Dear Lucianne,
No, I don’t think it’s capitalism that did in Russia, as it happens. Watch those assumptions! I’m for capitalism, by and large. Not, perhaps, raw, pure, hands-off, let-the-devil-take-the-hindmost capitalism, but some slightly mitigated version of the thing. The kind we have right here at home, say, with occasional further adjustments as events develop and Congresses permit. Not the kind they have in Russia, though. Them rooskies can keep their damned rubles, too, while they’re at it. And their room-temperature vodka and their grease and their piroshki and all that other nasty stuff.
Your wondering why the witness to the rape-murder failed either to report it or to intervene seems pretty reasonable to me. It’s the crucial question, isn’t it? And the basis for all of today’s anger, on-campus and off. But perhaps what you’re calling a knee-jerk response refers to your suspicion that drugs may have been involved. I don’t automatically assume that; people have proven themselves perfectly capable of all sorts of horror without any outside assistance, chemical or otherwise. I confess I had a little trouble following the rest of your paragraph, even after several re-readings, but perhaps that simply reflects my own unhappiness with the whole thoroughly miserable story. The evil’s been done, and it’s hard to know what further to do about it other than lament it. I don’t object to the rally, though. The grievances are genuine and merit an airing.
So…Is there anything else on the table that won’t wait until tomorrow? Nothing occurs to me at the moment. You did offer a few gratuitous Clinton digs, but I don’t see any point in rising to the bait. The fight you seem to be itching for this time…I just don’t have a dog in it.
I do hope you chance upon the Schumann symphonies tonight. “Music has charms,” you know…just as you know the rest, I’m sure.
Erik
Mon., 8/24; Tues., 8/25; Wed., 8/26; Thurs., 8/27; Fri., 8/28
