Saturday, November 24, 2007

I know this is late; please accept my apologies.

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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mac --

I was taking this in as "well, that's Mac's sense of humor," until that last statement: "Thanks for last and greatest betrayal of the last and greatest of human dreams," while images of the the first decade of the American space program are superimposed.

That got me.

(The bastards.)


Daniel

2:06 AM
Mac said...

Burroughs was probably referring to the paranoid militarizing of space that propelled the Apollo era. Ultimately, I think we might prove him wrong by forging ahead and individualizing the Cosmos, but it will be a difficult road.

2:10 AM
Anonymous said...

Yow! And a happy Thanksgiving to _you_, Mr. Burroughs...man, that was grim.

2:32 AM
Greg Bishop said...

This one always chokes me up. Thanks for reminding me.

2:37 AM
Anonymous said...

Why on Earth would you post this piece of trash? Yea I get it it your depressed and all becuase of your love life situation, but pissing on people's appreciation of Thanksgiving is sad. If misery loves company, you must be really miserable right now Mac, which I'm sorry about - but this sorta thing is ridiculous.

I feel nothing but contempt (or is it pity?) for an American who actually hates their own country so much they would write something like that. We are so incredibly lucky to be living in America it's not even funny. Look around at all the other shithole countries in the world - I'd never, ever want to live anywhere but here. I lived in New Zealand for while and couldn't wait to get back home. God help me if I had to live in Eurabia.. er I mean Europe.

Perhaps the whole thing is supposed to be a joke? If it was, I'm not laughing. Being ungrateful at Thanksgiving isn't exactly something to brag about.

2:53 AM
Mac said...

TJ--

I can only speak for myself, but I find someone who can't appreciate Burroughs' deadpan vivisection of the status quo worthy of some pity. Your comment is beyond ignorant -- it's nasty and spiteful. Spare us.

3:30 PM
Anonymous said...

TJ--

Cynical anti-cynicism? Oxymoronic or just counter-intuitive?

America has a lot to answer for in terms of its' negative impact on the world at large, while also being a great country. It's a mixed bag, as all countries are--neither wholly good or bad, just some of each.

My own perception is that we have moved increasingly toward the negative, under Bush, and considering our present economic, political, and war-related liabilities, our country should move in an opposite direction in order to help preserve what is good and best about our nation.

Let's just say that the ideals of American democracy and freedom don't currently measure up to the actual realities thereof, either domestically or particularly internationally.

Perhaps they never have, since ideals are conceptual ways to motivate us to hopefully improve the quality of life for all in our own country and to symbolically encourage the people of other nations to try and do the same.

But too much cynicism, either left, right, or middle, is self-defeating and fosters self-fulfilling prophecies. No matter what one's political or philosophical orientation, we should all strive to do better, for ourselves and those others who could use our help.

Burroughs perspective is fairly grim, as I noted as anon above, but it's not invalid. It's just another point of view within the spectrum of beliefs, not garbage, and Mac has every right to post it as I'm sure it reflects an aspect of his own views.

The video is a protest, as it were, of things that are wrong, and the implication I get is that it's a kind of poetic manifesto that should be perceived as a way of suggesting how much better we all can and should try, each in our own way, to improve or overcome that which we may think is wrong.

Just my 2 cents...

We all still need to fight for what we think is right. That's what has and will make America great again. Think about it...

4:22 PM
Mac said...

The video is a protest, as it were, of things that are wrong, and the implication I get is that it's a kind of poetic manifesto that should be perceived as a way of suggesting how much better we all can and should try, each in our own way, to improve or overcome that which we may think is wrong.

That's precisely what it is. Don't misunderstand: Burroughs' laments are sincere (and relevant). But this isn't a childish case of "America-hating."

4:30 PM
Anonymous said...

And (NOT in the vein of Mr. Burroughs whom I at first thought was some old fart Republican pol about to launch into the usual blather!), thanks Mac, for PB, where you post brilliance after brilliance like this video....

1:20 AM
Mac said...

Burroughs as an old fart Republican? That's enough to give me nightmares!

1:23 AM
Anonymous said...

thanks to TJ for reminding us how important our artists are in the face of jingoism and personal attacks on anything or anyone critical of the status quo.

"It is our attitude toward free thought and free expression that will determine our fate. There must be no limit on the range of temperate discussion, no limits on thought. No subject must be taboo. No censor must preside at our assemblies. Restriction on free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us."
William O. Douglas

6:55 AM

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