) who thinks that bread is plentiful and pretty
>boring.unless covered in jam.
For one thing, home-baked bread is much less boring than factory-made
bread. I once went for a walk next to a lake, which was just near a Wonder
Bread factory. That place smells like a crematorium! All of our advanced
farming techniques have done nothing besides fatten somebody's wallet and
increase the incidence of cancer. Over a billion are still starving and nobody
who can do something wants to do anything about it. Back in the USSR, I
remember reading a book about --guess what-- saving bread.
A boy gets bored with his piece of bread and begins to play with it. He
rolls it up into a ball and throws it away. The ball comes alive and
starts to reproach him. It leads him to the farm where a farmer plants
seeds, where a driver operates a combine harvester, etc. all the way up to
the bakery. At the end, the boy says he will never play with bread again.
Just thought I'd mention that one. There is no shortage of bread in this
world. There is an excess of assholes.
> The bottom line is that we shoud feel ashamed at anything that goes to
>landfill that is desired and beneficial even out of respect for the labour
>that has gone into them. My Take on things.
I am very much of a packrat, that's why I'm on this list. I just take
breaks sometimes.
--Max Eskin (max82_at_surfree.com)
http://scivault.hypermart.net: Ignorance is Impotence - Knowledge is Power
Received on Thu Apr 15 1999 - 15:07:54 BST