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Phanny, v. 3, issue 2, June 1944

Page 12

12     PHANNY     12

eagerly by all who are interested in the future.
AGONBITE OF INWIT-- The swell discussion of the "genius" query pleased me very much; your discussion alone would have been worth all the effort I put on the matter, and look at all the other comments which showed up. -- I agree that some of the essential elements of the ancient slave system still exist in our modern wage system; but the improvement has been very great. Men are no longer "bound to the land" in the more advanced countries; Men have the privelige of moving from job to job, which they had in lesser degree in earlier times, and not at all in slave times; there is considerable choice as to the line of work which a man may take, although of course this feature is far from perfect as it stands. These and other points differ--mainly in degree, but none the less greatly--from conditions prevailing in slave times. But the greatest difference is to be found in the fact that the physical means of eliminating slavery are now available, when we accept them and when social development catches up with technocracy. In the time of the Greeks, this possibility did not exist, and there was no effort of importance made along the line of rendering slavery unnecessary. -- The plan to use a sliding scale in voting, with the number of votes per individual being determined according to his contributions to society, was advanced several years ago by Bernarr MacFadden in an editorial in LIBERTY. It is most astonishing, indeed, that I should have seen that editorial, since I have probably not looked through more than 20 issues of that magazine in the last ten years. But while I was patiently waiting my turn in the dentist's chair..... --I read the discussion of poetry with real interest and appreciation. "Transcendency" is the right word. The statement as whole is the best I have seen so far on the subject. -- Johnny and I are far apart on many of the points which lie behind his "Reflections From Troubled Waters." I do not think, for example, that the particular "one-sixth of the globe" of which he speaks in such glowing terms, for all its really magnificent advances, has yet shown itself worthy of the adoration which he bestows upon it. But like Johnny, I am sadly disturbed by the ever-increasing tempo of the drive toward a complete return to a pre-war economy. We won't return fully to that state, of course, but we may approach it much too closely. It is certain indeed that none of Michel's dreams will be approached even closely; but if the reactionary forces can be pried just a little way out of their complete control of the media for dispensing propaganda, perhaps a little may be gained. .. "A Bas Musique." Hilarious. I confess my own interest in music, such as it is, consists mainly of a liking for pleasant sounds. Obviously elementary; I have no business in the discussion. Anyway, I insist that that the pleasantest sounds are made by the violin and the cello--and the least pleasant are thoseproduced by the "country fiddler" and the guy who bats out brittle (and usually flat) notes on any of several steel-stringed instruments. --Trigger Talk...." grows more interestin' and amoozin,but I still don't savvy all of it. Wide asleep, that's me.
FAN TODS. Ah! My meat! --"Chandler Davis' Blitherings is so different from the stuff he writes for Stan and Art, that I've come to the no doubt baseless--and probably base--conclusion that Bl... is written primarily as a form of revolt against the sever constraint he exercises when writing for Yhos and FT. "Unborn Science" article was well liked by yrs. trooly. Nothing to argue about, tho. -- The review is full of themost wonderful stuff, and I'd like to mess into it, but there has to be a halt somewhere, and I'd never be able to stop, once I got started. -- Suddsy does right well with "10,000 Years." I commented rather fully on "War and Stuff" last issue.
YHOS -- "Homo Futurus....Epilogue." One reason for the lack of comment on the original article was its own completeness and solid foundation. The current article is interesting and informative; also, quite by accident, fits in nicely in spots with the "Query" on "Genius" discussion. I like the listing of the five most useful systems of thought. The general subject of mutuations is stated with admirable clarity and brevity, I think--but I'd be exposing on my own ignorance in very large lumps if I butted in on this. -- In re the "gen public" and scandals--well, the public wouldn't take any more interest in stefnists than than formerly; it would be the scandal which would get the interest. A series of juicy episodes would get stefnisy more attention in a week than it has managed to attain [[?]] in[[??]] the past ten years. -- Comment on the tendency of present Union leadership [[?]] the labor movement is timely. The argument seems fairly obvious to me, but apparently doesn't seem so to millions of others.

