tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post8171921812680325834..comments2024-03-27T19:35:11.320+07:00Comments on <b>Postcards from the End of [the] America[n Empire]</b>: Postcard from the End of America: Bridesburg, PhiladelphiaLinh Dinhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00328959360983573810noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-21794746237361190602016-07-08T06:33:47.888+07:002016-07-08T06:33:47.888+07:00"If Puerto Ricans or Vietnamese were dominant..."If Puerto Ricans or Vietnamese were dominant in this country, we wouldn't be fighting Israel's wars and be so obsessed with that country, and Muslims wouldn't be so demonized, OK?"<br /><br />We would have other obsessions, history hoaxes, demonizations and the like.<br />Power, and not the groups that, in each space-time conjuncture come to wield it, is the real question.<br /><br />Christians are far more "demonized" and belittled than Muslims, due to the fact that that religion has lost its power and popular followship. Nobody really complaints if the 100th Hollywood film making fun of the core of Christianity. Islam can't be mocked just because the mockers would suffer possibly severe consequences.<br />In their heart of hearts, all "intellectuals" would mock all religion, and religion per se.<br /><br />Of course you aren't going to see Judaism and the Talmud being subjects of sarcasm or defamation in a film by Steven Spielberg, still.<br /><br />You write,<br />"I brought up whites and Jews as being most dominant in this country, and I stand fully by it."<br /><br />First, it's getting to something like 20-80%, where 80% is Jewish power.<br />Second, I don't think you, as a Vietnamese, have less power in the USA than an American would have in Vietnam.<br />I hope you have never told yourself that "foreign ethnicities" would be allowed in Vietnam, of for that matter anywhere in the world less for North America and Europe, the power and rights they get in NA and EU.<br /><br />That the only place in the world where "minorities" complain, and soundly so, is the NA and EU proves that.<br />The best treated people are who complain most, that's a rule of human behaviour, and a psychologically understandable one.<br />A Brit in Vietnam/[insert any other non-Western country] wouldn't even dream to think it as unrightful that in Vietnam the power is held by Vietnamese... no dreams no complaints.<br /><br />If on the other hand you only intended to denounce the dishonesty of the elite, I fully submit to it.<br />But tying this with ethnicity is misleading or misled.<br />There is no reason on earth to believe if other ethnicities had the same power they'd behave better.<br /><br />*note: if a 2% minority, and one seeing themselves as outsiders + nursing hostility feelings towards a far wider group, comes to hold the 80% of power, that's, we should say, a special issue, that should be dealt with.<br /><br />-------<br />Forecast: with economic real growth well over, financial bubbles and ensuing bail-ins & bail-outs only going to increase in frequency and shamelessness, changing demographics, the loss of jobs in the bottom-to-mid-high IQ job market segment (of which, make no mistake, I am part), dire times may be coming.<br />Plus: we have already moved past democracy, and under a soft despotism run by the marketist plutocracy. Now, in the aftermath of democracy, soft despotism rarely comes as a stable solution. It's not unlikely to turn into hard techno-despotism.<br /><br />This is a time of imbalance, things will shift to a new equilibrium. Let's wait and see. Despotism based on marketism if of the threatening kind really, as marketism is not a local-focus fascism, but a totalitarianism, aiming to wreck not one of a handful of neighboring countries, but the whole globe.<br /><br />my name is linknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-7430400698734093002016-07-08T06:15:01.198+07:002016-07-08T06:15:01.198+07:00I am reading Back to Blood by Tom Wolfe. This is a...I am reading Back to Blood by Tom Wolfe. This is a great writer (born before WWII, like all people we can honestly attach the adjective "great" to, sadly) unjustly known by the already few who know him for The Bonfire of Vanities just for that book.<br /><br />He's written many, fiction and nonfiction, and Back to Blood + I am Charlotte Simmons are unmissable, on top of The Bonfire (Whose title draws inspiration from Vanity Fair by Thackeray, another great piece of literature.<br /><br />The Bonfire of Vanities was initially published in episodes in Rolling Stone. That's why the book edition comes with an introduction by Wolfe that deals, by other things, with the book's reception.<br />The introduction deals the dissolution of Western culture, focusing on the literary.<br /><br />"All serious young writers — serious meaning those who aimed for literary prestige — understood such things, and they were dismantling the realistic novel just as far as they could think of ways to do it. The dividing line was the year 1960. Writers who went to college after 1960... understood<. For a serious young writer to stick with realism after 1960 required contrariness and courage."<br /><br />Contrariness and courage were the two terms which stroke me a lot. Some pages later, there is a "candid" and "candour" also.<br />When you see these words you know it's worth going ahead with reading, and that you ran into a true artist and thinker.