May 21, 2012
May 21, 2012
Trade liberty for safety or money and you'll end up with neither. Liberty, like a grain of salt, easily dissolves.
The power of questioning -- not simply believing -- has no friends. Yet liberty depends on it. ***
Another majestic oak tree fell at Swans HQ. We went down and found no money on its branches. Money, evidently, does not grow on trees. So, we've used the chainsaw to clear the mess, looking for unexistent green. Perhaps the Lotto will do, with odds of 100,000 million or more to one. C'est la vie. Please help us.
Note from the Editors:
This weekend's G-8 summit showed a shift in thinking, finally, from regressive austerity measures to government investment in infrastructure. Nothing like the threat of more (leadership) job loss to inspire creative thinking among the G-7 leaders sitting at the round tale with Monsieur Hollande instead of Sarkozy... But don't shed a tear for the fallen, as Gilles d'Aymery assures. Whether a former president -- American or French, a disgraced (lying) Yahoo CEO, or the love child of an estranged magnate and supermodel couple, they're doing just fine compared to the other 99% of us. Why we keep supporting the 1% can be attributed in part to the capitalist practice of astroturfing and the desublimation of social movements, as Edmund Berger explains. The Koch Brothers may have refined such practices, but they had a strong foundation from which to learn. Michael Barker interviews Professor Inderjeet Parmar on his latest book, Foundations of the American Century: The Ford, Carnegie and Rockefeller in the Rise of American Power.
There's nothing like a nice walk to clear the mind of all this elite nonsense, so we accompany Jonah Raskin through the streets of New York City as he recalls his youth and his grandfather who walked away from Russia to this fine city. A good book will certainly lift the spirits, and Fabio De Propris reflects on Turkish writers Orhan Pamuk and Yasar Kemal and the art of the novel as both a writer and a reader. Culture can be therapeutic, even for the incarcerated, as Peter Byrne illustrates in his essay on Italian theater, Neorealism, the Taviani brothers, and the use of theater in prisoner rehabilitation. For Raju Paddada, true beauty comes in the form of Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain, which he celebrates in Part III of his series on this classic work of fiction. In the poetry corner, Glenn Reed transports us on his 1987 trip to Sarajevo, and Guido Monte describes our mechanized society-civilization as a suffering labyrinth. We close with your letters, in which Peter Byrne defends the European Union from Arizonian fascists, but the attacks continue, along with a defense of NASCAR.
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Tidbits Flying Across the Martian Desk
Blips #125
"There must be something beyond slaughter and barbarism to support the existence of mankind and we must all help search for it."
Gilles d'Aymery is Swans' publisher and co-editor.
Patterns which Connect
Harnessing People Power Continued: The 99% Spring and the "Professional Left"
"Astroturfing" is a term that has entered the popular lexicon of the politically educated, referring to the ability of largely unseen actors to mold and direct grassroots social movement. Awareness of this phenomenon is adirect fallout from the ascendancy of the Tea Party, as it became rapidly apparent that its transition from a protest movement to a legislative powerhouse was guided with the help of the now-renowned Koch brothers. More... Edmund Berger is an independent writer and researcher living in Louisville, Kentucky.
Foundations For Empire: An Interview With Inderjeet Parmar
Interview with Inderjeet Parmar, the author of Foundations of the American Century: The Ford, Carnegie, and Rockefeller in the Rise of American Power (Columbia University Press, 2012). Inderjeet Parmar is Professor of Government at the University of Manchester (UK). He studied Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Sociology at the University of London, obtaining his doctorate at the University of Manchester. From 2006-09, Parmar served as Head of Politics at the University of Manchester, and he is the Chair of the British International Studies Association. More... Michael Barker is an independent researcher who lives in London, England.
America: Myths & Realities
Walking New York
New York, N.Y. was made for walkers and walking, especially in the spring. The snow and the cold have given way to trees with green leaves and the city comes to life again. Months later, with the coming of the heat, the humidity, and the stink of garbage it will be too uncomfortable for joyful promenades and long rambles. In spring, especially, walking the streets of New York provides a window into the secret life of the city. More... Jonah Raskin is a professor emeritus in communication studies at Sonoma State University, California.
Hungry Man, Reach For The Book
Between Tradition and Postmodernism On The Bosphorus
In 2008 the Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk was invited by Harvard University to deliver six lectures on literary art in the Charles Norton series. Pamuk, Nobel Prize for literature in 2006, did not arrive in Boston with the composure of a master at the summit of his profession. There was no chance that he would reflect with Olympian calm on the overall significance of literature. Pamuk was in trouble at home. More... Fabio De Propris is a teacher, writer, and translator who lives in Rome, Italy.
Arts & Culture
Society's Dead Look Into A Killing
The political assassination of 44 B.C., scripted by Shakespeare in 1599, has been re-enacted once more, this time in Rome's Rebibbia high-security prison. The performance figures in Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's film Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die). In February 2012, it won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for best film. More... Peter Byrne is an American-born teacher and writer who lives in Lecce, Italy.
The Magic Mountain: Thomas Mann's gift of beauty (Part III)
We are, invariably, in varying degrees, aesthetic beings. Natural beauty is an inscrutable intrinsic organic manifestation, in all living organisms at an atomic level, that makes it the indispensable intangible in procreation. David Rothenberg, professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, goes even further in his recent book Survival of the Beautiful, claiming that beauty is powerful, and that "society may have been too prudish to give sex such power as the guiding force behind all that natural beauty. More... Raju Peddada is an industrial designer who lives in Des Plaines, Illinois.
Poetry
Sarajevo Market, 1987
The woman's head is turned slightly in my photo Glenn Reed is a long-time activist and author who lives in Fair Haven, Vermont.
Multilingual Poetry
Labyrinth
and eugenio said: Guido Monte teaches Italian and Latin literature in Palermo, Italy.
Letters to the Editor
Peter Byrne defends the European Union from Arizonian fascists, but the attacks continue, along with a defense of NASCAR. More... We appreciate your comments. Please, remember to sign your e-mails with your real name and add your city, state, country, address and phone number. If we publish your opinion we will only include your name, city, state, and country. Thank you.
Swans by Subject
- Activism under the Radar Screen Keep in Mind...
– Fourteen million trees are cut down in the U.S. each year to supply paper bags nationwide. – According to researchers at the University of Michigan's Center for Sustainable Agriculture, an average of more than 7 calories of fossil fuel is burned up for every calorie of energy we get from our food. So, it takes 3,500 calories of fossil fuel to eat your 500-calorie breakfast. – "They" say that nuking Hiroshima and Nagasaki was necessary to end the Pacific War and save lives. Was Hiroshima necessary? You be the judge. What will "they" say once they have nuked Iran? – According to tolerance.org, every day at least eight blacks, three whites, three gays, three Jews, and one Latino become hate crime victims. – Please support Swans. – Support your local businesses. – Say NO to Amazon.com and the corporate bookchains! Support your local independent bookstores! Check Independent Bookstores in the U.S. and Canada. – You can visit Swans READING ROOM for some books we recommend. – Every time you reload the front page, one of 87 different quotes appears randomly in the left margin. – Thank you for visiting Swans and for reading its contents. Endeavor to become an agent of change. – Let us know if you wish to receive an e-mail regarding each new edition (twice a month) with the Note from the Editors, and please become a financial subscriber. See our Donate page.
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