85 lines
4.6 KiB
Plaintext
85 lines
4.6 KiB
Plaintext
|
A:\TEXT\STREETS.TXT (11-Feb-86) 70 lines/80 columns/7-bit ASCII
|
|||
|
|
edited at VANC0 by R.VAN for public distribution -- not for resale
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"WHY DON'T PEOPLE DANCE IN THE STREETS?"
|
|||
|
|
----------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
There are appealing aspects of other cultures we Americans haven't yet
|
|||
|
|
stolen, bought, allowed to immigrate, or copied.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
For four centuries, even before America became the U.S., this land was
|
|||
|
|
the great melting pot. It absorbed pieces of nearly every other culture in
|
|||
|
|
the world. Often those pieces were the wrong ones. We allowed in the Mafia
|
|||
|
|
long before we heartily embraced pizza, for instance.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
On the other hand, we have been remarkably slow in adopting some comely
|
|||
|
|
features of other civilizations. Why haven't we integrated the siesta into
|
|||
|
|
our work day? Why don't we all celebrate, as they do in Rio de Janeiro,
|
|||
|
|
Carnival? (Ok, so they do in New Orleans, but where else?) Why do we drive
|
|||
|
|
on the right instead of the left? There are too many tasty customs from other
|
|||
|
|
countries we don't give a single thought.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Can you imagine what life in America might be like if we had ancestors
|
|||
|
|
with the foresight to apply even a few of them long ago enough for you and I
|
|||
|
|
to enjoy them? But no. We are, and always have been, too self-involved.
|
|||
|
|
Narcissistic, even. While others in the world played, we worked. Backed by
|
|||
|
|
the Puritan habit, we became giants of commerce, militarily powerful,
|
|||
|
|
scientifically advanced. But we forgot to smell the freesia, and today
|
|||
|
|
America is a nation without a cultural identity (except for music videos).
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
What does a young United Statesperson have to look forward to? We have
|
|||
|
|
turned our lives around-- leisure time occurs in the early years, until school
|
|||
|
|
is out; then, we work ourselves right to death. Retirement? Sure, when we're
|
|||
|
|
old and frail. It doesn't make sense. Most of us live vicariously, surrounded
|
|||
|
|
by images visual and auditory which draw the sap in our veins leaving our
|
|||
|
|
bodies prone in front of the VCR, or whatever.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
We are guided through our years by a rigorous calendar that allows us to
|
|||
|
|
give flowers on Valentine's day, to honor our mothers one day a year, to escape
|
|||
|
|
for the weekend only four or five times. The rest of the year is to work and
|
|||
|
|
to work out.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
We're in a pityful mess. Look... I think it ought to be this way:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"PEOPLE ARE DANCING IN THE STREET!"
|
|||
|
|
-----------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
Parents should be allowed to raise their young children until about age
|
|||
|
|
eight without having to work overlong. When the kids hit eight, they should
|
|||
|
|
be funneled into the school system all year long from nine-to-five until they
|
|||
|
|
escape at about age twenty-one.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
That way, parents could, you know, work part time and socialize their kids
|
|||
|
|
with other families doing family stuff. Social security could provide funding
|
|||
|
|
for these years. When the kids (say, a maximum of four) are in school for
|
|||
|
|
those 13 to 18 years, the parents could work as much as needed to repay Social
|
|||
|
|
Security and get ahead in the world.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
When the last kid is out of school, every family should be allowed one
|
|||
|
|
last, year long, vacation together. Then the kids could go about their own
|
|||
|
|
business and the parents could go their own way, too.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
So. Let's say between the ages of 21 and 27, everyone could do whatever
|
|||
|
|
they want without undue pressure. You could be an artist for six years and,
|
|||
|
|
if it shouldn't work out, well, no harm done. Get it?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
After the final family vacation is over, the parents would be, let's see,
|
|||
|
|
say about 55 or so. That would be a good time for four or five years of
|
|||
|
|
community, or civil, service. After that, a few years of federal service.
|
|||
|
|
When the aging parents hit 65 or so, they would go into educational service,
|
|||
|
|
staffing schools and research installations and the like.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Why, it would be nirvana!
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
During all of this nirvana, it would be important not to work too hard.
|
|||
|
|
There goes the idea of siesta. And regular parties would be important, too.
|
|||
|
|
Parties for everyone, not just politicians.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
There's a lot to be said for how things should be. And we do really have a
|
|||
|
|
lot of our values turned upside down. Perhaps we could persuade president
|
|||
|
|
Reagan to seek cultural aid from countries the cultures of which we admire.
|
|||
|
|
If we get enough cultural aid, he might not have to raise taxes.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
*** The following comment has nothing to do with the previous text: ***
|
|||
|
|
"A San Francisco lady left her $175,000 house to her dog? I bet he
|
|||
|
|
sells it and buys 50 tons of Alpo dog food."-- Ron S. van Zuylen
|
|||
|
|
rancisco lady left her $175,000 house to her dog? I bet he
|
|||
|
|
sells it and buys 50 tons of Alpo dog food."-- Ron S.
|