Bostonmess wrote:
*overwhelmed by he story of Ben Linder.
The funny thing is that his life has so much of a point to it, but I
bet you anything, outside of a few circles his story is unknown. Why
would that be so? *
Here is a quote from a book called, _The_Strategy_of_Desire_ by Ernest
Richter of something called the Institute for Motivational Research (an
advertising think tank). It was written in 1960.
-"We are now confronted with the problem of permitting the average
American to feel moral even as he flirts, even when he spends, or when
he buys a second or third car. One of the fundamental problems of
prosperity is to sanction and to justify its enjoyment, to convince
people that making their life enjoyable is moral, and not immoral. One
of the fundamental tasks of all advertising, and of every project
destined to promote sales, should be to permit the consumer freely to
enjoy life and confirm his right to surround himself with products that
enrich his existence and make him happy."-
What is essentially true of the life of Ben Linder and Rachel Corrie is
that they demonstrate that an "enjoyable" and "enriched" life need not
be primarily focused on the need to "surround" oneself "with products".
Easier said than done, I know (*I know*), but there, in my opinion, it
is. Without meaning to overly romanticize violent and untimely deaths, I
do believe that they died having experienced more inner peace and
satisfaction than I'm ever likely to know.
Why don't more people know about them? I would venture to say that their
stories promote the idea that communities can be built around the values
of self-sufficiency, peace and perhaps even equality. This is not a
concept of which global capital approves and works hard to squash. Their
stories are out there. But since most of us get our news and information
from sources controlled by big business whose interests are not served
by widely publicizing these stories, then it follows to reason that they
wont be.
Raphael (who should know better than to make posts like this, but does
so anyway) Lasar
Matawan, NJ
--
JJuggle - Last of the Dogmato-Revisionists
Hey punk where you going with those beads around your neck?
Well, I'm going to see my shrink so he can help me be a nervous wreck.
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