"I must find o ut how to live in a lonely crowd; I must keep an eye on values, see the crowd as a whole and seek to understand it."
Apparently I wrote that, back in 1963. He quotes me in a 5-page letter (keep in mind, these are all actual letters written in longhand with pen and ink - that's how old I am!).
This from Google (a wikipedia page):
The Lonely Crowd, a 1950 sociological analysis by David Riesman, along with Nathan Glazer and Raul Denney. It is considered a landmark study of American character.[1
There's more. Google it yourself. It was de rigeur reading in those days.
His thinking is going deeper: "I wonder if I don't feel sometimes that I am just as bad, in a way, as those people who disgust me with their apathy, indifference, and false securities. Now, if I do nothing I am just as bad. But if I take on some additional worthwhile activities, which are instrumental in bettering myself and allows me to progress, then I can truthfully say I am better than these and am also doing my part for the betterment of my world."
So he is comparing himself to these others he despises and wishes to have no part of them. I am certain I was doing much the same. It took me years to rejoice in being part of them. And still...what of the "other" in myself do I still deny? As for doing my part for the betterment of my world...was that the inspiration for my deciding much the same thing several years later? And what "worthwhile activities" are these? Reading "The Lonely Crowd." Seeing "Days of Wine and Roses?" Listening to jazz? The civil rights movement is a mere blip on the horizon now, and Viet Nam is where?
The end of this letter was a bit of a shock to me, since as I said, I do not remember doing any drugs at all in those days and this man would be the last in the world I would suspect of encouraging anything like that. And yet, apparently I had been feeling poorly...
"Go see the doctor. And while you're there, you might ask him for some of those capsules you asked me to send you. Tell him you need pills to help you stay awake upon arising and don't let him give you vitamins and those weak little pills which only work for about 2 or 3 hours. Ask for Denzedrine or if you can, Benzedrine."
Good god on a bicycle. How "Valley of the Dolls" of him. (Google that, kids!)
Apparently I wrote that, back in 1963. He quotes me in a 5-page letter (keep in mind, these are all actual letters written in longhand with pen and ink - that's how old I am!).
This from Google (a wikipedia page):
The Lonely Crowd, a 1950 sociological analysis by David Riesman, along with Nathan Glazer and Raul Denney. It is considered a landmark study of American character.[1
There's more. Google it yourself. It was de rigeur reading in those days.
His thinking is going deeper: "I wonder if I don't feel sometimes that I am just as bad, in a way, as those people who disgust me with their apathy, indifference, and false securities. Now, if I do nothing I am just as bad. But if I take on some additional worthwhile activities, which are instrumental in bettering myself and allows me to progress, then I can truthfully say I am better than these and am also doing my part for the betterment of my world."
So he is comparing himself to these others he despises and wishes to have no part of them. I am certain I was doing much the same. It took me years to rejoice in being part of them. And still...what of the "other" in myself do I still deny? As for doing my part for the betterment of my world...was that the inspiration for my deciding much the same thing several years later? And what "worthwhile activities" are these? Reading "The Lonely Crowd." Seeing "Days of Wine and Roses?" Listening to jazz? The civil rights movement is a mere blip on the horizon now, and Viet Nam is where?
The end of this letter was a bit of a shock to me, since as I said, I do not remember doing any drugs at all in those days and this man would be the last in the world I would suspect of encouraging anything like that. And yet, apparently I had been feeling poorly...
"Go see the doctor. And while you're there, you might ask him for some of those capsules you asked me to send you. Tell him you need pills to help you stay awake upon arising and don't let him give you vitamins and those weak little pills which only work for about 2 or 3 hours. Ask for Denzedrine or if you can, Benzedrine."
Good god on a bicycle. How "Valley of the Dolls" of him. (Google that, kids!)
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