Chomsky on Palestine

Gordon Fitch gcf at panix.com
Wed Apr 10 09:55:42 PDT 2002


Gordon Fitch:
> >> The function of the necktie is to reduce the flow of blood
> >> to the brain, thus making the office worker woozier, more
> >> complaisant and subservient.

Carrol Cox <cbcox at ilstu.edu> writes:
> > It's been 34 years since I wore a necktie except to funerals -- BUT I
> > got very sick in the '60s of attempts to judge a person's politics by
> > his/her clothing. Why in the hell should people not wear ties if they
> > want to, and why should they not if they don't want to. We're back to
> > making lifestyle a political issue and I don't like it.

Chris Beggy :
> Perhaps this thinking is a legacy of sumptuary laws, which have a
> history in Europe and Japan. Maybe it's the other way around, and
> this thinking is common and regenerates these laws or customs
> from time to time, in different societies.

Right. Repression is the reason for the recent turn toward casual dress in corporate offices. The sheer sensual pleasure of starched cloth rasping against one's neck, held tightly there by a blood- and air-constricting band of brightly-colored, expensive cloth, especially in hot weather, was too liberating and had to be violently surpressed. People were just getting out of hand, dancing around the water cooler and so forth.

Fortunately, you can still wear a tie to bed.

-- Gordon



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