.. Way And don't you just love THIS: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 11:21:29 (EDT)


. Katie Why premies aren't posting here (IMHO) Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 20:59:56 (EDT)


. PF Re: Why premies aren't posting here (IMHO) Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 22:08:49 (EDT)


. Jim Bullshit, Katie Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 21:42:49 (EDT)


. Jim No, you're right, where ARE the premies? Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 17:17:15 (EDT)


. Isabella You're right. I dont like to talk to you. [nt] Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 19:42:17 (EDT)


. Isabella Re: And don't you just love THIS: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 13:00:18 (EDT)


. Way rephrased for Isabella Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 13:30:38 (EDT)


. Isabella Reply Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 19:35:47 (EDT)


. Jim Revisionist? Did someone say revisionist? Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 21:02:40 (EDT)


. Isabella Re: Revisionist? Did someone say revisionist? Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 22:06:02 (EDT)


. Jim Yeah, but you're not? Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 22:14:18 (EDT)


. Isabella PS Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 19:40:30 (EDT)


. Observe how boring you are (nt) Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 12:24:01 (EDT)

Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 02:34:43 (EDT) From: Perfessor Suchabanana Email: None To: Jim Subject: essay points out flaws of Message:

the essay points out the flaws and abuses of politically/ideologically motivated, revisionist historical methodology: it operates on presuppositions, and is prejudicially deductive and selective, rather than being open-ended, inquisitive and inductive. Ironically, the father of modern social science and the methodology of history as an inductive science and a professional discipline was Leopold von Ranke - a German.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 11:38:15 (EDT) From: Jim Email: None To: Perfessor Suchabanana Subject: What are you talking about? Message:

What 'presuppositions' are you talking about and why are they bad or wrong? And what's this 'prejudicially deductive and selective, rather than being open-ended, inquisitive and inductive' bit mean?

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 12:16:58 (EDT) From: such Email: None To: Jim Subject: read the essay again Message:

it explains some fundamental aspects of inductive vs. deductive historical methodology. i.e. the inaccuracies and pitfalls of agenda-driven, skewered deductive historical revisionism vs. inductive methodology. no time or inclination for pedantic debate today, Jim. I've got a rare sunny weekend to enjoy. you ever study historiography in grad school, btw? suggested authors: Von Ranke, Niebuhr, Macaulay, Carlyle, Jaures, de Coulanges, Mommsen, Turner, bury, Beard, Meinecke, Lord Acton, Huiznga, Clapham, Pokrovsky, Hofstadter, Barzun, Namier I enjoyed that holocaust essay very much. a nice post. I used to teach a class about the holocaust. A survivor of the concentration camps used to come in and do a presentation. She wrote a book called Tapestry of Hope. I couldn't find the book just now in my own library, then remembered I donated it to a school library. The exclusionary revisionism in Japanese textbooks r.e. suppression of any mention of WWII atrocities vs. their championing of Japan's alleged 'liberation' of Asia is particularly alarming. P+L,

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 15:01:34 (EDT) From: BeenThereDoneThat Email: None To: such Subject: Re: read the essay again Message:

When the US decided, in their infinite wisdom, to put US Japanese citizins in concentration camps scattered around the worst geographical parts of these United States, my grandparents stored their neighbor's belongs in their barn, including hoisting a car in the rafters. He and my grandmother took care of their farm along with their own. When they were released, they returned home to a farm and home intact along with their belongings waiting for them. This didn't seem like a terribly significant thing to do, caring for the farm, etc, but this family was greatful forever. It seems most US Japanese returned home to find their homes and business' destroyed. To this day, one of the surviving daughters visits schools with a little photo of said grandparents and their children, telling this tale. Funny how a little common decency can mean so much to another human being. I really thought knowledge allowed this to flourish. That is one reason I am so blown over by this site and the pwk's reaction to it.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 15:49:04 (EDT) From: suchabanana Email: None To: BeenThereDoneThat Subject: 100,000+ loyal Japanese-Americans were interned Message:

in concentration camps in the West during WWII. There was never so much as 1 reported case of wartime sabotage or espionage by any Japanese-American citizen living in the USA. The internment of Japanese-American families was strictly institutionalized racist xenophobia. Conversely, none of the millions of German-American families were interned. And, there were blatant pro-Nazi rallies of the German-American bund prior to Pearl Harbor. Also, dozens of incidents of sabotage and collaboration. r.e. this site and ex-premie.org - lots of premies have come and left da maha cult. others are in bigtime de Nile -- and up the creek without a paddle.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 02:32:42 (EDT) From: Perfessor Suchabanana Email: None To: Jim Subject: essay points out flaws of Message:

