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Subject: Percy-L: Literary, Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical Discussion on Walker Percy

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  • From: "Karey L. Perkins" <karey AT charter.net>
  • To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" <percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [percy-l] "...to the gas chamber..."
  • Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2003 18:05:02 -0500

Perhaps more directly related:  Marcel's "being" vs. "having"...
 
KP
 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2003 6:01 PM
Subject: Re: [percy-l] "...to the gas chamber..."

Strikes me all as sort of "Brave New World"-ish -- behaviorist training of the children through shock therapy to hate flowers/nature (because they are free) and to like complicated games with lots of gadgets (because one had to "consume" -- buy -- them, thus helping the economy).  This is like Percy's "theorist-consumer"  -- and we are back "to the gas chambers" which at its core is the sacrifice of sacredness the individual for the well-being of smoothly functioning society.  Marcel's functional man vs. ontological man.
 
KP
 
 
 
 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2003 4:59 PM
Subject: RE: [percy-l] "...to the gas chamber..."

Having just emerged from the greeting card section of a local shop, in
search of a "sympathy" card, it does seem that prepackaged sentiments are
the order of the day. I like your observation about buying our way out of
the post 9/11 reality. Why is "shop and spend" our counter? Why not "attend
your local place of worship" (I don't think that would have caused a
problem with the establishment clause). At any rate, the call to shop
didn't ring true.

Ken Armstrong

At 03:06 PM 3/6/2003 -0600, Marcus Smith wrote:
>Does anyone share with me the feeling I get in any shopping mall that 90%
>of what is offered in most shops and boutiques is congealed
>"sentimentality" (aka "cute")?
>
>If so, is this tied into the exhortations by our leaders to try to buy our
>way out of post 9-11 fear and to ignore their (our?) preparations for mass
>murder?
>
>Fearful trembling in New Orleans one day after Ash Wednesday.
>
>Marcus Smith

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An archive of all list discussion is available at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/hypermail

Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy



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