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12 PHANNY 12 eagerly by all who are interested in the future. AGONBITE OF INWIT-- The swell discussion of the "genius" query pleased me very much; your discussion alone would have been worth all the effort I put on the matter, and look at all the other comments which showed up. -- I agree that some of the essential elements of the ancient slave system still exist in our modern wage system; but the improvement has been very great. Men are no longer "bound to the land" in the more advanced countries; Men have the privelige of moving from job to job, which they had in lesser degree in earlier times, and not at all in slave times; there is considerable choice as to the line of work which a man may take, although of course this feature is far from perfect as it stands. These and other points differ--mainly in degree, but none the less greatly--from conditions prevailing in slave times. But the greatest difference is to be found in the fact that the physical means of eliminating slavery are now available, when we accept them and when social development catches up with technocracy. In the time of the Greeks, this possibility did not exist, and there was no effort of importance made along the line of rendering slavery unnecessary. -- The plan to use a sliding scale in voting, with the number of votes per individual being determined according to his contributions to society, was advanced several years ago by Bernarr MacFadden in an editorial in LIBERTY. It is most astonishing, indeed, that I should have seen that editorial, since I have probably not looked through more than 20 issues of that magazine in the last ten years. But while I was patiently waiting my turn in the dentist's chair..... --I read the discussion of poetry with real interest and appreciation. "Transcendency" is the right word. The statement as whole is the best I have seen so far on the subject. -- Johnny and I are far apart on many of the points which lie behind his "Reflections From Troubled Waters." I do not think, for example, that the particular "one-sixth of the globe" of which he speaks in such glowing terms, for all its really magnificent advances, has yet shown itself worthy of the adoration which he bestows upon it. But like Johnny, I am sadly disturbed by the ever-increasing tempo of the drive toward a complete return to a pre-war economy. We won't return fully to that state, of course, but we may approach it much too closely. It is certain indeed that none of Michel's dreams will be approached even closely; but if the reactionary forces can be pried just a little way out of their complete control of the media for dispensing propaganda, perhaps a little may be gained. .. "A Bas Musique." Hilarious. I confess my own interest in music, such as it is, consists mainly of a liking for pleasant sounds. Obviously elementary; I have no business in the discussion. Anyway, I insist that that the pleasantest sounds are made by the violin and the cello--and the least pleasant are thoseproduced by the "country fiddler" and the guy who bats out brittle (and usually flat) notes on any of several steel-stringed instruments. --Trigger Talk...." grows more interestin' and amoozin,but I still don't savvy all of it. Wide asleep, that's me. FAN TODS. Ah! My meat! --"Chandler Davis' Blitherings is so different from the stuff he writes for Stan and Art, that I've come to the no doubt baseless--and probably base--conclusion that Bl... is written primarily as a form of revolt against the sever constraint he exercises when writing for Yhos and FT. "Unborn Science" article was well liked by yrs. trooly. Nothing to argue about, tho. -- The review is full of themost wonderful stuff, and I'd like to mess into it, but there has to be a halt somewhere, and I'd never be able to stop, once I got started. -- Suddsy does right well with "10,000 Years." I commented rather fully on "War and Stuff" last issue. YHOS -- "Homo Futurus....Epilogue." One reason for the lack of comment on the original article was its own completeness and solid foundation. The current article is interesting and informative; also, quite by accident, fits in nicely in spots with the "Query" on "Genius" discussion. I like the listing of the five most useful systems of thought. The general subject of mutuations is stated with admirable clarity and brevity, I think--but I'd be exposing on my own ignorance in very large lumps if I butted in on this. -- In re the "gen public" and scandals--well, the public wouldn't take any more interest in stefnists than than formerly; it would be the scandal which would get the interest. A series of juicy episodes would get stefnisy more attention in a week than it has managed to attain [[?]] in[[??]] the past ten years. -- Comment on the tendency of present Union leadership [[?]] the labor movement is timely. The argument seems fairly obvious to me, but apparently doesn't seem so to millions of others.