Notes from Underground

Send in the Clowns

September 13, 2018 by David Spiech Leave a Comment

Dedicated to the memory of Joe Lightweight.

He strode in a swarm of fireflies. He wanted above all, like the old joke, to shove a marshmallow on a stick in the furnace, while the flapping pigeon-winged books died on the porch and lawn of the house. While the books went up in sparkling whirls and blew away on a wind turned dark with burning.

…

“Sit down, Montag. Watch. Delicately, like the petals of a flower. Light the first page, light the second page. Each becomes a black butterfly. Beautiful, eh? Light the third page from the second and so on, chain-smoking, chapter by chapter, all the silly things the words mean, all the false promises, all the second-hand notions and time-worn philosophies.” There sat Beatty, perspiring gently, the floor littered with swarms of black moths that had died in a single storm.

…

“Once, books appealed to a few people, here, there, everywhere. They could afford to be different. The world was roomy. But then the world got full of eyes and elbows and mouths. Double, triple, quadruple population. Films and radios, magazines, books levelled down to a sort of paste pudding norm, do you follow me?”

…

“Books cut shorter. Condensations, Digests. Tabloids. Everything boils down to the gag, the snap ending.”

…

“Speed up the film, Montag, quick. Click? Pic? Look, Eye, Now, Flick, Here, There, Swift, Pace, Up, Down, In, Out, Why, How, Who, What, Where, Eh? Uh! Bang! Smack! Wallop, Bing, Bong, Boom! Digest-digests, digest-digest-digests. Politics? One column, two sentences, a headline! Then, in mid-air, all vanishes! Whirl man’s mind around about so fast under the pumping hands of publishers, exploiters, broadcasters, that the centrifuge flings off all unnecessary, time-wasting thought!”

…

“Empty the theatres save for clowns and furnish the rooms with glass walls and pretty colours running up and down the walls like confetti or blood or sherry or sauterne.…”

…

“More sports for everyone, group spirit, fun, and you don’t have to think, eh? Organize and organize and super-organize super-super sports. More cartoons in books. More pictures. The mind drinks less and less. Impatience. Highways full of crowds going somewhere, somewhere, somewhere, nowhere.…”

…

“The bigger your market, Montag, the less you handle controversy, remember that!…”

…

“Ask yourself, What do we want in this country, above all? People want to be happy, isn’t that right? Haven’t you heard it all your life? I want to be happy, people say. Well, aren’t they? Don’t we keep them moving, don’t we give them fun? That’s all we live for, isn’t it? For pleasure, for titillation? And you must admit our culture provides plenty of these.”

(all of the above is from Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Ray Bradbury

School Is Not Life

May 23, 2017 by David Spiech Leave a Comment

I'm pretty cynical about politics because most political discussion is ignorant babbling. In a typical political discussion, everyone involved knows almost no facts about the subject at hand and they actually have zero influence on the broader … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: college, education, homeschooling, socialization

The Purge

March 27, 2017 by David Spiech Leave a Comment

One important lesson I learned as a child was to regularly evaluate everything I owned and throw away whatever was simply taking up space. I never liked doing it, but I had to do it anyway. If I looked at it and had no attachment to it, I had to … [Continue reading]

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Time Narrows

January 24, 2017 by David Spiech Leave a Comment

He's sitting on a deck chair stiffly staring out over the lake-- squeezing his mouth together-- not saying anything.   On the way here I listened to a book about dying. I don't know what is expected because we don't talk … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: death

A Tragedy of Manners

January 22, 2017 by David Spiech Leave a Comment

On January 21, 2017, I knew that the election season was finally over. I breathed the fresh, clear air of a newly anointed presidential administration, knowing that at last the earth had stabilized on its axis and God was now free to do His will … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: education, elections, parties, Trump

The Truth of Democracy

November 8, 2016 by David Spiech Leave a Comment

I used to be very anti-democratic. I preferred a fake objectivity that looked at politics from above, as if careful reasoning could somehow plow through the great mass of words in public policy discussions. I thought the best approach to political … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: democracy, third parties, voting

Cycle of Insanity

May 2, 2016 by David Spiech Leave a Comment

I'm thinking about how to vote in 2016 in a way that will annoy the greatest number of people. Usually, the most effective way to annoy the greatest number of people is by voting third party; most people have a deeply superstitious faith in the … [Continue reading]

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The Gift of the Holy Sport

April 25, 2016 by David Spiech Leave a Comment

I live in Indiana, where basketball, football, and racing are widely popular. Yet, I am agnostic with regard to spectator sports. I don’t deny that great teams and great athletes exist, or that sports are generally harmless to watch, but I have never … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Why Ask Why?

April 18, 2016 by David Spiech Leave a Comment

Here is an in-depth report on the problem of functional illiteracy: Published July 04, 2009 09:00 pm - Literacy: 1 in 7 adults has problems By Dave Stafford, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer ANDERSON — Nearly 14 percent of Madison County … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: illiteracy, public education

Ultimate Trump

February 1, 2016 by David Spiech Leave a Comment

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. . . . (1 Thessalonians 4:16) Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Donald Trump, populism

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