Subj : Back again
To   : LEE LOFASO
From : RICHARD M. MEIC
Date : Sat Jul 14 2001 01:08 pm

-> RMM>There is a lot of philosophy to be found in fiction literature.  I
-> RMM>challenge everyone (you, John and the lurkers) to identify the
-> originator RMM>of the following quote:
-> 
-> RMM>"We are the universe attempting to discover itself."
-> 
-> Pogo: "We have met the enemy and he is us."
-> [Source: Earth Day 1971 Pogo strip cartoon]

Not the quote I intended but I can play with this.  Now are you certain 
that your quote originated in the Pogo strip and was not cannibolized from 
something another had said?  I need to be sure of this.

-> RMM>Or words to that effect.  The meaning is what is important.
-> 
-> Walt Kelly had a very deep concern for the environment, as his Pogo
-> strip showed throughout it's syndication.  

Interesting that environmentalism has become such a fad, though that a 
comic strip can hit it big right off.  You state that the Pogo strip had 
shown its environmental leanings throughout syndication, I suspect that 
the author used environmentalism to sell the Pogo strip.

-> But he did not create his
-> Pogo character as being simply dedicated to one particular issue.
-> That is why Pogo's "We have met the enemy and he is us" is so much
-> more far-reaching.

But in the 70's environmentalism was a pretty darn good way of selling a 
product.  Still is, actually... though people are just now becoming a 
little more wary.

-> Example:
-> 
-> INDIVIDUAL: "We have met the enemy and he is us."

"I have met the enemy and he is me."

-> COLLECTIVE: Recognition that the enemy is indeed us, whom we have
-> met so many times in so very many places.

"We have met the enemy and he is us."

-> DISCIPLINE: Recognition of the enemy as ourselves as the conceptual
-> foundation for balanced and adequate progress towards creating a free,
-> just and peaceful world.

"We have met the enemy and he is under control."

-> ROLE: Recognition of the enemy as ourselves being the psychological
-> foundation for balanced and adequate progress towards creating a free,
-> peaceful and fulfilling personal life.

"We are the enemy."

-> One can extrapolate on those themes and develop a working philosophy
-> based on the world of Pogo and his friends.  

Let me know how far you get.  :o)
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