Culture
Index Entry
J.H. Plumb (professor of history, Cambridge)
in NY.Times Book Review, p.3, 23 Jan'77:
"...Others have been preaching that nothing is
alien to social history whether it be a chair,
a costume, a meal... what counts in human society
is economic organization and political action."
RBF: "Beautiful culture is just hobbling to a beautiful
mind. It is all exactly the reverse from the way Plumb has
it! 'Political action' simply means 'Who is going to survive
in a world of scarcity?'
"Here is where the wonderful British nation got the idea of
the intellectual servant--in service to the state. The
English "pure" scientists are all tied up with the symbols.
The East India company masquerading as the British Empire...
Secure as the Rock of Gibraltar... the Rock of Gibraltar
went out with World War II. Millay said there are no islands
any more. It's the end of sovereignty."
