Thomas, David Stevens was the fellow at the meeting with Vincente Balvanera with the really ill fitting jacket. Michael Pugliese, "We Now Return You To 'Days Of Our Lives As Stalinist Cadre' "
Warren Montag is a brilliant Althusserian @ UCLA in Solidarity.
From: David Stevens (phylstevens at worldnet.att.net) Subject: Montag Marxism: Workers World Burns at 451F (was: Degradation of WWP) This is the only article in this thread View: Original Format Newsgroups: alt.politics.socialism.trotsky Date: 1998/05/16
Workers World Chicago bureau wrote:
>
> Are people still listening to this idiot Stevens?
> You should know without even looking that anything
> that he says is useless.
If Workers World had its way, nobody would even be able to look, since they deem everything I say "undisputably" [sic] useless. If these Cotton Mather Commissars had State power to enforce their censorship edicts, _everything_ they consider "useless" would be "undisputable" (or at least 'indisputable').
> My wife, who is a One Life to Live fan, shares the
> account, which I pay for out of my own pocket.
Does Workers World change its views on the "capitalist pornography industry" depending on who pays the bills?
This merely unmasks Paulsen's hypocritical stance in favor of McDworkinite repression. Degradation of women by capitalist media is okay, as long as (a) it's Paulsen's wife who is being degraded, or if (b) it's a soap opera fan of 'One Life To Live' sucking up that commodified degradation.
Paulsen still doesn't explain: how come _his_ wife gets to sneak her porn past the Thought Police?
Why doesn't _my_ wife have a right to her pornography in the "Workers World" of the future?
> She posts under the name "Natasha", except when she forgets
> to switch over the configuration in Pine. That's it.
> Pretty dull, isn't it?
Actually, it isn't dull at all. It provides the plot to a classic novel, Ray Bradbury's _Fahrenheit 451_. Francois Truffaut made a great movie from Paulsens' story (in 1966) which stands up rather well over the years.
In the future "Workers World," all books are outlawed. The movie's version of Louis Paulsen's character is named Guy Montag (played by Oskar Werner). Louis is a highly decorated fireman.
The job of a fireman, in this future 'Workers World', isn't fire prevention; the job is to _burn books_. (The title of Bradbury's work, _Fahrenheit 451_, is the temperature at which book paper will combust).
Why are books against the law in 'Workers World'? The fire chief (played by Cyril Cusack) explains: the books are offensive, oppressive, and degrading. If books were allowed, they would be used to express controversial ideas, and would then offend somebody. Since free expression of thoughts can insult or offend, the books must be burned in order that people can live in a 'Workers World' free of controversy and discord.
Louis Paulsen's wife is the lovely Natasha (played by Julie Christie). Natasha watches television soap operas all day long. In fact, her entire living room is a television. Two of the walls in her living room are gigantic TV screens.
Natasha also has a little device that allows her to roleplay along with the soap operas, so she can offer her opinion on Nora's pregnancy, converse with members of the make-believe Buchanan family, and generally immerse herself in the tranquil noncontroversial 'Workers World' of her fictional character friends.
But Natasha isn't entirely fulfilled ... so she wants to get a third living room wall turned into a TV screen. She reminds Paulsen about it whenever she gets a chance.
I'd better not tell Montag (oops, I mean Paulsen) how the movie ends.
I'm afraid he'd find it "undisputably" controversial.
- David Stevens