Comments for Stocksplosion - Kunstler at http://atlanticfreepress.com , comment 1 to 3 out of 3 comments http://atlanticfreepress.com Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:15:00 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/1434-stocksplosion-kunstler.html#comment-1985 Hey, Mr. Kunstler! Regarding your lament about Wall Street being in denial -- author Tom Robbins explains it all in his novel "Villa Incognito," which features a character named Stubblefield. On page 141, Stubblefield cuts loose: "Dickie and Dern looked at Stubblefield. It was his turn, and they expected nothing less than a torrent of verbiage from the man who frequently spoke as if his brain was a rodeo champion and his tongue a bucking bronco. To their surprise, Stubblefield merely shook his large, voluptuous head and mumbled something. They thought they heard him say, "Vine ripe tomatoes.” "What was that?" In Dickie's mind there was a rush of images: Wonder Bread and Best Foods mayonnaise. Was Stubblefield dreaming of those fine things, as well? "Vine ripe tomatoes." He pronounced it more clearly. "You'll see that sign - which, grammatically, ought to say ‘vine-ripened’ - in every produce department in every supermarket in America. You'll see it in the winter when the vines are under a foot of snow. Yet even in July and August, the tomatoes in the bin aren't really ripe. They're pinkish and hard and bereft of flavor. Not only did they not ripen on the vine, they’ve never ripened at all. But does anybody object? Does anybody shout, ‘Who are you kidding - these fucking tasteless tomatoes were picked when they were green!'? Or do they rip their menu in half when it says 'farm fresh eggs,' knowing, as even the dimmest ignoramus must, that the eggs in that restaurant have been in cold storage for weeks and that they've never been anywhere near an actual farm? A country that practices and condones such blatant, systematic fakery is a country capable of any thing - even of nominating Henry Kissinger for the Nobel Peace Prize.” He sighed, and it was a thick, wet sigh. "Those who willingly accept being conned are as corrupt as those who con them. Umm. Yes. Just as my wife was as culpable as I when I mouthed my counterfeit vows. She was my accomplice.” I've never heard our United States of America explained more rationally than that. "Thanks" for your good column and "Yer welcome" for this high-class, literary response. 8-) Peaches are my personal pet peeve. I believe a feller could chain a California peach to the bumper of a truck and drag that peach behind the truck from Fresno to New York City, and that peach would arrive in pristine condition. The log chain would be worn out, but the peach would be unscathed. Jimmy Montague - a guest Thu, 26 Apr 2007 16:39:12 +0100 http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/1434-stocksplosion-kunstler.html#comment-1958 I have to agree with you there. Citing the VT tragedy as evidence of Wall Street's detachment from reality wasn't a very good example. There are plenty of other points that could be made that indicate that the free market is pulling us blindly over a cliff and has little regard for the crises we face. The rest of the article is essentially on target: people just can't seem to even conceptualize the idea that our infinitely expanding consumption economy could ever run up against any limitations. - a guest Tue, 24 Apr 2007 23:46:17 +0100 http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/1434-stocksplosion-kunstler.html#comment-1957 Why in the world should the stock market respond to the horrible tragedy at Virginia Tech? The stock market is a business entity, not a social one. It's incredibly distasteful, and more than a little intellectually dishonest, to use that massacre to make a cheap point about economics. Or is the writer still upset that his predictions of the DOW dropping to 4,000 two years running never came true? - a guest Tue, 24 Apr 2007 15:39:41 +0100