Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Saturday, August 13, 2005
A middle-class parable (with an Ethan Hawke coda, no less)
Nice quote. Ever notice how kids paint pictures with strange auric colours which they learn to filter from their perception when adults ask them why they painted say Dad’s head green when he’s got a pink pace and brown hair?
Posted by Owen on from Barcelona 08/13 at 08:02 AMLast night Keir posted, “...Um, Rosemarie, not to single you out, but are you actually telling me we’ve LOST? You’ve been doing this longer than I have (I’m 29). So do you want me to go home? Should I stop? I’m a bit surprised here. I thought we knew the work we do today was for gains to be made a generation or so from now...”
What Keir said is very important and deserves a response. Keir’s view is representative of many, if not most, of the truly good and dedicated anti-war people that I know. I don’t think that there is enough personal passion in the movement. Maybe it would help if everyone looked at the photos of the slaughtered civilians on a regular basis, including the photos of the babies born to mothers who had been exposed to DU. I think that if there was more of a committment, people would be more willing to cross the line, in NEW and CREATIVE ways. I definately am not suggesting that everyone just give up and go home. Keir, I am sure that you have an important contribution to make. What I am saying is this...if we continue to do the SAME things that we have been doing all along for years, we will get the same result. I am very much a fan of the position that Ward Churchill has taken on this. I believe that he calls what we are doing the politics of convenience. Also, what would Malcolm X do...maybe, end the killing “by any means necessary”. Kier, I am not saying,"Stop", I am saying, “It is time to start”!
Posted by rosemarie jackowski on from crossing the line 08/13 at 08:08 AMOwen, your comments reminded me of something Picasso said: “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”
Or Bukowski: “Almost everybody is born a genius and buried an idiot.”
Good morning, Rosemarie…
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 08/13 at 08:23 AMHi Mickey, to return to yesterdays topic, I have a question. In what publications, if any, would you refuse to have your work published?
LM
Posted by Lawrence on from france 08/13 at 02:04 PMI don’t really know, Lawrence. Prior to this, I never really thought about it. Do you have any thoughts on this topic?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 08/13 at 02:42 PMGreat story, Mickey, and interesting quotes. Those, and Owen’s post have sent my thoughts whirling about. Maybe I’m a bit too disoriented to post, here, but I’ll try:
I’ve been thinking alot about what “the They” have stolen from us all, for so very long. Childhood, in which dreams and fantasies and imagination reign supreme, must be very frightening to the State. Wonder and curiosity place their vast deceptions in constant jeopardy.
Only one thing to do: “Beat it out of them.”
And, that’s exactly what happens, yes? By the time most kids graduate from high school, they’ve become cynical “realists,” preparing to meet the terrible challenges of a violent, hostile, ruthless world. When the kids have reached this mournful plateau, the work of our “childhood education system” is mostly done. All that’s left to be accomplished is to crush them into some mindless and “robotic” existence in which they dutifully pay their taxes and make just enough money to prevent them from needing to ask for a few pennies from those bulging, bloated Elite Pockets. Ideally, he or she should consent to putting an end to Social Security, and should work hard right up until death takes them. It would be best if they were to drop dead while on the job, but even the best-laid plans may sometimes go awry. OK, we’ll be allowed to die as we will - as long as we don’t “linger.” Lingering does so raise costs…
And, There: We’ve defined a “perfect” life.We’re born “in color,” and crushed into “grayscale.” Then, “they” hire psychologists and sociologists to study us and define us. Their conclusion: Human beings are dull-witted, myopic, cynical, suspicious, hostile, violent and generally without ambition. We are herd animals. Only with consistent oversight can they be truly useful. Fortunately, the Elites are committed to watching over us, lest we waste ourselves foolishly. For this supremely charitable act, of course, they’ll require considerable renumeration…
(Hi Rosemarie. I was goint to blab about “a new beginning,” but I think I’ve over-blabbed already. I’ll try to revisit. Great post, tho!)
Thanks for listening…Posted by joe on from sub-basement # 4 08/13 at 03:42 PMAnother factor: By the time the average American child graduates high school, she or he will have watched almost 400,000 TV commercials.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 08/13 at 03:52 PMMaybe the answer is to to keep all kids away from the TV and never allow them to go to school...especially any government owned and operated school. The more time that you spend in school, the more that you eventually have to unlearn.
