berman@ihuxm.UUCP (thomas) (04/18/84)
Studs Terkel, historian, author ("Working", "Division St. USA", etc)
was the subject of a recent discussion on the net, in net.politics.
In a newspaper interview he had made some crack to the effect that
the only constituency that Reagan has these days is the young professional
with rimless glasses who works with computers and has the mindlessness
of a zombie. I posted Studs' remarks and invited comment.
A whole lot came, some refuting Studs' position ("just because I'm
a computer enthusiast doesn't mean I'd vote for Ray-Gun"), but alas also
many that seemed to proved his point.
I sent the lot to Studs, along with a note explaining what the net was
(and editorializing that it could be a new technology for democracy if
someday the common folk get access). Studs wrote back. Herein are some
of his remarks:
"Thanks for the comments. I do apologize for the rimless glasses
crack. I found several of the replies thoughtful and encouraging.
The great many, however, made my point. They were worse than even
I suspected. Their smugness and mindlessness scares me..."
Looking over the submissions lately, I have to agree that the degree
of smugness is phenomenal. It has to do, in part, I believe, with the
relative anonymity of the net (akin to CB radio). There has also got
to be some correlation with the fact that people with access to the
net are in an area of the economy that isn't hurting much overall.
The visceral denunciations of trade unions has got to reflect the relatively
well off status of the enunciators.
But the fact that many folks in our constituency are pretty conservative
ought not be discouraging. A lot of folks are also pretty open-minded.
Computer people are in a key position in society, and I don't
think it's predetermined that our role is necessarily one of promotion
of elitist ideology.
Andy Bermankarl@osu-dbs.UUCP (Karl Kleinpaste) (04/19/84)
"Thanks for the comments. I do apologize for the rimless glasses
crack. I found several of the replies thoughtful and encouraging.
The great many, however, made my point. They were worse than even
I suspected. Their smugness and mindlessness scares me..."
----------
Looking over the submissions lately, I have to agree that the degree
of smugness is phenomenal. It has to do, in part, I believe, with the
relative anonymity of the net (akin to CB radio). There has also got
to be some correlation with the fact that people with access to the
net are in an area of the economy that isn't hurting much overall.
The visceral denunciations of trade unions has got to reflect the
relatively well off status of the enunciators.
----------
First, I don't view the net as a relative anonymous form of communication.
Many people know quite a bit about me from the things I have submitted, and
I know a great deal about quite a few other people. Granted, the impres-
sions I have received are probably unbalanced, since one does not sit down
and *really* talk with someone, and one ends up with knowledge of a person's
position on only one subject area. Nonetheless, I don't think it's anonymous.
Second, my anti-union stance (not yet vented on the net until now) is not
caused by my well-off status. Rather, my well-off status is caused by my
anti-union stance. If the computer science industries ever become sub-
stantially unionized, I will change professions; I am prepared to do so
at any time. I prefer to work where my improvement in my job is directly
related to nothing but my own personal performance, not due to a contract
worked out for hundreds of similarly-employed people.
Maybe that's smug and maybe that's not. I'm not sure. The one thing that
I *am* sure about is that I don't like unions, and that led me into a pro-
fession where I don't have to be saddled with one.
--
"Confusion will be my epitaph." -- King Crimson, 1969
Karl Kleinpaste @ Bell Labs, Columbus
accessible as osu-dbs!karl, but *much* better as {cbosgd,rlgvax,ihnp4}!cbrma!kkmwm@ea.UUCP (04/25/84)
#R:ihuxm:-96400:ea:10100038:000:697 ea!mwm Apr 25 11:27:00 1984 /***** ea:net.politics / ihuxm!berman / 1:19 am Apr 19, 1984 */ >The visceral denunciations of trade unions has got to reflect the relatively >well off status of the enunciators. False statement. My intense dislike for the things that unions do existed before I started making money writing programs. As a statistical statement about a class of people, it may be true. As a sweeping generalization, it's not. >But the fact that many folks in our constituency are pretty conservative >ought not be discouraging. A lot of folks are also pretty open-minded. True statment. Nor am I discouraged by the fact that so many are so liberal. A lot of them still manage to think before acting. <mike