[lit-ideas] Re: perfection
- From: Thomas Hart <tehart@xxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2012 21:12:10 -0400
Civilization may be in decline, but the symptoms are not those that Ms. Caley
suggests. I would suggest that a more pertinent symptom is the omnipresent
desire to invade even the most intimate details of a person's life. (The Swedes
are reputedly considering legislation to regulate a man's excretory posture.)
Couple that with a declining birth rate, government over-regulation, and the
looming fiscal disaster that threatens to engulf Europe and the West, and you
have better signs of Western decline/suicide.
As to the bookmobile, might I point out that all of those books were at one
time bought. He might be distributing his own, or he might be distributing
donations, in which case he may simply be a parasite, preying upon people's
charitable impulses to attain fame, good repute, etc.
More promising though is the existence of Amazon, Apple, and others that are in
the ebook business. The cost of books that aren't on dead trees is usually far
lower (free, $.99, 9.99 being typical prices) than books on paper. They take up
less room. They do less damage to forests, though that is negated by the
tendency of legislatures to churn multi-thousand page laws. You can also find
an enormous library of classic and not so classic lit on the web.
iTunes U, Udacity, Mitx, and similar ventures bring quality education to a
vaster audience than is possible through standard means. My wife just finished
a Yale course on the history of epidemics, and we're doing a Harvard class on
Jewish and Christian views of the Hebrew Bible. I've done classes from MIT,
Yale, Berkeley, Missouri State, and Notre Dame.
The big question is whether the forces of progress, i.e., capitalism and free
markets, or the forces of tyranny, big government, oppressive taxation,
religious oppression, going to win.
"All women are created equal.
Then some become Marines"
Katy Perry video for "Part of me"
Thomas Hart
tehart@xxxxxxx
On Jun 18, 2012, at 12:06 PM, Veronica Caley wrote:
> What a wonderful thing to hear. In contrast, we are closing down libraries
> or limiting hours, while shortening school days or increasing class size.
> Measure of a civilization in decline I think.
>
> Veronica Caley
> Milford, MI
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Julie Krueger
> To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2012 12:00 PM
> Subject: [lit-ideas] perfection
>
> Argentina-based Raul Lemesoff created the Arma De Instruccion Masiva (Weapon
> of Mass Instruction), a converted 1979 Ford Falcon formerly belonging to the
> Argentine armed forces, to distribute free books to people on the streets of
> Buenos Aires.
>
>
> Julie Krueger
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