Transcribe
Translate
Phanny, v. 3, issue 1, Spring 1944
page 9
More information
digital collection
archival collection guide
transcription tips
9 PHANNY 9 the third, the economic factor, hits at the pocketbook, which is a very tender spot in most of us. So the group which has evil designs on the unsuspecting public, first puts up the cry that "the Jews are buying us out; gaining control of all wealth and business. That appeals strongly to the small business man who is having a tough time for various reasons; it appeals to the man working for him, also, since he visualized loss of his job, or a reduction in pay. It is only then that he recalls that he also has religious prejudices, and proceeds to get very indignant about them, because there seems to be more opportunity for righteous anger than in the more worldly field of sordid money dealing. When that stage is reached, the original conspirators can really get under way. They find a few sincere but mistaken leaders of religious thought who are already worried about the Jewish question, and regard the campaign as a genuine opportunity to work for the right. They find several more who are in agreement with their general plans--especially if those plans are political, and seem to suggest the possibility of a State Church along the lines of their own denomination. They find still others who are in fact religious mountebanks, in it for whatever they can get out of it. These few are enough; their sensational statements are widely publicized, and stir the emotions of simple, unthinking, but deeply religious folk. The fact that the vast majority of the members of the ministry understand the situation and do their best to combat the growing menace to Christian tolerance, has little important bearing. Their congregations shake their heads and say "Parson Jones is a good, earnest man, but he just ain't practical. He things we don't need no force; just tolerance and forgiveness of the sinner. Wonder what he's gonna do when the Jews git all the money, and nobody supports his Church or pays his salary." Aprogram like that is hard to beat, if it is helped a little by sly promises, by fancy shows, and various other exciting trivia. By the time the people wake up, they find they have sold themselves politically andeconomically, and they may be unable to rectify matters. In this country, the process have never succeeded fully; but it is constantly going on; only the diversity of aims of the various groups utilizing it, plus the individual independence of the average rural American, who insists on his right to "Turn an honest dollar when he gits the chance," even if the transaction involves someone he doesn't like, has stood in the way of the success of the program, in my opinion. All of that may seem very far from the matter of cultural versus economic factors as causes of war; but I think there is a definite connection. For you can't separate the economic and cultural factors in the problem, and have an important problem left; the combination of factos is the important matter. I think the same is true in any discussion involving economic versus cultural factors as causes. In all sabe the mot primitive culturas, the two are indisoluble, as they are in the old practice of Jew-baiting. You can't tear them apart. (As usually is the case, I became excessively prolix on the above;"Doc" could have covered it all in one-fourth the space. But I anin't "Doc." --By the way, Davis, why do you use that slightly wacky n as an abreviation for the terminal of all words ending in -ion? It must take about the same time to type N as it does -ation. It takes me considerably longer, since the movements aren't part of my touch-system technique, what there is of it. If you mist use a contraction, what's wrong with the more orthodox and more legible 'n' -- THe discussion of the difficulties and end-product of a highly mechanized rural culture is competent, and the conclusion--that it would degenerate into a feudal system supported by peonage, seems the only possible one. -- Like the discussion of "subjunctive time, especially the suggestion that "free will is the psychological manifestation of the uncertainty princible." I think that idea could be the germ of a swell sf novel. -- The letter to "Doc" Smith is a liberal education in certain aspects of physics. It has been a long time since I studied physics, and I didn't stufy physics a long time, so I had to re-read the discussion more than once to get it all, but it was worth it. -- Information Bureau; I couldn't have answered the question about the rolled up Argost and the rolled up FFM without research: always remember worthless data like that. Whichbringsustothelastlineofphannyforspring1944inplentyoftimetomakethemaillingtoo.
Saving...
prev
next
9 PHANNY 9 the third, the economic factor, hits at the pocketbook, which is a very tender spot in most of us. So the group which has evil designs on the unsuspecting public, first puts up the cry that "the Jews are buying us out; gaining control of all wealth and business. That appeals strongly to the small business man who is having a tough time for various reasons; it appeals to the man working for him, also, since he visualized loss of his job, or a reduction in pay. It is only then that he recalls that he also has religious prejudices, and proceeds to get very indignant about them, because there seems to be more opportunity for righteous anger than in the more worldly field of sordid money dealing. When that stage is reached, the original conspirators can really get under way. They find a few sincere but mistaken leaders of religious thought who are already worried about the Jewish question, and regard the campaign as a genuine opportunity to work for the right. They find several more who are in agreement with their general plans--especially if those plans are political, and seem to suggest the possibility of a State Church along the lines of their own denomination. They find still others who are in fact religious mountebanks, in it for whatever they can get out of it. These few are enough; their sensational statements are widely publicized, and stir the emotions of simple, unthinking, but deeply religious folk. The fact that the vast majority of the members of the ministry understand the situation and do their best to combat the growing menace to Christian tolerance, has little important bearing. Their congregations shake their heads and say "Parson Jones is a good, earnest man, but he just ain't practical. He things we don't need no force; just tolerance and forgiveness of the sinner. Wonder what he's gonna do when the Jews git all the money, and nobody supports his Church or pays his salary." Aprogram like that is hard to beat, if it is helped a little by sly promises, by fancy shows, and various other exciting trivia. By the time the people wake up, they find they have sold themselves politically andeconomically, and they may be unable to rectify matters. In this country, the process have never succeeded fully; but it is constantly going on; only the diversity of aims of the various groups utilizing it, plus the individual independence of the average rural American, who insists on his right to "Turn an honest dollar when he gits the chance," even if the transaction involves someone he doesn't like, has stood in the way of the success of the program, in my opinion. All of that may seem very far from the matter of cultural versus economic factors as causes of war; but I think there is a definite connection. For you can't separate the economic and cultural factors in the problem, and have an important problem left; the combination of factos is the important matter. I think the same is true in any discussion involving economic versus cultural factors as causes. In all sabe the mot primitive culturas, the two are indisoluble, as they are in the old practice of Jew-baiting. You can't tear them apart. (As usually is the case, I became excessively prolix on the above;"Doc" could have covered it all in one-fourth the space. But I anin't "Doc." --By the way, Davis, why do you use that slightly wacky n as an abreviation for the terminal of all words ending in -ion? It must take about the same time to type N as it does -ation. It takes me considerably longer, since the movements aren't part of my touch-system technique, what there is of it. If you mist use a contraction, what's wrong with the more orthodox and more legible 'n' -- THe discussion of the difficulties and end-product of a highly mechanized rural culture is competent, and the conclusion--that it would degenerate into a feudal system supported by peonage, seems the only possible one. -- Like the discussion of "subjunctive time, especially the suggestion that "free will is the psychological manifestation of the uncertainty princible." I think that idea could be the germ of a swell sf novel. -- The letter to "Doc" Smith is a liberal education in certain aspects of physics. It has been a long time since I studied physics, and I didn't stufy physics a long time, so I had to re-read the discussion more than once to get it all, but it was worth it. -- Information Bureau; I couldn't have answered the question about the rolled up Argost and the rolled up FFM without research: always remember worthless data like that. Whichbringsustothelastlineofphannyforspring1944inplentyoftimetomakethemaillingtoo.
Hevelin Fanzines
sidebar