Posted by rosemarie jackowski on from crossing the line 08/13 at 04:04 PMHere’s what Lou Reed said about this in his song, “Beginning of a Great Adventure”:
It might be fun to have a kid that I could kick around
A little me to fill up with my thoughts
A little me or he or she to fill up with my dreams
A way of saying life is not a lossI�’d keep the tyke away from school and tutor him myself
Keep him from the poison of the crowd
But then again pristine isolation might not be the best idea
It�’s not good trying to immortalize yourselfWhy stop at one, I might have ten, a regular TV brood
I�’d breed a little liberal army in the woods
Just like these redneck lunatics I see at the local bar
With their tribe of mutant inbred piglets with cloven hoovesI�’d teach �em how to plant a bomb, start a fire, play guitar
And if they catch a hunter, shoot him in the nuts
I�’d try to be as progressive as I could possibly be
As long as I don�t have to try too muchPosted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 08/13 at 04:14 PMHi Mickey & Rosemarie -
Yes, I guess eliminating TV and “government” schools would be a very significant step. We’ll have to take back our kids, if we hope to take back the world.
I home schooled my son Craig for 3 years. He rarely watches TV, and he’s delightfully weird, though pretty “crabby.” (He’s 16, & back in “school.")
When we’d visit other home-schooled kids, they’d say: “Hey, Craig, good to see you!” But when we returned home, the public school kids would say: “Where u been?” Craig would say - “Visiting some friends.” They’d respond: “Oh, yeah, like you have some fucking friends! Ha Ha.”I took him out of school for 7th, 8th, and 9th grade. Middle school (6th, 7th, and 8th grade) was an incredibly violent, negative environment. And, I read somewhere that, in many parts of the country, these 11, 12, and 13 year olds are engaging in so much oral sex, right in school, that in some areas, “educators” are calling it an epidemic. When my daughter was in middle school, we were constantly receiving missives from the principal, telling us about the confiscation of a gun or guns or knives… but that we need not worry because, “they were keeping close watch...”
Look what we’re doing to these babies. And, if they’re kids in Iraq or Afghanistan or the West Bank or in Central America or Asia or Africa, we just outright kill them or burn them up or leave them parentless or homeless. And, NO! We won’t stop until our mission is accomplished!
Great lyrics from Lou Reed, Mickey. There’s a guy who’s made his own path, over the years. A neighbor of mine, a long time ago, said: “Oh, I don’t like Lou Reed! He frightens me.”
Wow, this is somehow a “dark” day, eh? I guess we sometimes have to spew out some of the poisons which are constantly injected into all of us by our “society.”
Walt Whitman says:
“The spotted hawk swoops by and accuses me - he complains of my gab and my loitering.
I, too, am not a bit tamed; I too, am untranslatable. I sound my barbaric Yawp! over the roofs of the world!”A YAWP! to all of us, for all of us…
-joePosted by joe on from Oregon 08/13 at 05:53 PMMy thoughts are that whoever has started the website has presented you with a political challenge, just as you do with your readers who do not agree with you.
They are saying that allowing your writing in a certain publication is a political and moral act, and asking you to recognize that, and to state the political and moral implications, and then to denounce your former views, and take up new views. this is also, more or less, what you yourself are asking some people to do.
So your response, in my view, should begin with asking yourself how you would want those readers who disagree with you to respond to you, and to respond that way to your critics. which means of course you are open to change.
you may also consider the strategic implications, we often do. perhaps you are not sure, but you change because you think it will make you more credible to your main audience. or vice versa, of course. this is not as cynical as it sounds, but we don’t like to make these types of motivations a topic. however that does not mean they don’t exist.
one way to determine your true political viewpoint is to ask yourself the question I asked earlier, what publication would you refuse, if offered. if you come up with something, you will discover your true political and moral viewpoint on that issue more easily.
I think writing for Hustler is a political decision, and if, in your article, you did not explicitly denounce Hustler’s sexual politics, it means you are willing to increase the magazine’s credibility, because that in fact is what you are giving them. credibility.
This credibility could also be that you support freedom of expression, no matter what the form, and though you disagree with their content, you support their moral and legal right to publish their content.
That argument, in my view, is a bit thin. Not really very convincing, because you can support freedom of speech without writing for Hustler.
those are my thoughts, you should thank the people on that website for giving you a bit of a challenge!
Posted by Lawrence on from france 08/13 at 05:59 PMJoe, if I may, I’d like to respomd to Lawrence first.
I truly hope it’s obvious that I view the Hustler situation as a challenge and an opportunity to evolve. I’m not sure I agree that my article gives Hustler more credibility and I’m still not able to answer your original question: Is there a publication I would not let my work appear in? It feels like a case-by-case evaluation would be necessary but I’m not sure why I’d say no (besides obvious reasons like being short on time, editors who butcher my writing, etc.). I’ll have to think further on this.