[nt]

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 22:00:28 (EDT) From: tetonca Email: and_on_anand@yahoo.com To: All Subject: EPO Conferencing Tools Forum Open Message:

Bud-a-bing, bud-a-boom. I have a Motet conf setup, with limited seating for 40 interested in the conferencing tools project Jim asked me about earlier. We will be guests on someone else's system, so I expect you to be polite. Send mail for details. a0aji

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 09:11:04 (EDT) From: salam Email: None To: tetonca Subject: Re: EPO Conferencing Tools Forum Open Message:

what is the purpose of what you're asking?

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 09:59:02 (EDT) From: a0aji Email: None To: salam Subject: Re: EPO Conferencing Tools Forum Open Message:

what is the purpose of what you're asking? --- It's a conference. The points have been discussed at length, below. Jim marked the thread extensively. Please review those remarks, and let me know what you think! The name of that thread is 'Inquiry: Status on Forum Development?' and it was begun with a date/time stamp of 'Tues, Aug 14, 2001 at 12:05:00 (EDT)'. There's a 'View All' link (or somesuch) which will expose that thread -- this forum only shows 99 messages; the old ones scroll by and you have to use the 'View All' (somesuch!) link to see them.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 10:20:56 (EDT) From: a0aji Email: None To: a0aji Subject: Here's a link, salam Message:

Please follow the link! [ Link to the discussion I mentioned ]

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 07:50:13 (EDT) From: a0aji Email: None To: tetonca Subject: Sign-Up Help Sheet Available - see link Message:

see link [ Sign-Up Help Sheet ]

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 22:08:29 (EDT) From: Selene Email: None To: tetonca Subject: I looked at it Message:

It doesn't allow for threaded views does it? Just asking, I know people differ on how they like to look at msgs. but i prefer threading. I couldn't see an option for a choice.

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 22:22:17 (EDT) From: tetonca Email: None To: Selene Subject: Re: I looked at it Message:

It doesn't allow for threaded views does it? Just asking, I know people differ on how they like to look at msgs. but i prefer threading. I couldn't see an option for a choice. --- In this instance, the social engineering takes precedence. Threaded leads to certain social problems, because by its very nature it is non-sequential. So, no: no good linear system offers threading, since that defeats its primary purpose. Threaded corresponds to distributed networks like usenet, where there is no central database to coordinate by topic within a Newsgroup. Linear corresponds with central networks, where a database coordinates everyone's participation and orders the messages so that everyone sees the same sequence of messages -- this is considered essential to the social engineering aspect, as it promotes understanding through a shared viewpoint.

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 22:56:25 (EDT) From: Selene Email: None To: tetonca Subject: yes I hear this all the time :) Message:

Which is why we have a Linear system at work. So I do know your argument and have had to let the deans who feel this way govern the conf system we run. IMO we aren't conversing naturallly anyway and threading helps things be flexible yet easy to follow. But that's life, we can't always agree. If people decide they like this format better that's fine. It will be interesting to see how the main topics are decided upon and kept to a limit.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 07:53:21 (EDT) From: a0aji Email: None To: Selene Subject: Re: yes I hear this all the time :) Message:

In my opinion, Motet is Good Enough, and hotboards .. isn't. I have Motet and Yapp available to me; they're pretty good tools. I also like Citadel/UX.

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 22:07:42 (EDT) From: tetonca Email: None To: tetonca Subject: Re: EPO Conferencing Tools Forum Open Message:

I'll be back in the morning -- goodnight!

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 22:32:18 (EDT) From: a0aji Email: None To: tetonca Subject: goodnight zZZZ Message:

I'll be back in the morning -- goodnight! --- See you in the morning. a0aji (tetonca) is offline.

