[lbo-talk] Hemingway and Elvis Costello on Opiums of Everyone Tower Records

Jerry Monaco monacojerry at gmail.com
Fri Jan 5 10:52:05 PST 2007


On 1/4/07, Wojtek Sokolowski <sokol at jhu.edu> wrote:
> It seems that entertainment can be just as good opium for the masses as
> religion. Forget about the traffic, forget about the lack of efficient
> transportation, affordable health care or being one paycheck from
> homelessness, forget about the war, corruption, crime or lack of prospects -
> just put your earphones on and tune in.
>


> Wojtek

Cliches, cliches.... But Mr. Hemingway said it much better.


>From "The Gambler, The Nun, and The Radio" written in a long forgotten
century when this guy Ernest Hemingway used to be read.

"Religion is the opium of the people. He believe that, that dyspeptic little joint-keeper. Yes, and music is the opium of the people. old mount-to-head hadn't thought of that. And now economics is the opium of the people; along with patriotism the opium of the people in Italy and Germany. What about sexual intercourse; was that an opium of people? Of some of the people. Of some of the best people. But drink was a sovereign opium of the people, oh, an excellent opium. Although some prefer the radio, another opium of the people, a cheap one he had just been using. Along with these went gambling, an opium of the people if there ever was one, on of the oldest. Ambition was another, an opium of the people, along with a belief in any new form of government....."

<clip>

"Listen," said Mr. Fraser. "Why should the people be operated on without an anesthetic?"

"I don not understand."

"Why are not all of the opiums of the people good? What do you want to do with the people?"

"They should be rescued from ignorance?"

"Don't talk nonsense. Education is the opium of the people. You ought to know that. You've had a little."

And now for some Elvis Costello, "Radio, Radio."

"Some of my friends sit around every evening and they worry about the times ahead But everybody else is overwhelmed by indifference and the promise of an early bed You either shut up or get cut out; they don't wanna hear about it. It's only inches on the reel-to-reel. And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools tryin' to anaesthetise the way that you feel"



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