Just Buy It!

 JUST BUY IT!

The grocery bill is too high, cars are too expensive, college is exorbitant, going to a movie costs a fortune.  We think about these things pretty much continuously.  What to buy and when is the theme of life - - can we afford it, can we save enough to buy one?  We need information; we need to do some research; what does Consumer Reports say about it?  We want a lot of stuff, some of which we will acquire and some of which we won't.

Let's do a little searching, for the cost of what we want is important to us.  We all want stuff,  the lower the price, the better off we are and the more stuff we can buy, so we need to be informed.  Maybe we are missing a deal that is available online somewhere.  We certainly don't want to miss anything.

So I say, let's take a small sampling of our knowledge of available products.   The questionnaire will look something like this: What newspapers do you subscribe to and read?  What periodicals do you take and read?  What books have you read lately?  What news organizations do you tune into while in the car or changing the oil of your lawn mower? 

The answer I get is usually none (maybe one).  The purpose of this exercise is to illustrate our level of awareness. This idea of such a questionnaire was occasioned by a piece I read about citizenship (a possibly outmoded concept no longer in circulation).  The list of requirements of a citizen began with the requirement of being informed.  

Unfortunately, we don't consider ourselves citizens, we consider ourselves consumers.  The idea of being informed, in the sense of citizenship, does not include the price of a hamburger and fries at the local fast food establishment or the cost of a box of imported raspberries at the supermarket.  What it does include is an understanding of the society in which we live and who is in charge.

A second criteria is being involved.  Involvement also requires time; time of which we have little to spare.  The week is work and the weekend is for football and shopping.  One hasn't the time to either read a newspaper or attend a meeting about some civic improvement or new policy or legislation being proposed.  "Don't bother me with that stuff, it doesn't concern me."

Unfortunately there are people in power who have plans for you and me and we really should know who these people are and what they want to do - - and we don't.  I suggest that we spend a little less time thinking about what to buy next and think a little about the people we put in power and what they have planned for us.  Our future will depend, not on the price of chicken breasts, but on who is in charge and what they do once they get there.

Richard E H Phelps II

Mingo

The Arrest

THE ARREST

Jonathan Lethem

Books for Bigots

THE ARREST might just be inoffensive enough for a Bigot to navigate.  It has a minimum of sex  and no non-white people.    And it is apocalyptic - - everything quit working:  No machines, electrical or  otherwise.  The event was called The Arrest.              

The exception is the Blue Streak, a nuclear powered, big round ball of impregnable material with enough nuclear powered devices to protect itself from all attacks.  The location of the action is a communal enclave on the coast of Maine where the residents have managed to feed themselves and maintain their community and who seem to be quite content without any knowledge of the planet and how everyone else is coping.  I thought inciteful, was a line in the book occurring early: "The U.S. wasn't replaced with a next thing.  It was replaced by wherever one happened to be".

No one knows what happened to the rest of humanity and apparently they don't care.  The only knowledge of the outside world is from Peter Todbaum, the operator of the Blue Streak, from his trek in the Blue Streak from Malibu to Maine and his adventures in route. The  main character/narrator Alexander Duplessis, otherwise referred to as Sandy or Journeyman is the connection between Todbaum and these small communities on the coast of Maine such as East Tinderwick and Spodosol.  

Apparently the communities are being protected by a group called the Cordon who periodically show up to threaten or dine or destroy stuff.  We're not very clear about where they come from or what they do otherwise.  The presumption is that they are maintaining a vigil not allowing other people to settle in the communities or even allowing visitors.   They were unable to impede the progress of the Blue Streak, although they tried and suffered some casualties which caused some hostility.

What also makes this book an acceptable read to most Bigots is the apocalyptic event, a future firmly established in the imaginations of most Bigots.   The inhabitants of these communities appear to be self-sustaining nutrition wise.  Now what happens when things begin to break and are not replaced does not seem to concern them. "Damn, my hoe broke.  What do I do now?"

The locals decide that the Blue Streak must go and they capture it and make a lighthouse out of it (in case a Frenchman shows up in a rowboat) - - they have rejected what has disappeared and they appear quite content to live without any form of modernity. There is no attempt to use the Blue Streak to their advantage, but only to exclude it and make it as non-functioning as possible.  Considering this is the only power source available to them, it seems odd they would refuse to utilize it; much unlike what THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON would have done.

Of course, there isn't much discussion about what will happen when someone needs an ambulance or an emergency room, or what may occur when a person's blood pressure meds run out, or when a broken bone needs setting.  We have a serious lack of reflection from the inhabitants.  With everyday food, bed, and clothes to wear, there isn't much to think about apparently; and, winter hasn't set in yet.  There is a library which Journeyman would like to utilize but is occupied by a squatter who doesn't allow access. 

Most Bigots will feel right at home here with the exception that there does not appear to be an organized form of control.  Without the ability to control others in their thoughts and activities, Bigots feel insecure and anxious.  But  East Tinderwick and Spodosol, having no government, would be ripe for one with police and other forms of control since there are none at present.  All in all, it would appear that this book is one that a Bigot would, in the main, find inoffensive and be able to read.  

Richard E H Phelps II

Mingo