RW>> THey're much easier, dumb down the populace, sell 'em
 RW>> anything.

BK>>  That's always been the rule. It's just easier when they own the
BK>> media.

 RW> YEah I know, civics, all that good stuff, don't bother with
 RW> that.
 RW> Reading an article, yeah I know, NY times, not some folks'
 RW> favorite rag, but talking about how much more we spend than
 RW> many other countries on education, and how much less we get
 RW> for it.  AS they said, put the money in cultural programs,
 RW> teachers, the real basics, less on hauling kids by bus, and
 RW> athletics, and ... you know the drill.

 Actually, I see the athletics and arts and all the rest right in
 there. Used to do that. We still could if we stopped trying to
 do everything on the cheap. There is an occasional time to be
 reactionary. In this case, go back to doing it all.

RW>>> Doesn't do either for me, angers me.  We don't teach kids
RW>>> civics anymore, we just keep dumbing it down and dumbing it
RW>>> own, but the big fascists who really have a lot to gain like a
RW>>> dumbed down populace.

BK>>  Yep. And they sell it by prattling about how much money they are
BK>> saving, and how much more the people would have to pay. Yet we
BK>> don't seem to be paying any less.

 RW> Depends on how you save money whether you're actually
 RW> robbing from your own future or not though.

 Uh...yeah... and I say that's exactly what's happening. Or our
 grandchildren's.

BK>>  The parasites on Wall Street are the right targets for the
BK>>  anger. They don't profit from a better life, they profit whether
BK>> we win or lose.

 RW> That's my problem with them exactly.  I understand the
 RW> house has to win the majority of the time to stand in
 RW> business, but when the house wins no matter what, and
 RW> you've not got a choice but to play ...

 Thing is, in an honest game we can all win. They like to say
 it's not a zero sum game, but it actually is. At least the way
 they play it.

BK>>  Fifty seven? More like a hundred and fifty seven, and still
BK>> nothing on.

 RW> YEah I know, but that Springsteen song came to mind, so I
 RW> used Bruce's number .

 Aha! Was that Bruce Heinz? With the E-street ketchup company?

 RW>> What was once the greatest country on earth is no longer a
 RW>> bastion of freedom and a beacon of hope.  Screw hope and
 RW>> freedom, there's not enough money in it.

BK>>  Same for peace and plenty. You can't be king if there isn't
BK>> someone you can rule over.

 RW> YEah I know, but if you can still everything you need or
 RW> want who in his right mind would want to be king?  THen you
 RW> get the responsibility for all of it too.

 That's just it, it doesn't make sense. It can be good for all of
 us, but some do want to be king.

 RW>> But, to make sure that hope and freedom go by the boards we
 RW>> have to discount and marginalize true culture as well.
 RW>> Music and art, screw them too.  WE've caused there to be a
 RW>> fight between the ignorant "we want it all for free" folks
 RW>> and the creators who should expect to get paid for their
 RW>> work.

BK>>  Well, the Wall Street types want it all for free too, just in  much
BK>> bigger measure.

 RW> OF course they do, and they've set up the creative arts
 RW> types and the true creators of the intellectual property
 RW> that is now being fought over to lose no matter how it
 RW> goes. When as a young man reading sci fi I thought of
 RW> something like the internet I expected to see it become a
 RW> true cultural renaissance, but these days I'm not so sure.

 Oh how I know what you mean. The internet does have so much
 potential, and so little delivered.

 RW> But, the creative artists who use it to get their art out
 RW> there don't have the budget or the expert knowledge to
 RW> create listenable or viewable product oftentimes.
 RW> Acquiring the facilities and the expertise using them costs
 RW> money, and in today's markets that isn't available.

 The Vietnam war era was a cultural renaisance period, IMO, but
 this is a time of decline. So much opportunity, and so hard to
 actually make something of it.

 Try to steal intelectual property from the big guys and you will
 get nailed. But the little guy has so many barriers to get past.

RW>>> Sometimes I thank god I'm already on the down side of the
RW>>> slippery slope, at least I won't get to see the worst of
RW>>> what the fascists and their dumbed down masses will create.
RW>>> I am truly sorry I left offspring behind to be part of it however.

 RW>> I'll stand by that last remark.

BK>>  I just hope I get to stick around long enough to join the
BK>>  battle.

 RW> tO be honest with you Bob, I'm tired of the battle.  I

 I'm tired of this battle, I'm looking forward to the chance to
 actually go after the true bad guys.

 RW> spent too much of my younger years when not playing music or
 RW> working a sound board engaged in it.  I did enough
 RW> volunteer advocacy back in the '80's to mid-nineties that
 RW> I'm burned out on it.  Trouble is, I know it's needed more
 RW> now than ever before, and I just can't bring myself to join
 RW> that world again.  I burned my candle at both ends pretty
 RW> good back then .

 I have a feeling it's going to get a lot worse before it gets
 better.



BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

... Jesus' family was so poor they never had a Christmas tree.
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