Joanna:
> You're describing a tendency to hysteria, which makes sense given the
> conditions in which the lumpen live. By the same token, to them, we seem
> indifferent, amoral, constipated icicles with a tendency toward
> abstracted self importance. Chuck Grimes could put it much better I'm
sure.
You are absolutely right, Joanna, it is a tendency to hysteria - but I also think it not a response to poor living conditions but the quality of life in America. Everything in this country is hysterical, from hyper sales pitches and constant barrages of marketing drivel, to bombastic political speeches, to shock-jock pop-culture, to attention-grabbing printed T-shirts and bumper stickers, to people constantly demanding attention of others by asking for money, or support, by blasting their horns, car alarms or radios, by making menacing gestures and assuming menacing postures, etc. It is that loud, brash, obnoxious, self-righteous, tasteless, in-your-face quality of life in the US of A from the very top down that the lumpen simply emulate and give it their own forms of expression.
Wojtek