So if you have a latte, say, from Starbucks, to get the few sentences
going, that could represent the tax dollars of 1,000 Americans. That's
pretty incredible -- definitely not to be sniffed at anyway. How many
writers of other nationalities have constituencies of such size?
Just as well writers don't have to hold clinics. Though I must say
an earlier dream of mine was to have a shingle on the railings
saying "writer." But that was in the days when I didn't know what
a shingle was and the people around me knew that railings weren't
necessarily rants but perpendicular metal bars etc etc.
Mairead
On Fri, 24 May 2002, Patrick Herron wrote:
> If that's 500 Americans, say, giving me $.0025 each that's $1.25 total.
> That would be a significant increase over my current pay rate. I don't know
> if anything is worth $1.25 any more. A soft drink at a local pizza joint
> perhaps.
>
> Thanks for the compliment. It's nice to know that as a "knowledge worker"
> I'm worth something again. ;^)
>
> Anyone ever notice that a gallon of gas outside the convenience store/gas
> station is less expensive than a gallon of water inside the store? At least
> that's true here.
>
> To my friends overseas...I'm sorry but I can't say "USAmericans." Sorry, it
> is "American" for me. In a worse mood it's Amerikan or Amurikun. The folks
> up north are Canadian and the folks down south are Mexican, Nicaraguan,
> Panamanian, Brazilian, Colombian, Cuban, Honduran, Bahamanian, Chilean, etc.
> They're not confused. I'm not confused. I'll stick with "American."
>
> P
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Poetryetc provides a venue for a dialogue relating to poetry and
> poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Mairead Byrne
> Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2002 11:33 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: RANT
>
>
> Jesus Patrick. If you look at it another way, how many Americans had to
> pay one quarter of one cent in order for you to *breathe* sufficiently
> long to write this message? Twenty? Thirty? Maybe you had a
> mouthful of coke or whatever when you were writing it? Fifty? Sixty?
> Well, this puts a whole new slant on democracy and representation.
> The constituency of the artist, simply by virtue of paltry subsidy, is
> *huge*. I suppose there's a definite danger of saying: hey, your subsidy
> is so rotten this syllable is all you get. On the other hand, a good
> haiku now: how many quarter of a cent would that take? Looking at it
> like this, one imagines the artist spearheading vast cohorts of widows'
> mites rather than yowling in the living room. I think your post requires
> and fully deserves the quarter of one cents of several hundred Americans
> and that you serve them well.
> Mairead
>
>
> On Thu, 23 May 2002, Patrick Herron wrote:
>
> > My rant on being nice to Americans -
> >
> > Yes, this is a rant. Forgive me if it offends anyone.
> >
> > As an American, specifically as a native Philadelphian, I think Lawrence
> is
> > right on. He did not mean to slander us, or, at least, not all of us.
> > There are some of us here in America, perhaps only a wee few, who know
> about
> > the sort of people Lawrence is talking about. America is full of people
> > "talkin' 'bout freedom, speakin' 'bout liberty," people who are in reality
> > nothing but slaves to a bunch of criminals. Besides, I was the first one
> > who put forth the "Philadelphia hypothesis." I'm talking about MY family
> at
> > risk.
> >
> > Nothing would surprise me...my US government is run by irrepressible
> > hegemons and criminals. Between Cheney, Bush, (what a pair, Dick and
> Bush,
> > won't pull out 'till they've gone all the way) and Condosleeza Rice you've
> > got millions dead in Iraq and Timor, before they ever came to office. In
> > Central Africa. Brown & Root, Halliburton, Chevron, Unocal, Enron, the
> > Carlysle Group (chaired now by John Major, working with fellow scum like
> > James Baker and Frank Carlucci). As Governor of Texas, Bush tried to give
> > Lockheed Martin exclusive control over the state welfare system before
> > Clinton stopped him. Lynne Cheney, Dick's wife, is on the payroll at
> > Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin alone receives over $12 billion annually
> > from the US Federal Government for defense contracts. And 9-11 looks very
> > sketchy--stand-down orders from the 113th fighter wing over DC during the
> > attacks, evidence of cover-up, a trail of documentation showing that the
> > Bush administration was warned at the very least but continued to act
> > completely surprised afterwards ("was it the terrorists," Bush said, not
> > "was it some terrorists" or "were they terrorists"), and the "trifecta"
> > comments by George Bush. "Cui bono?" Bush answered that question
> himself,
> > not on network television, but at GOP fundraisers. "I hit the trifecta."
> > Scum. His kingdom for a hearse.
