> What's the proportion of 500,000 Hustler readers who
> actually _read_ words on its pages, as opposed to just
> looking at pix and masturbating? Probably something like
> 1%, and only a small proportion of that 1% get to a
> particular article in the whole issue.
I have no idea if you're right about this, but my guess is that W. Kiernan is on to something and that the proportion of men who actually read the articles in Hustler is much higher than you might expect. But even if it's the 1% you claim, I'm guessing it still reaches more GIs than The Nation, or at least more of the GIs who need to be reached. If GIs are seeking out The Nation, The Progressive, MR, or what-have-you, then that is a good thing, and I'm sure that many of them actually are doing that -- but that just means that they're the kind of people who are questioning the war and looking for strong critiques of US policy already.
GIs who read Hustler and come across Christian Parenti's article are often going to be the kind who do not actively seek out the left media. Some of them -- no, many of them -- will be people who have uneasy but incoherent feelings about the war, but don't know exactly what to think of them, and they will read this article from a leftist that says a lot more about the insanity of what they've experienced than anything else they've read or seen in the mainstream media. And that will be the beginning of an ideological journey for some of them.
VVAW got a boost of thousands of members in late 1970 when Hugh Hefner himself paid for an ad of theirs in his magazine, one with a flag-draped casket. It's not only stupidly puritanical, it's politically suicidal to renounce any and all opportunities to reach as many people as possible. If, as Yoshie suggests, that might involve writing for Internet porn sites that are much more disgusting than Hustler, because that's where a lot of soldiers and others are going to get their porn these days, then so be it. I for one would write for much less reputable publications than Hustler if it meant getting the message out. I would even go as far as the New York Times.
- - - - - - - - - - John Lacny http://www.johnlacny.com
Tell no lies, claim no easy victories