Back to you, Joe: It’s funny how my idea for “storytelling Saturday” has provoked such conversations. Sure, it’s dark...but you are certainly not someone who comes across as “dark.” You have your eyes open, ready to recognize hypocrisy AND ready to enjoy a good laugh, too.
As for Lou Reed, his career is rather unique. Except for that one Honda commercial, he’s really done it his way. My favorite rocker, in terms of independence, just might be Ani DiFranco.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 08/13 at 06:34 PMJoe, what you say about 6th, 7th, & 8th grades is interesting and perfect timing. On the national news tonight they did a report on middle school. They said that people are starting to recognize that it is so bad that it is being referred to as the Bermuda Triangle of education.
Lawrence, you made me view the topic a little differently. Your comment about giving them “credibility” will make me see things with new insight.
Mickey, thanks for that link about vaccines. That is an excellent article.Posted by rosemarie jackowski on from crossing the line 08/13 at 06:57 PMThat was a sweet story about your son Joe. I’m in the Pyrenees for holidays where none of the kids go to school, it’s fascinating to be around, all they do is paint and play music and horse around. For the most part I feel teaching kids is vastly overrated (I read in a McLuhan book recently about a quantumphysicist who asks kids his most difficult problems cause they’re less hampered by all that useless programming), just leave em with instruments and writing-painting materials and they’ll figure it out. Plus when they reach adulthood they’ll be more inclined to be sceptical about grownup versions of teachers: judges, doctors, police, taxmen. Bonus eh?
Posted by Owen on from Barcelona 08/13 at 07:20 PMOne more reason to hate the FDA, USDA, and EPA....just proves that the pharmaceutical lobby is more powerful than the fishermen’s lobby. This is from that link about vaccines.
“... the government still recommends that children aged 6 to 23 months and pregnant women get the flu vaccine with its 25 micrograms of mercury which amounts to 250 times the safety limit for mercury intake set by the EPA for fish-eaters...”Posted by rosemarie jackowski on from crossing the line 08/13 at 07:21 PMI was not sure if you had this link or not....
http://www.meetwithcindy.org/Posted by rosemarie jackowski on from crossing the line 08/13 at 08:10 PMYeah, i put that one at the top of the list, Rosemarie. Thanks.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 08/13 at 08:49 PMHi Mickey, and Rosemarie, Owen, Lawrence -
I don’t know much about Ani DeFranco, Mickey, though I heard her one day, as my wife was downloading music and the song impressed me. She said: “You don’t know her? That’s Ani DeFranco!” I googled her (imagine saying that, about 20 years ago...) and found she’d done an album with Utah Phillips. Anyone who loves Utah Phillips is “aces” in my book. What a legendary old dude: tough, brilliant, wonderful, with a huge voice and an amazing history. I was really delighted. Now that you remind me of her, I’ll see if Suzanne has any CD’s, or more music. And, hey, maybe I’ll get to google her again!Owen, I really liked your perspective about judges, taxmen, doctors and priests being “grown-up” versions of teachers. Wow, that’s it, isn’t it? “Sit down, shut up, pay attention, and do what you’re told!”
Rosemarie, I read an interesting piece, last evening, by a fellow who said he hoped that Cindy Sheehan would NOT be (physically) joined by too many more folks. He felt that there was something “wonderfully simple and excellent” about the current images of this lady and a few families and helpers, camped out and waiting to confront the President of the US… “In this case,” he said, “less might well be more…” I’m inclined to agree. What do you think?
One more thing: About this “Hustler” problem, Mickey. I’m sure you’ll come to a conclusion, sooner or later, which seems to make sense to you, and which you feel is “right.” In the general scheme of things, this “problem” has to be pretty far down on the hierarchical list, as it were.
Well, in any case, we’re all going to “do” or “not do” a very great number of things which seem to contradict our “positions.”
I’m always wary of “positions,” in general. I don’t want to fight my way out of one “box,” only to climb right into another “box” with slightly different dimensions or a different paint job. I’m hoping we’ll one day create a society in which boxes themselves are all piled up and burned. Let’s not imprison ourselves within a tyranny of good intentions. Tyranny is tyranny…After the revolution, everyone gets one pencil and one-million erasers…
Another Whitman quote: “Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself! I am large, I contain multitudes.”
And Emerson, a walking contradiction himself, said: “…consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds…”
As the world slowly becomes sane, “little minds” will expand, all on their own…Posted by joe on from Oregon 08/13 at 10:18 PMJoe, you really have me motivated to delve more into Whitman. In fact, I will use that quote as my e-mail sign-off now:
“Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself! I am large, I contain multitudes.”
Replacing:
“Almost everybody is born a genius and buried an idiot.”
- Charles BukowskiG’night all…
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 08/13 at 10:23 PM
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