Posted on 08/17/2010 8:01:27 AM PDT by Mobile Vulgus
The L.A. Times has a heartwarming story of literary giant Ray Bradbury who at 90 is not afraid to tell everyone exactly what he thinks. A gathering of admirers got an earful of Bradburyisms on the verge of his Aug 22 90th birthday celebration in Los Angeles. Bradbury railed against the "too many machines" that we surround ourselves with, lamented that we hadn't colonized the moon by now, and said that the U.S. is in need of a revolution because "there is too much government today."
You have to hand it to this wizened sage. He hit the nail on the head with every statement. Bradbury is so right to point out that we are losing our American soul and character.
Here are his statements as reported by the Times:
Another of my favorite Bradbury quotes goes like this: "I don’t believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries."
The man is clearly an individualist and not a collectivist...
Read the rest at Publiusforum.com...
Too many machines, but we need to colonize the moon?
I think Palin should announce we will go to the moon in her first term and to Mars in her second (or in Michelle Bachman’s first term rising up to president from VP)
I think that would jump start her political run for president right now
I really enjoyed reading Ray Bradbury in high school.
“There is too much government today.”
Who is he proposing pay for the moon/Mars projects?
I have always been a fan of Mr. Bradbury. That just made me more of one.
lol
I caught that too. Is the moon rocket going to be powered with bicycle pedals? Will the space engineers use slide rulers? Communication through a tin can and wire strung all the way back to Cape Canaveral?
Exceedingly rare these days.
The current era of big government started with the New Tone in Washington.
“Who is he proposing pay for the moon/Mars projects?”
Take the money away from the Stroker’s vacation “fund”, ACORN and the Union Bailouts, and I think we’re covered.
I’m guessing, but I think he’s concerned about all the non face-to-face communication and the amount of time spent on empty communications.
I’ve been to events where some of the audience is really someplace else, paying attention to handheld games, twittering, texting, while missing some really cool stuff going on.
I agree with him that we’ve got to set up shop off-earth, the moon, mars, belt, gas giant moons. One more Chixulub-sized impact (or Chesapeake, Manson, even a “little one” like Burkle would pound us back to the days before microwave ovens < gasp>.
I wonder whether Ray Bradbury is now featured on someone’s “to do” list at the IRS.
It is HOW we are using the machines.
Do we need couples texting their facebooks 20 times an hour when they are on a date?
Using computers to replace printed books, etc.
Socialized medicine and 2 years of unemployment “walking around money” are probably a bigger part of his gripe.
Can't control the populace when some are trying to leave the plantation.
Bradbury spoke to our senior class around 1970, and we thought he was old THEN! But after chatting with him a bit after his presentation, I was surprised just how sharp and approachable he was. A real gentleman.
I’m very pleased to hear that he’s still swinging away...
We've got too many Internets. We have got to get rid of those machines. We have too many machines now.Sorry Mr Bradbury. IMHO the Inet's a possibly sentinent life form immune to the greatest weapon humanity can use against it - nuclear bombs. A predicament that inspires epic SciFi dystopianism. Skynet anyone?
Well, that’s not Bradbury, that’s Heinlein’s The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress!
Since getting on the “internet” back before there was even a www or web browsers- only a command line interface, called a “shell account” - I’m a bit familiar with the thing.
Prior to the 15th century, populations of the world were almost completely illiterate, except for royals and extremely wealthy, when all “books” (manuscripts actually - “manu” = by hand, “script” = written) had to be painstakingly hand copied by skilled artisans. Few families had the means to hire one of those artisans to scribe any kind of book. Of course, the rich and royal thought this was just hunky dory, as it gave them control over the illiterate populace.
Then along came this upstart in Germany in the 15th century, Gutenberg, whose invention of movable type and the printing press heralded the “modern age” of man, much to the consternation of the aforesaid rich and royals. Now almost every lowly peon could own their own books, and literacy - the province of the rich - was spread far and wide.
Gutenberg’s invention started a tidal wave that swept all of society and forever changed it. The internet is a similar ground breaking and society revolution instrument on par with the printing press. Now those that owned the printing presses are like the previous ‘rich and royals’, whose tenuous grasp of their positions was predicated on the ignorance of their subjects. Now even the lowliest homeless guy can go into a library and access nearly all the world’s (not just their own city’s, county’s, state’s or country’s) data, writings, documents and information. The concept is mind boggling in scope and societal influence when you stop and give it just a little thought.
Few things have changed the entire world population like these two inventions. And the great thing about the internet is that it was designed and built from its very initial concept to be “bomb proof” and unable to be taken down or controlled by any one entity. I know there are “rich and royals” (viz., gov’t bureaucrats and politicians) who are majorly upset at that, but finding that it’s too late to change now.
Once the masses could have their own bibles and thus learn to read them, the elites lost a little control. Now that every common man can almost instantaneously find out the truth about what those “rich and royals” are doing to them, they’ve lost more control. I think we have only just begun to realize just what the internet is and the effect of it on humankind as a whole will be.
Sorry, Ray. I loved reading your books since I was a kid. But I gotta disagree. I think we need all the “internets” we can get. Old Johannes would be proud.
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