Fahrenheit 451 to Gold. Connection Somewhere
"Wells would have had man usurp the throne of God. Bradbury's hope is that man will let God work through him; it is not the dead universe which is divine, but 'God fleshing himself in sentience'--the living God making Himself felt through energies." That was my first introduction to the work of Ray Bradbury. It's from Russell Kirk's excellent Enemies of the Permanent Things. If you want to read perhaps the best essay ever about Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, go here. Excerpt: "Bradbury's hedonistic dark future has come to pass. His worst fears have been realized. The American public has willingly chosen to be distracted and entertained by electronic gadgets 24 hours per day. Today, reading books is for old fogies. Most people think Bradbury's novel was a warning about censorship. It was not. It was a warning about TV and radio turning the minds of Americans to mush." * * * * * * * Some interesting stats from the same article (though the essayist provides no links to verify them):
* 33% of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
* 42% of college graduates never read another book after college.
* 80% of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.
* 70% of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
* 57% of new books are not read to completion.
* Each day in the U.S., people spend on average 4.7 hours watching TV, 3 hours listening to the radio and 14 minutes reading magazines.
* The projected average number of hours an individual (12 and older) will spend watching television this year is 1,750.
* In a 65-year life, the average person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube.
* Percentage of Americans who can name The Three Stooges ”“ 59%
* Percentage who can name at least three justices of the U.S. Supreme Court ”“ 17%
Man, I don't know if the pro-gold articles are trying to out-do one another in shrillness or things are getting really bad for fiat currencies . . . or maybe both. One of the more noteworthy pro-gold essays I've read this year. Excerpt at conclusion: "The paper money 'price' of Gold will last as long as the attempt to make paper money “work” lasts. In the end, Gold will no longer have a 'price' because it has reverted to its role as MONEY. Whenever and wherever that happens, that nation can return to the production of wealth - rather than 'money.'"
