[MD] Intellectual activity

[aesuszynski]

Hi Platt,
So glad you responded. I was afraid you might have considered my comment not 
worth responding to.

[Alice]
For me style is a large part of the message
[Platt]
 For me style is irrelevant to substance.

This is one of the wonderful things about being human. We get to have our 
own point of view and interests. And there isn't a right or wrong involved. 
Freedom?

I believe that there are threats in the world. I do know a little about 
history. But I am not consumed with thinking about take-overs and loss of 
freedom. I am, however concerned aabout the direction our country is going 
in and I will give you a sample of the things which drive me a little crazy.

     Jerry Springer and Maury Povich are millionaires because they pander to 
the lowest instincts in the human psyche.

     Americans are consuming junk at an alarming rate. The idea of 
craftsmanship is all but gone except on shows like "This Old House" and 
"Antique   Road Show" and we don't "make" anything anymore. I think this is 
a very dangerous trend.

     We have allowed millions of lawbreakers into our country and made it a 
law that the citizens must provide them with health, education and welfare 
all under the rationalization that they are performing work that Americans 
won't (which is a load of crap!) but the situation has made it very 
difficult for Americans to do that kind of work because they are being 
priced out. Six thousand  guardsmen (which we will also have to pay for) 
will now be guarding the border about ten years too late.

     American Idol is the most popular show on television.

     Serious writers can't get published but Danielle Steele writes and 
publishes a novel a year.

This is just a sample of my pet peeves and concerns. but this I know...

Most of the things above are caused by economics which is a moving train 
which can't be stopped and I don't think should be. It is a reflection of 
the wants and tastes of humans. It's evolving, man! and the pendulum will 
swing again and again and things will change.

And another Stalin may/will emerge, but we probably won't recognize him 
until its too late, but when we do, he will be crushed. That much history 
has taught us.

Alice

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Platt Holden" <pholden at davtv.com>
To: <moq_discuss at moqtalk.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 4:33 AM
Subject: Re: [MD] Intellectual activity


> Alice,
>
> [Alice]
>> For me style is a large part of the message. How can I take the message
>> seriously when the presentation is awkwardly excecuted? When a person
>> writes, they must imagine their audience. When I read Rand, I got the
>> message that she thought that if she shoved her message often enough
>> down the reader's throat, he would swallow it and certainly never raise
>> any objections. It was such a done deal..
>
> [Platt]
> For me style is irrelevant to substance.
>
> [Alice]
>> Life bears no resemblance to Rand's world or at least no life I have
>> ever experienced does. But then, she's Russian.
>
> [Platt]
> You and I live in two different worlds. Whether its the unmitigated
> evil in the past of Joe Stalin, currently of Bin Laden, or of the
> everyday common criminal, life and liberty are under constant threat.
> On the side of the angels are the police and military who fight the
> threat every hour of every day. Your welfare, happiness and very life
> depend on their being there for you.
>
> When you read Lila, you will understand the perpetual conflict between
> the forces of biology and society and the devastation wrought when
> intellectuals take biology's side in that conflict. For Rand, Crichton
> and Pirsig, the presence of evil is real.
>
> To win the battle against evil, the first step is to acknowledge its
> existence. If that takes "shoving the message down the reader's
> throats," I'm all for it. As you suggest, maybe there are better ways
> to do that, although when people are in denial it often takes a no-
> holds-barred intervention to bring them to their senses.
>
> Platt
>
>
>
>
>
> Platt
>
>
>
>
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