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17701 [lbo-talk] WSJ edit page: forget about that p. 1 story! -- rank: 1000

Wall Street Journal - May 18, 2005 CLASS STRUGGLE? For the Record Despite what you may read in the papers, the American Dream is alive and well. BY ALAN REYNOLDS Major newspapers are in the throes of Mobility Mania: who "makes it" in America, and why; who doesn't, and why not. The Wall Street Journal began a series last week titled "Challenges to the American Dream." The New York Times followed suit with a multiparter on "Class in America," which aims to disparage t ...

Document Size:	14055
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed May 18 06:46:10 PDT 2005

17702 [lbo-talk] Fwd: REVEREND BILLY -- rank: 1000

jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net wrote: >I am asking if there are social costs incurred when a pair of canvas deck >shoes from Gucci cost $550 and they are cosmetically almost identical >to a pair of $10 Keds? I give up. Carry on. Doug

Document Size:	4790
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue May 17 15:25:37 PDT 2005

17703 [lbo-talk] Making beautiful stuff -- rank: 1000

Cseniornyc at aol.com wrote: >What if it costs $3,000 ? This what the average pair of shoes from >Gucci or Versace costs these days. I wonder how Doug Henwood missed >this little detail in gauging the social cost of luxury goods >prodution.(Unless he was being densely ironic). My god. Gucci's don't go for $3,000 - that's 5-10 times too high <http://www.gucci.com/us/us-english/us/spring-summer-05/womens-shoes/view_all_pumps.shtml>. In any case, I'm aware of how much stuff costs. ...

Document Size:	5647
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue May 17 14:30:09 PDT 2005

17704 [lbo-talk] Making beautiful stuff -- rank: 1000

Tom Walker wrote: >What's wrong with an old boot? Nothing inherently. Could be beautiful, could be smelly & hideous. On the old boot question, a case by case basis, I'd say.

Document Size:	4655
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue May 17 14:00:42 PDT 2005

17705 [lbo-talk] Fwd: REVEREND BILLY -- rank: 1000

Carrol Cox wrote: >There he goes again! I've run into lots of people who chew gum. Gee >Whiz. Those lots of leftist sure are screwing up the works. Thankfully I've run into lots of leftists who aren't cranky assholes, otherwise I might reach some dire conclusions. Doug

Document Size:	4750
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue May 17 13:47:08 PDT 2005

17706 [lbo-talk] Fwd: REVEREND BILLY -- rank: 1000

jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net wrote: >Gucci shoes not beautiful shoes Gucci makes beautiful shoes. So does Marc Jacobs. What's the point in denying that? Doug

Document Size:	4689
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue May 17 13:35:14 PDT 2005

17707 [lbo-talk] Fwd: REVEREND BILLY -- rank: 1000

jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net wrote: >Isn't it the class signifier component of the Gucci shoe Leigh is objecting >to I don't know - you'll have to ask him. I've certainly run into lots of leftists and countercultural types who proudly wear anti-chic clothing on principle. > rather than the shoe itself? With a bit of practice I could make a >beautiful and comfortable shoe that could be profitably sold for 1/4 the >price of the Gucci in most instances. Right above your comment was thi ...

Document Size:	5506
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue May 17 13:08:02 PDT 2005

17708 [lbo-talk] foreigners losing will to fund US? -- rank: 1000

Wall Street Journal - May 17, 2005 U.S. Bond, Stock Purchases By Foreigners Drop Sharply By CAMPION WALSH and AGNES T. CRANE DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Buying of U.S. bonds and stocks by foreigners fell sharply in March, suggesting the country may be having a harder time financing its trade deficit with money borrowed abroad. For the first time since August 2003, foreign central banks were net sellers of U.S. government securities, driving net overall foreign purchases of American securities -- both bo ...

Document Size:	8726
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue May 17 11:26:50 PDT 2005

17709 [lbo-talk] Susie Bright: Inspired by Andrea -- rank: 1000

At 9:25 AM -0700 5/17/05, Susie Bright wrote: >Inspired By Andrea -- Essays on Lust, Aggression, Porn, and The Female Gaze > > >I wrote a eulogy for Andrea Dworkin the day after she died on my blog, > ><http://susiebright.blogs.com/susie_brights_journal_/2005/04/andrea_dworkin_.html> > >which turned out to be the first published news about her death... >the first newspaper reports didn't appear until four days later. The >response I got was overwhelming, and I ...

Document Size:	6603
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue May 17 11:17:35 PDT 2005

17710 [lbo-talk] Soviet Union had plans for first use of N-weapons in Europe -- rank: 1000

Michael Pugliese wrote: >the ghost of Max Shactmam, heh, is shouting in my >ear I'm not surprised. Several things lead me to greet this news with a hybrid of indifference and irritation: 1) what's the point of bringing this up now?, 2) who knows if it's true?, and 3) I think the world is, on balance, worse off for the demise of the USSR. I imagine you have different positions on all three counts. Doug

Document Size:	5257
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue May 17 11:10:46 PDT 2005

17711 [lbo-talk] Fwd: REVEREND BILLY -- rank: 1000

Leigh Meyers wrote: >I believe Karl M never observed a Dolce&Cabana or Gucci ad, or knew >the meaning of predatory advertising directed at children, or had >experienced "food" that just looks like food, with a nutritional value >below cardboard. > >Although he probably had observed the arrogance of people >who believed they were "...cultured to a high degree". You must have missed the bit that Mandel quoted from Marx, about the civilizing function of ...

Document Size:	5432
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue May 17 09:22:01 PDT 2005

17712 [lbo-talk] Fwd: REVEREND BILLY -- rank: 1000

Leigh Meyers wrote: >The "new need arising from society itself" is to slow down the mass destrucion >of the earth by curbing our consumption. Wants and desires are not "needs", >unless we're talking about obsession and compulsion. For a hippie, you're very quick to police the desires and needs of others - whether it's sex work, or fashion, whatever. Who put you in charge of these judgments? Doug

Document Size:	4916
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue May 17 07:46:26 PDT 2005

17713 [lbo-talk] Social Security in NYC, again -- rank: 1000

NYC Union for Radical Political Economics and the Brecht Forum present: THE SOCIAL SECURITY "CRISIS": ROLLING BACK THE NEW DEAL Date: Wednesday, May 25, 7:30pm Place: Brecht Forum, 451 West St. (between Bank and Bethune) ***NEW ADDRESS*** See website for directions 212-242-4201 <http://www.brechtforum.org> Speakers: Doug Henwood, Paddy Quick, Mike Whitty George Bush claims that Social Security is in danger of bankruptcy and has proposed profound changes in the system, including t ...

Document Size:	7581
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue May 17 07:36:10 PDT 2005

17714 [lbo-talk] Soviet Union had plans for first use of N-weapons in Europe -- rank: 1000

Michael Pugliese wrote: >Soviet Union had plans for first use of N-weapons in Europe Good thing Ronnie stood up to them! Doug

Document Size:	4948
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue May 17 07:27:02 PDT 2005

17715 [lbo-talk] Fwd: REVEREND BILLY -- rank: 1000

Tom Walker wrote: >Ah, but in the above you implicitly presume to urge people to stop >"stop shopping" shopping on the grounds it is presumptuous. >Sometimes one can only deal with the contradictions through >immersion and entanglement. Which should lead to some reflection on the absurd impossibility of stopping shopping, no? Ernest Mandel, Late Capitalism, pp. 394-396: >6. The genuine extension of the needs (living standards) of the >wage-earner, which represents a r ...

Document Size:	10340
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue May 17 06:40:17 PDT 2005