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 22:02:27 (EDT) From: Jim Email: None To: tetonca Subject: Can we bring some token premies? Message:

What's the fun of playing pacman if there's nothing to eat? I know, I know. I'm going to report myself to the Human Rights Tribunal in the morning.

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 23:59:36 (EDT) From: such Email: None To: Jim Subject: no free munchkins? ferGit it! hahaha [nt] Message:

[nt]

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 22:15:54 (EDT) From: tetonca Email: and_on_anand@yahoo.com To: Jim Subject: Re: Can we bring some token premies? Message:

What's the fun of playing pacman if there's nothing to eat? I know, I know. I'm going to report myself to the Human Rights Tribunal in the morning. --- There's room. Anyone who isn't polite (who causes me embarassment with my betters) gets to walk the plank. But bicker all you want, inside the conference -- it is private. My ISP just made me walk the plank! (my modem dropped the carrier). There is a panel discussion feature I'd forgotten about -- of the 40 who are members, 10 of them (for instance) could be authorized to post, and the other 30 would be forced to watch in silence -- they'd have read-only access. It looks like that can be enforced per-topic, as well as throughout the entire conference. Interesting tool; we used it on another system to do the Board meetings 'in the public eye' -- the other Members got to watch but could not post. Standard Motet tool; nothing special there. I'm going to bed *real* soon so anyone who can't wait 8 hours better mail *now*. out. -- tetonca a0aji

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 22:24:48 (EDT) From: Dermot Email: None To: tetonca Subject: 40 only ? Message:

That'll mean some people left out of the equation .......and as I'll be away for a little while .....I'll return here only to find CATWEASLE or someone !!!!! :)

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 22:29:04 (EDT) From: a0aji Email: None To: Dermot Subject: Re: 40 only ? Message:

That'll mean some people left out of the equation .......and as I'll be away for a little while .....I'll return here only to find CATWEASLE or someone !!!!! :) --- It's just a planning thing. It isn't what we're looking for; it's what we're going to use, to look for it. ;) Don't worry -- finding 40 people willing to contribute will be a tough sell.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 03:07:16 (EDT) From: pEG Email: None To: a0aji Subject: Re: 40 only ? HELP! Message:

My paranoid ex-cult reaction system has moved into action. ONLY 4O.... tHAT CERTAINLY WON'T MAKE ROOM FOR ME the occaisional slightly boring and very naive new ex ( I'm getting pretty sure about this)premie. What will I do? stay here and not read the clever and funny and articulate posts you old timers send miss seeing the next episodes of Jim vs premiedom or will this place disappear completely and I'll be left with only waffle and battle over on LG or will i somehow find my way into the fabulous 40 but only be able to listen and not post???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!WHAAAAT OR WILL I EVEN Be one of the 40 be able to post but not hear from anyone new unless someone leaves. And who are these people I'll have to be polite to to join in? Will I get to meet them or will they be some mysterious and all knowing entity i give my power away to? OK thats out now.as someone totally new to not only the 'real world' but also the internet that is what I understood by this new posting idea. If any of the above are true I personally don't really fancy it. PS to Jim re snidey remark that 'just popped out' above. sorry i think I'm more envious than anything. I am just having my first flush of regret and blame about 29 years of my life and my rusty brain etc. feeling rather stupid and envying the clever ones.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 09:46:34 (EDT) From: David Email: sirdavid12@hotmail.com To: pEG Subject: This Forum 6 Message:

This place, Forum 6, will remain here until another viable main ex-premie forum has been established which is not limited to 40 people and has free access to all. I wouldn't worry. The new forum might just be a pipe dream. It might not ever happen. I can't see people setting up an incorporated company just in order to have an online forum!

