[lbo-talk] Mailer v. McLuhan

[Chuck Grimes]

Here is a fascinating encounter. It is a longish combat between
Marshall McLuhan and Norman Mailer from 1968:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-931331993788973594

Only one point, I find more fascinating among the many. Mailer says in
effect what annoys him about McLuhan and where they may disagree most
is that dispite all the characterizations and insights into the medium
and its envelop, McLuhan never tells us these alienating systems are
good or bad. And McLuhan answers, well, you see, Norman, I wouldn't
know how...

What neither really get to is the opening idea that violence is essentially
a search for identity. The possible reason they don't, is that they
agree as much as they can from their vastly different worlds.

CG