> >
> > Lawrence's sarcasm is absolutely warranted. I see quite clearly his
> point,
> > once I got past my own irrational emotional attachments. Our politicians
> > here in America speak so frequently in the name of freedom (e.g., Bush's
> > speech on Cuba this week) yet work against that very idea with every ounce
> > of energy they posess (e.g., attack Afghanistan without rational
> > justification, or, steal an election).
> >
> > If this hurts my fellow Americans, well, tough. Their lack of pain in
> > avoiding this painful subject is the reason we're all suffering from this
> > crap here in America--the fading civil liberties, the extreme exploitation
> > of the tax base for military/corporate interests, the looting of all
> social
> > support systems, the destruction of public education, the explosion of the
> > prison industry and the so-called "international war against drugs," the
> > institutionalized military-corporate propaganda system built into the
> media,
> > the suffocating forces all of these things exert on the arts and
> creativity
> > in general. Is that enough? What about people in SUVs gouging themselves
> > and the environment in the name of credit, kids running around with guns
> > shooting each other? The trickle down of these ugly economics empties
> out
> > into the ocean of childhood, and we're training these kids and arming them
> > so that they can come to your town soon! Jawohl. Maybe they'll be called
> > the "Tee Shirts." And I haven't even really touched on the international
> > exploitation....allende and letelier, che, patrice lumumba and the belgian
> > congo airlift, maquiladora industries and mercury in the streets, genocide
> > in rwanda and zaire, 20 years of civil war in angola, arming both
> extremist
> > palestinians and extremist Israelis, Plan Colombia.
> >
> > International TT International Tief
> >
> > One of the latest developments here is a new push for gun reform...folks
> in
> > the Bush administration want to still permit individuals to possess guns
> and
> > buy guns, but prevent anyone in an organized militia group from possessing
> > arms. Of course, this is the exact opposite idea that the founding
> fathers
> > wrote into the Constitution, the right to bear arms in order to form a
> > militia for defense from tyrrany and exploitation, not the right to keep a
> > handgun under the pillow. But gun sales matter more than public safety or
> > preventing the government from direct acts of tyrrany.
> >
> > In June, 2000, it was announced that Secretary of Commerce William Daley
> was
> > resigning his post to become AL GORE'S campaign manager. A few days later,
> > it was announced that PRESIDENT CLINTON had named NORMAN MINETA his choice
> > for the new Secretary of Commerce.
> >
> > Before being named Secretary of Commerce, NORMAN MINETA - a former
> > California congressman - was an EXECUTIVE and LOBBYIST for LOCKHEED
> MARTIN!
> > In January, 2001, President GEORGE W. BUSH (R) named NORMAN MINETA (D) as
> > his SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION.
> >
> > On September 11, 2001, under the watch of NORMAN MINETA, four U.S.
> airliners
> > were hijacked.
> >
> > On October 27, 2001, LOCKHEED MARTIN was awarded the largest military
> > contract in the history of our country. $200 billion.
> >
> > Cui bono?
> >
> > Just one of many many factors.
> >
> > America is now responsible for over 40% of the world's annual military
> > spending. 40%! The American people are sleeping through this and just
> > opening their pockets wide to these fuckers who sit around trying to
> figure
> > out how to increase those numbers. And the American people bitch about
> the
> > 1/4th of 1 cent they each spend on the arts. If that hurts Americans then
> > let's hurt us some more. We're literally a loaded weapon. As a country
> > quite clearly we're dangerous. If we don't hurt and change, everyone else
> > will continue to get hurt.
> >
> >
> >
> > Best,
> > Patrick
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Poetryetc provides a venue for a dialogue relating to poetry and
> > poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Wild Honey Press
> > Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2002 3:09 AM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: POETRYETC Digest - 21 May 2002 to 22 May 2002 (#2002-143)
> >
> >
> > I know this was said out of compassion for others, but I don't think any
> of
> > us appreciate how hurtful remarks like these are to Americans.
> >
> > Randolph
> >
> >
> >
> > From: "Lawrence Upton" <[log in to unmask]>
> > > Nuking Philadelphia. What an idea for the loving Bush bros!
> > >
> > > Mind you, freedom loving democrats bombed Jugoslav Vojvod and everything
> > was
> > > beautiful in Kosovo - I guess it works the way a needle in your foot may
> > > cure your headache...
> > >
> > > Or a pain anywhere else
> > >
> > > I'd like to think the people of Philadelphia would make the sacrifice if
> > it
> > > would help a great nation towards healing and hope
> > >
> > > Dream well
> > >
> > > L
> >
>
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