<br /><br />That passage also reminds of your commentary on whore-writers.my name is linknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-80723216888313042162015-02-13T19:27:22.908+07:002015-02-13T19:27:22.908+07:00OK, guys, I've only closed down a comment stre...OK, guys, I've only closed down a comment stream once before, and I don't want to do it again. We're all friends here, so let's chill! I know that Joe is anything but a racist, and Swza has commented here from way back, so he's no troll either.<br /><br />I brought up whites and Jews as being most dominant in this country, and I stand fully by it. Of course, the whites who are dicking us over are not the people in places like Bridesburg or Kensington, and the Jews who are bringing us to ruins are not your regular Joes just trying to get by. I'm talking about the elites here, the ones with power.<br /><br />If Puerto Ricans or Vietnamese were dominant in this country, we wouldn't be fighting Israel's wars and be so obsessed with that country, and Muslims wouldn't be so demonized, OK?<br /><br />To clear the air a bit, check out this fantastic new post by <a href="http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/2015/02/masters-of-parallel-universes.html" rel="nofollow">Dmitri Orlov</a>. Linh Dinhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00328959360983573810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-46553586246689156182015-02-13T17:13:48.172+07:002015-02-13T17:13:48.172+07:00there are many who write honest comments, but alwa...there are many who write honest comments, but always a few who only troll the internet to spread their filthy shit. nasty fucking shitstick liars! swza, the world doesn't only consist of your imaginary world in cyberspace--you know, the one in which you're Somebody--and your neighborhood in the occupied territories. hahahahahaha. this i hereby announce as the final post of my end of this 'conversation' with 'swza', gee, wonder what that might stand for.<br />big jx larryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11386953427204887354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-806057782303631712015-02-13T17:04:19.610+07:002015-02-13T17:04:19.610+07:00so now swza knows that i indeed AM a racist. why? ...so now swza knows that i indeed AM a racist. why? because i had a black girlfriend of course. why o why do swza types ruin legitimate comments everywhere?x larryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11386953427204887354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-87262523750826322232015-02-13T12:28:31.768+07:002015-02-13T12:28:31.768+07:00swza: you're easy to nailswza: you're easy to naildestroytheuniversehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14110865815976644183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-63150944529025908622015-02-13T08:22:44.880+07:002015-02-13T08:22:44.880+07:00 You nailed me anonymous! You nailed me anonymous! Swzahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13321338833759897705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-11794811721149822262015-02-13T08:20:33.279+07:002015-02-13T08:20:33.279+07:00"I'm not racist! I had a black girlfrien..."I'm not racist! I had a black girlfriend!" <br />Haha. Unreal. <br />Sorry you can't figure out blogspot message boards or what reply means so I'll help you: This is to you joe, the tall good looking white boy ( aren't we all talk and good looking on Internet message boards?)Swzahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13321338833759897705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-55934969477208993822015-02-12T23:41:16.255+07:002015-02-12T23:41:16.255+07:00This comment is for Anonymous, who wrote "If ...This comment is for Anonymous, who wrote "If I take the public transport, a train, everyone becomes an obstacle. Faces are unimportant, their backgrounds are unimportant. What's important is I get where I need to be."<br /><br />While you're on the public transport, take a tip from Linh Dinh and talk to those around you. I find out a great deal about my city and the lives of those inhabiting it by striking up conversations with strangers on the bus, in the streets and in the bars and coffeeshops. You may well find that many people will enjoy talking to you and sharing their stories and perspectives.Elizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03531522350931746879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-21914686346907600242015-02-12T21:40:22.963+07:002015-02-12T21:40:22.963+07:00don't know where the mole swza lives, but if y...don't know where the mole swza lives, but if you look like me--tall, rather nice-looking, very unassuming white guy--and live in north philly, west philly, most of south philly, nyc, jersey city, as i have, or if you stray into certain areas of any u.s. city, such as kansas city, durham, detroit, chicago, as i have, you had better watch out! no, i'm no racist. and no, i'm not even particularly afraid, unlike so many white boys. i had a black girlfriend in philly, and couldn't walk a block with her without being verbally assaulted. i've had many a close call, through no real fault of my own--though i will say i often don't back down. cheerio, dude,<br />'joe'x larryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11386953427204887354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-89919651071897168152015-02-12T21:33:31.746+07:002015-02-12T21:33:31.746+07:00thanks anonymous re swza. had to look up hasbara, ...thanks anonymous re swza. had to look up hasbara, to show my naivete on these matters. spot on! not only a dick, but an illiterate--first off, address somebody (i assume you were addressing me). 