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 10:41:44 (EDT) From: a0aji Email: None To: David Subject: Re: This Forum 6 Message:

This place, Forum 6, will remain here until another viable main ex-premie forum has been established which is not limited to 40 people and has free access to all. I wouldn't worry. The new forum might just be a pipe dream. It might not ever happen. I can't see people setting up an incorporated company just in order to have an online forum! --- To be fair, you encouraged the idea of an alternative, Dave. I'm trying to interest others in just that. And to be fair, it will take a lot of effort to replace what we have now, but I'm fairly optimistic it can be done and people would participate -- but I'm not certain that's so. To reiterate, the 40-seater is just a planning conference, and a free look at Motet, using our own posts and voices, rather than the generic demonstration found at www.motet.com. By the way, Motet does have a bongo filter, so we even have room for bongos! I can say 'we' because two people have sent e-mail indicating *voluntary* interest, which is the cat's meow, as far as I'm concerned. I do not expect to fill 40 seats. I expect maybe 12 people will login, if that. There is room for 40; any more than 40 would cost me more than the initial $60 I spent out of my own pocket! If you want a seat, earlier is better -- better for me, anyway. I have to be available for the first part (signing you up) but I don't have to be around for every discussion -- there's no f*ckin' way I'd do this if that were required! I think it'll take at least three months to gain enough of a group to get a conversation going there, to discuss this in much detail. A lot of people who will show interest don't read this Hotboards forum constantly; I'm one of them. ;) Summer isn't the best time for this, either. Winter works better, because people spend more time indoors. What we'd be planning (for something long-term which I *cannot* afford to do out-of-pocket!) would be an *unlimited* number of accounts; I would plan for at least 1500 people lurking, and a few hundred posting (not all at once; perhaps 60-90 in any given month). There would be no entry fee; it would run on some form of voluntary contribution. The public would not have to pay, to see.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 10:59:47 (EDT) From: Sir Dave Email: None To: a0aji Subject: Re: This Forum 6 Message:

I toyed with the idea of making this forum password protected, wherein people would sign up (to a robot) which would email them their unique password within seconds but layed it to rest after talking to a few other people about it. I think there may be a need for such a forum but I don't know if it need be the main ex-premie forum, which by it's nature is a bit of a battle ground. If a nuicance poster was banned, which is easily done by deleting his/her account, they can easily set up a new account using a new Hotmail address. This forum has around 3-400 visitors per day (some are the same people visiting more than once) and about 5,000 page views per day. It's costing about $60 per month. It does the job for the time being. If you do set up an alternative, I'd poll people's views on the need to sign up to read or post.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 11:38:00 (EDT) From: a0aji Email: None To: Sir Dave Subject: Re: This Forum 6 Message:

I toyed with the idea of making this forum password protected, wherein people would sign up (to a robot) which would email them their unique password within seconds but layed it to rest after talking to a few other people about it. I think there may be a need for such a forum but I don't know if it need be the main ex-premie forum, which by it's nature is a bit of a battle ground. If a nuicance poster was banned, which is easily done by deleting his/her account, they can easily set up a new account using a new Hotmail address. This forum has around 3-400 visitors per day (some are the same people visiting more than once) and about 5,000 page views per day. It's costing about $60 per month. It does the job for the time being. If you do set up an alternative, I'd poll people's views on the need to sign up to read or post. --- I hear you -- and thanks. I think the problem is, unless you have the resources to leverage someone authoring a custom program that does just what you want it to do, you have to settle for *someone's* vision of what a forum should look like -- to use an off-the-shelf product. They're getting better, but slowly. Motet is definitely passworded; and that's what I've used to set up the discussion forum (I've named it EPO: Conference Tools). I think people around here are understandably nervous about logging into any system; but I think also that having a passworded system addresses some things that can't be addressed with any currently-affordable technology. Most 'solutions' are based on the fact that web browsers are widely deployed to the populace, already. In the old days (of BBS systems, which I've been involved in since 1985) there was sometimes a special program the participants had to download onto their own machine, to join the discussion forum. This is called a 'client'. Your web browser is such a client. One of the reasons Hotboards is (in my opinion) so incredibly clumsy, is it relies on least-common-denominator principles. It makes no attempt to elevate the discussion. It is hardly a wonder when the discussion turns mean, or when it attracts participants willing to endure feelings of meanness, in an ongoing venture. That's one of the reasons I can't just STFU and 'relax' -- I get really angry when someone commands 'Relax!' You gotta wonder. I need a board that promotes civility; and my experience suggests the software has *everything* to do with that: it is, in a word, programming! It's social programming. The board determines a great many things about how we interact with one another. Some of those things, there's just no getting around them. For me, the delay -- the time investment -- in full participation, is quite prohibitive. There's something to be said for self-imposed limits to participation, but I think making the software (in essence) *deliberately* slower is no answer, since one may suppose the person participating in any system can -- by sheer will -- 'slow down' their own participation. Maybe that's a weak argument.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 09:54:32 (EDT) From: Mercedes Email: None To: David Subject: Re: This Forum 6 Message:

