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