berman@ihuxm.UUCP (berman) (03/26/84)
Now I know that a great variety of perspective exists on this net,
but I think that finally something has arisen that will unite us all.
Studs Terkel, historian, author ("Division Street USA", "Working" etc)
was interviewed last week (USA Today 3/22/84) about the current primary
electoral races. In it, he set forth a blast at our noble profession
that ought not go unchallenged.
After delineating the various constituencies that will vote Democratic
this November, Studs was asked by the reporter:
"Who will support Reagan?"
Herein follows Studs' shocking, slanderous and infamous reply:
"...I'm talking about that new class of upwardly mobile pros
you find on the airplanes with their attache cases, their rimless
glasses and their computers. We have a new crop of absolutely
mindless, almost a species of almost zombie beings. They're for
Reagan..."
Now I am tempted to write Studs and remind him of the great
thinkers who wore rimless glasses, but before doing so, I
thought I would put it out on the net for comment. I will
pass on remarks to Studs.
Andy Berman ...ihnp4!ihuxm!bermantrb@masscomp.UUCP (03/27/84)
Hey, baby, how wrong is Terkel? After all, look at the state of the hacker's physical well being during the Raygun administration as opposed to the well being of Joe American. Hey, my salary is up some impressive amount, I'll tell you that. Financially, Ronnie has done me ok. His other policies? Well, I'd take a Ronnie over Jimmy the noodle Carter any day, at least you know where he stands and the economy doesn't go to hell in a handbasket. I don't know that most the other losers who are running would do any better. If only we could get hizonner the mayor Ed Koch of New York, he's a great politician, he's my hero. He'd make a good president, but he's already said that he's never gonna be a politician except to be mayor of the great city of New York. I can't blame him. If we're stuck with the losers that the Dems are running, I don't see that Reagan will be any worse. No, I don't want to fry in a nuke blast, but I still don't see the front-running Democretins being any improvement over Reagan in terms of foreign relations, after all, there's more to good foreign relations than just being a wimp. Likewise, there's more to solving the nation's other problems than being a wimp. And yes, look at all the inane yumps around. You can usually find them at new wave avant garde pickup places. Oh, I wish I was cool like that. They all look like that loser in the Xerox ads on TV who goes around trying to outwimp Alan Alda. Studs might be rude, but he ain't wrong. (Feel free to forward this to him.) I don't read net.politics, I find that group especially inane, if you want to reach me, post to net.flame, where I find the discussions more palatable. Your faithful ane yumpservantzombeing, Andy Tannenbaum Masscomp Inc Westford MA (617) 692-6200 x274
rcd@opus.UUCP (03/27/84)
<> > Herein follows Studs' shocking, slanderous and infamous reply: > > "...I'm talking about that new class of upwardly mobile pros > you find on the airplanes with their attache cases, their rimless > glasses and their computers. We have a new crop of absolutely > mindless, almost a species of almost zombie beings. They're for > Reagan..." OK, I'll give Mr. Studs my 2 cents worth and share it with the net: The only thing less likely than my voting for Ronald Reagan this year is my buying one of Studs Terkel's books! He belongs to that new class of upwardly mobile would-be authors who have nothing to say except that they want money and fame - authors whose writing denigrates the use of once-living trees to make the pulp for their books. We have a new crop of absolutely mindless writing, written for an audience turned to zombies by too much TV. This audience will buy anything that costs less than $3.95 and has a provocative cover. Fun! -- {hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd
an@hou2h.UUCP (A.NGUYEN) (03/27/84)
-- What's the name of that chimp that used to hang out with Raygun? I'm gonna vote for HIM! Au
zrm@mit-eddie.UUCP (Zigurd R. Mednieks) (03/28/84)
I find it interesting that Terkel is deriding the new middle class. Perhaps it is just bitterness over the fact that Reagan has not stratified the economy and class war has not broken out. What a horrible vision of the furure Terkel must be faced with: No more of those sappy labor union folk songs, most people with enough money to buy a house, no bread lines. Nope, I just can't see Woodie Guthrie strolling up to my cubicle, strummin' his guitar and askin' me to join the union. But seriously, prosperity is what gives us an incremental improvement in freedom, given that we are fairly free already. And Reagan is our best hope for continued prosperity. And if you find the prospect of an economic boom enticing, vote for him. If you think I'm wrong, Mondale is clearly your ma.
debray@sbcs.UUCP (Saumya Debray) (03/28/84)
What do you expect from some stupid historian, anyway?
--
Saumya Debray, SUNY at Stony Brook
uucp:
{cbosgd, decvax, ihnp4, mcvax, cmcl2}!philabs \
{amd70, akgua, decwrl, utzoo}!allegra > !sbcs!debray
{teklabs, hp-pcd, metheus}!ogcvax /
CSNet: debray@suny-sbcs@CSNet-Relaygiles@ucf-cs.UUCP (Bruce Giles) (03/29/84)
>> Studs Terkel, historian, author ("Division Street USA", "Working" etc) >> was interviewed last week (USA Today 3/22/84) about the current primary >> electoral races. In it, he set forth a blast at our noble profession >> that ought not go unchallenged. >> >> "...I'm talking about that new class of upwardly mobile pros >> you find on the airplanes with their attache cases, their rimless >> glasses and their computers. We have a new crop of absolutely >> mindless, almost a species of almost zombie beings. They're for >> Reagan..." Gee, and I always thought those mindless zombies were the ones who read *USA Today*, the up-close and personal version of the *National Enquirer*. Sorry, but I can't take anything serious which reports on major stories by going to the "man-in-the-street" and asking "what to YOU think"/"how does this affect YOU",... without provided any hard information. ave discordia going bump in the night ... bruce giles decvax!ucf-cs!giles university of central florida giles.ucf-cs@Rand-Relay orlando, florida 32816
myers@uwvax.ARPA (03/30/84)
I also am a bit piqued about Studs Terkel's remark that all CS types will
support Reagan; however, let's not extend condemnation of that remark to
a general bashing of his scholarly works.
His book *Working* is a classic in the tradition of oral history and the
study of working class consciousness. Remember, most of the history you
learned in school was history of big *events* and VIP's; however, the
history made by those who didn't have the time or money to write an
autobiography and who weren't considered important enough for anyone to
care to write about is history just the same. Let's not denegrate one of
the few researchers who cares about the little guy.
--
Jeff Myers Motto: "Reactionaries are People, too."
ARPA: myers@uwisc.arpa
uucp: ..{seismo, ihnp4}!wisc-rsch!myers