Thank you David, I really couldn't understand what they were talking about. I don't wish to have to sign up for anything really. Thanks for your efforts, Mercedes

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 07:47:00 (EDT) From: a0aji Email: None To: pEG Subject: Re: 40 only ? HELP! Message:

My paranoid ex-cult reaction system has moved into action. ONLY 4O.... tHAT CERTAINLY WON'T MAKE ROOM FOR ME the occaisional slightly boring and very naive new ex ( I'm getting pretty sure about this)premie. What will I do? stay here and not read the clever and funny and articulate posts you old timers send miss seeing the next episodes of Jim vs premiedom or will this place disappear completely and I'll be left with only waffle and battle over on LG or will i somehow find my way into the fabulous 40 but only be able to listen and not post???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!WHAAAAT OR WILL I EVEN Be one of the 40 be able to post but not hear from anyone new unless someone leaves. And who are these people I'll have to be polite to to join in? Will I get to meet them or will they be some mysterious and all knowing entity i give my power away to? OK thats out now.as someone totally new to not only the 'real world' but also the internet that is what I understood by this new posting idea. If any of the above are true I personally don't really fancy it. PS to Jim re snidey remark that 'just popped out' above. sorry i think I'm more envious than anything. I am just having my first flush of regret and blame about 29 years of my life and my rusty brain etc. feeling rather stupid and envying the clever ones. --- Um, this is coming out of my own pocket and isn't meant to be a production system. I can't afford to have dental work done. Where will the $60 come from? The limit is 40; it's a bargain (that $60 is good for a year). Instead of worrying, sign up and show an interest! [ sign up help sheet ]

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 21:44:48 (EDT) From: Forum God +) Email: None To: All Subject: From the Anything Goes forum Message:

Saucy from next week, f6 will be monitored for a while by an anti-terrorist agency. I know because they asked me for the url. And no, this is not a joke. Forum Duck Well it's already being monitored by the FBI, CIA, KGB, Interpol, Scotland Yard and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II - another one won't make any difference. Saucy it's being done on behalf of EV. Someone else Salam, what group approached you? Does this group have ties to Deltek or ADVC? Sir Dave Surely, Forum 6 itself would be the place to post the info. Saucy I can't say the name of the group at the moment. But EV is accusing some exes of trying to blow up amaroo, am one of them. I did not put this on f6 because am a bit, what do you call it, apprehensive as I had one of the people calling on me.

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 23:56:23 (EDT) From: such Email: None To: Forum God +) Subject: EV misinformation/smear campaign Message:

why would anyone with a brain want to blow up Amaroo -- except maha himself and his org -- for the insurance?!! Amaroo's a cult money loser -- maybe they're trying this trick out before they do an arson scam -- it's an old mafia godfather trick. I wouldn't put anything past the cult, at this point. Hey, they tried assassination, they've engaged in long-time bigtime non-profit org money diversions, they lie pathologically about historical facts, they committed perjury on what should have been the maha's own vehicular manslaughter report in India. So, what else is new...

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 04:27:19 (EDT) From: Peg Email: None To: such Subject: Peg to such Message:

when? who? why? I didn't know about that.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 11:50:04 (EDT) From: such Email: None To: Peg Subject: read the documentation at ex-premie.org Message:

dettmers donner Pat Halley the divine toys and money trail

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 21:47:37 (EDT) From: Barry! From A.G.! Email: None To: Forum God +) Subject: I beat ya to it F-god! Check out.... Message:

The Hmmmmmmmmm? post!

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 21:50:33 (EDT) From: Sir Dave Email: None To: Barry! From A.G.! Subject: Great minds... [nt] Message:

[nt]

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 21:46:48 (EDT) From: Jim Email: None To: Forum God +) Subject: Does he mean 'accusing'? Message:

Salam, If you're reading this, if you like, email me: jamesheller@home.com I'd like to talk with you about this. It sounds absurd but, if you say so ...

