Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> On Jul 2, 2010, at 3:25 PM, Dennis Perrin wrote:
>
> >> Noam Chomsky's take is the same as Eagleton's, almost word for word:
> >>
> >> Well, in our society, we have things that you might use your intelligence on, like politics, but people really can't get involved in them in a very serious way--so what they do is they put their minds into other things, such as sports. You're trained to be obedient; you don't have an interesting job; there's no work around for you that's creative; in the cultural environment you're a passive observer of usually pretty tawdry stuff; political and social life are out of your range, they're in the hands of the rich folk. So what's left? Well, one thing that's left is sports--
> >
> > Etc.
> >
> > Noam is right. This is exactly sports' function in the US. And yet, I'm a big sports fan. Willing dupe? Slave to nostalgia
>
> You could say something similar about art, but it wouldn't have the same looking-down-on quality.
Well, it can:
Dorothy Parker:
I'd rather flunk my Wasserman test Than read a poem by Eddie Guest.
Yet it's quite possible that Eddie Guest is/was the most loved poet of te 20th century, possibly competing well with the Boston Red Sox or the Chicago Bears in fandom.
Carrol
>
> Doug
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