[MD] Pirsig confirmed again

[David M]

Hi Platt

Problem I have with this is that the dynamism of our
modern economies feed the values that we hold.
The problem being that these values are not intellectual,
they are biological, consumerist, selling sex, entertainment,
distraction, uneducated pleasure, unhealthy food, style 
over substance, social status, etc. So the dynamism simply
reinforces are current devolution. Probably accelerating our
demise. 

Perhaps drinking a few coffees on the west bank at a very
slow pace,talking about art and philosophy would do us
more good.

David M

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Platt Holden" <pholden at davtv.com>
To: <moq_discuss at moqtalk.org>
Sent: Sunday, April 16, 2006 2:05 PM
Subject: [MD] Pirsig confirmed again


> Hi All:
> 
>>From time to time in the past I have quoted articles from the NY Times 
> that confirm Pirsig's observations about reality. In this morning's 
> paper his observation about socialism lacking Dynamic Quality was 
> corroborated by an article entitled, "Vive La Dolce Vita" by Roger 
> Cohen.
> 
> As a reminder, Pirsig wrote: "But what the socialists left out and what 
> has all but killed their whole undertaking is an absence of a concept 
> of indefinite Dynamic Quality. You go to any socialist city and it's 
> always a dull place because there's little Dynamic Quality." (Lila, 17) 
> 
> Following is the gist of the article backing Pirsig's point:
> 
> "This unease has been evident in Europe of late. French youth, invoking 
> revolution in the cause of stability, spent weeks in the street to 
> protest and ultimately overturn a law that would have given them jobs 
> at the price of losing existing guarantees against the abrupt 
> termination of employment.
> 
> "The proposal smacked too much of "precariousness" for the French. That 
> is to say, it smacked too much of the market, of capitalism, of 
> globalization, for it is in the nature of all these things to be 
> changeable, dynamic and ultimately precarious. They opted, in short, 
> for security over risk, a choice many Americans find puzzling.
> 
> "Italians, too, are unhappy with the advance of "precariousness." This 
> is still a society where a central goal is to be "sistemato" - secured 
> in a paid position, preferably not too labor intensive, that can be 
> held for life and, if possible, passed on to the children.
> 
> "But is such deep attachment to stability tenable? The general 
> consensus is no. For Italy to survive in a global economy, now that it 
> can no longer devalue the lira to boost its exports, it must become 
> more efficient, more flexible, more precarious. It must dislodge the 
> "sistemati" or get them to work harder. The same is true in much of the 
> rest of Europe.
> 
> "Such stasis is anathema to Americans, for whom risk, movement and 
> personal ambition are fundamental. Immigrants, who propel constant 
> shifts, protested, too, in recent days, but their banners, saying "We 
> Are America," proclaimed an essential truth: The United States is about 
> the endless possibility of self-reinvention through hard work. It is 
> inseparable from change."
> 
> You can read the entire article at:
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/pages/weekinreview/index.html
> 
> Platt
> 
> 
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