'you better check yourself'--now there's a moron talking. as we like to say over here, naff off.x larryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11386953427204887354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-75663853138704271942015-02-12T21:12:36.538+07:002015-02-12T21:12:36.538+07:00Swza: HasbaraSwza: HasbaraAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-5669550489764863952015-02-12T20:43:51.498+07:002015-02-12T20:43:51.498+07:00So not only have you had multiple conflicts on the...So not only have you had multiple conflicts on the street but they have all been racially motivated? You need to check yourself if that's the case. <br />In my experience people who talk about Jewish control of the U.S are usually bigots. Capitalists control the U.S. not 'jews.' And if you're talking about the Israeli lobby, fundamentalist Christians make up a much bigger political force in the US in support of Zionism than Jews do. Swzahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13321338833759897705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-50242891809554574392015-02-11T05:01:39.783+07:002015-02-11T05:01:39.783+07:00excellent quotes, x. i haven't read fromm ever...excellent quotes, x. i haven't read fromm ever, i don't think. reminds me of something i read two days ago a bit, by terence mckenna the psychadelic guru--possibly now infamous as cia informer? he described a fairly wild scene, then stated that this was the original religion, worldwide, very small and local, with no dogma, no priests (but yes, shamans), not trying to weild power over others, and ego-less. our main goal, he thought, was and is ecstasy. for some reason this really hit me, and i thought of our gorgeous 10-month-old boy, and realised he fit that description, just wildly ecstatic. today i was in a forest group, doing 'bushcraft', and spoke to a very interesting sicilian woman about spirituality, telepathy, etc, and i told her my truthful desire to speak as little as possible or not at all, and to connect with all, and lose the ego...<br />anyway, thanks for the quotes again!<br />'joe'x larryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11386953427204887354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-5771968921428123652015-02-11T00:34:44.576+07:002015-02-11T00:34:44.576+07:00Another one:
“While everybody tries to be as clos...Another one:<br /><br />“While everybody tries to be as close as possible to the rest, everybody remains utterly alone, pervaded by the deep sense of insecurity, anxiety and guilt which always results when human separateness cannot be overcome. Our civilization offers many palliatives which help people to be consciously unaware of this aloneness: first of all the strict routine of bureaucratized, mechanical work, which helps people to remain unaware of their most fundamental human desires, of the longing for transcendence and unity. Inasmuch as the routine alone does not succeed in this, man overcomes his unconscious despair by the routine of amusement, the passive consumption of sounds and sights offered by the amusement industry; furthermore by the satisfaction of buying ever new things, and soon exchanging them for others. Modern man is actually close to the picture Huxley describes in his Brave New World: well fed, well clad, satisfied sexually, yet without self, without any except the most superficial contact with his fellow men, guided by the slogans which Huxley formulated so succinctly, such as: “When the individual feels, the community reels”; or “Never put off till tomorrow the fun you can have today,” or, as the crowning statement: “Everybody is happy nowadays.” Man’s happiness today consists in “having fun.” Having fun lies in the satisfaction of consuming and “taking in” commodities, sights, food, drinks, cigarettes, people, lectures, books, movies—all are consumed, swallowed.” <br />― Erich Fromm, The Art of LovingXnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-26803035439508961492015-02-11T00:22:32.671+07:002015-02-11T00:22:32.671+07:00Linh, I wanted to put this quote out by Fromm give...Linh, I wanted to put this quote out by Fromm given your last paragraph. <br /><br />“If I perceive in another person mainly the surface, I perceive mainly the differences,that which separates us. If I penetrate to the core, i perceive our identity, the fact of our brotherhood. This relatedness from center to center - instead of that from periphery to periphery - is 'central relatedness'.” <br />― Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving<br /><br /><br />it's been a while since I read his Art of Loving. I should re-read it.Xnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-30514005089799635952015-02-09T08:07:12.637+07:002015-02-09T08:07:12.637+07:00Linh:
Yea -- Its absolute truth we're in same...Linh:<br /><br />Yea -- Its absolute truth we're in same (bush) league. But get this? This afternoon I picked-up a bus trip to take West Scranton basketball players to a tournament in Mid Valley!<br /><br />As a result of such windfall, when you return to Taylor, I'll take you horseback riding to the Scranton weapons factory, and afterward, enjoy Roast Marzipan Chops and Heineken.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07804858204655663574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-21688335247914522712015-02-09T07:40:19.317+07:002015-02-09T07:40:19.317+07:00P.S. Chuck is joking about being 10 times richer t...P.S. Chuck is joking about being 10 times richer than me, of course. We're in the same (bush) league. After two decades of cleaning up highway accidents and motel room suicides, Chuck is now making almost nothing driving a school bus, and he's not paid at all on snow days. Such is the new economy.<br /><br />Here's my portrait of Chuck in a Taylor, PA <a href="http://linhdinhphotos.blogspot.com/2014/11/postcard-from-end-of-america-taylor-pa.html" rel="nofollow">Postcard</a>.Linh Dinhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00328959360983573810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-37841279834701965932015-02-09T07:24:16.205+07:002015-02-09T07:24:16.205+07:00Yo Chuck,
I ran out of there as if I was chased b...Yo Chuck,<br /><br />I ran out of there as if I was chased by a phalanx of cops! I commend you for your exceptional composure.<br /><br /><b>Note:</b> Chuck and I were looking for one of his co-workers' retro band. It was at a different hotel, and we didn't have to pay to get in. <br /><br />LinhLinh Dinhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00328959360983573810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-52185140327755829372015-02-09T06:34:31.816+07:002015-02-09T06:34:31.816+07:00To X:
I attest to being ten (10) times riche...To X: <br /><br />I attest to being ten (10) times richer than Linh Dinh! In fact, while we were mistakenly inside the Scranton Train Station, "Radisson Hotel" barroom, I felt quite of out-of-place in midst of all the legal and corporate patrons, BUT Linh Dinh could NOT last in such Imperial atmosphere more than five minutes. <br /><br />Very disappointed, I thought Linh would have sat down, dug into pocket, and instruct the bartender to "line drinks up for the bar!" .Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07804858204655663574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-50631053430237805502015-02-09T03:08:40.644+07:002015-02-09T03:08:40.644+07:00Hi X,
I just looked up Parinya Charoenphol. Sound...Hi X,<br /><br />I just looked up Parinya Charoenphol. Sounds like a fascinating person! Thanks for bringing Charoenphol up. Perhaps Charoenphol can fight Ronda Rousey!<br /><br />LinhLinh Dinhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00328959360983573810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-80000007788976751062015-02-09T02:58:30.097+07:002015-02-09T02:58:30.097+07:00Hi X,
If Parinya Chareonphoi can convincingly loo...Hi X,<br /><br />If Parinya Chareonphoi can convincingly look and act female, then more power to him, it's his life, and if an East Asian can somewhat pass as a Caucasian through surgeries, then that's his or her choice, but he or she is still not white.<br /><br />Our body and its processes provide us with all the important lessons.<br /><br />LinhLinh Dinhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00328959360983573810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-46848233180109462252015-02-09T02:58:14.586+07:002015-02-09T02:58:14.586+07:00As Chuck can tell you, I don't slum when I wri...As Chuck can tell you, I don't slum when I write these Postcards, for most of the people I depict are in fact richer than I am. I mean, I get rather giddy when I'm sitting at Jack's, Bentley's Place, T-Barr's Bar or Blue Moon because those slum drinking holes are my high end joints.Linh Dinhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00328959360983573810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-61366762548894552312015-02-09T02:41:19.616+07:002015-02-09T02:41:19.616+07:00Yo Chuck,
As for straying into high end communiti...Yo Chuck,<br /><br />As for straying into high end communities, I can barely afford to drink at the cheapest bars, and in fact, most weeks, I can't even do that. I'm sure you know the feeling!<br /><br /><br />LinhLinh Dinhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00328959360983573810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4284893230469697578.post-35523732707174312942015-02-09T02:33:31.466+07:002015-02-09T02:33:31.466+07:00I see your point now. The analogy with the east as...I see your point now. The analogy with the east asian and the old person helped. However, there is something more intimate to gender that I am not unable to put my finger on. I have in mind the Thai boxer Parinya Chareonphoi. She was born biologically as a male, and then had a surgery when she was an adult to resemble a female. I have troubles trying to call her a "man without a penis" rather than just "woman." Perhaps I'm merely being politically correct. But would it not cause her personal anguish if I called her "man without a penis," given that she does not, in her mind, identify as being a man?<br /><br />You're essentially right; she does not resemble a human female in the sense of being able to conceive and lactate. And what I say here can be easily applied to your analogy. "Would it not cause the Caucasian personal anguish if I called her 'East Asian with surgery,' given that he still identifies as being a Caucasian?" And yet, I'm still insistent that there's something more intimate about gender. I don't think one can switch genders simply as a matter of personal choice, but perhaps there are people born in one gender who simply identify with another gender, and for whom it's not a personal choice?<br /><br />Xnoreply@blogger.com