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 21:50:56 (EDT) From: Barry Email: None To: Jim Subject: Jim? Message:

Hey that cheesy poem or chant or what-ever is hillarious! Is that real? Do premies actually natter that tripe?

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 21:49:48 (EDT) From: Forum God +) Email: None To: Jim Subject: Yes, I just corrected that error [nt] Message:

[nt]

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 22:16:57 (EDT) From: Dermot Email: None To: Forum God +) Subject: Hey Sir Dave...(ot) Message:

How the fuck do you italicise your text????? and how the fuck did you get instant play of 'somewhere over the rainbow' (hahahah and very apt choice of music too I might add ) over on LG? Cheers Dermot ps .....this ps is just added as I'm experimenting with the edit function!!

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 04:08:31 (EDT) From: Sir Dave Email: None To: Dermot Subject: This is how it's done Message:

If you do a no text post here, by just writing a title and choosing the textless message option, then the title comes out in italics. Embedding a sound file into a post is easy. Read the quoted message on the message that has the sounds and at the end of my message (on LG) you will see the HTML code I've used to embed the sound file.

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 23:35:02 (EDT) From: [Blank] Email: None To: Dermot Subject: Re: Hey Sir Dave...(ot) Message:

type < I > and you text, and remember to type < /I > at the end of your text. like this Charles Sucks

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 23:46:14 (EDT) From: Dermot Email: None To: [Blank] Subject: Re: Hey Sir Dave...(ot) Message:

Duhh ...yeah of course .....but it in the 'Hotboard Help' section it only mentions changing size and/or colour of text so I figured folks were somehow using their word processor or browser to italicise. I knew the html italics all along. Dumbo huh? Cheers anyway Dermot Now it's time for BED GLORIOUS BED AT NEARLY 5AM !!!!!!

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 21:43:31 (EDT) From: BeenThereDoneThat Email: None To: All Subject: Event with M Message:

Apparently this past Sunday there was an event with Maharaji for the Hindi premies only. It was held in the LA area. They sang Arti and had darshan. Some really ticked off white premies.... The Hindi community was asked to raise lots and lots of money for the Visions bill for satellite broadcasts in India. They have not been able to pay the bill. Of course, no one has actually seen the bill.....

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 07:35:28 (EDT) From: jondon Email: None To: BeenThereDoneThat Subject: Re: Event with M Message:

This could be true. I noticed the price of slushies down at the local 7-11 here in LA just doubled, and hotel prices in the area are up from last month when I was visiting.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 05:34:29 (EDT) From: BeenThereDoneThat Email: None To: BeenThereDoneThat Subject: Re: Event with M Message:

M's 'rational' was that he could brush up on his Hindi and the premies in India could see video's with him speaking in Hindi-not dubbed. Evidently they are lacking in these videos. So why doesn't he speak in Hindi and make everyone else listen to translation? The question of the day is, will it be translated into English without editing for English pwk's? Would the English pwk's disturb 'the force' in the hall or something?

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 01:43:37 (EDT) From: Mercedes Email: None To: BeenThereDoneThat Subject: Re: Event with M Message:

Apparently this past Sunday there was an event with Maharaji for the Hindi premies only. It was held in the LA area. They sang Arti and had darshan. Some really ticked off white premies.... --- Wow this tells me more and more that his fattiness is addicted to being worshiped, hindi premies are the excuse, he really needs that fix. Disgusting!!!

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 23:49:35 (EDT) From: such Email: None To: BeenThereDoneThat Subject: i.e. da cult caste system [nt] Message:

[nt]

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 21:41:56 (EDT) From: Hmmmmmmm? Email: None To: All Subject: Hmmmmmmmm? Message:

http://www.hotboards.com/plus/plus.mirage?who=forumlite&id=11177.044616169806 [ http://www.hotboards.com/plus/plus.mirage?who=forumlite&id=11177.044616169806 ]

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 17:04:05 (EDT) From: Jim Email: None To: All Subject: More unintentional premie humour Message:

It doesn't matter If you are the king of heaven or even the king of the earth, or ruler of the salty oceans it doesn't matter. For, because of you, I am saved. Because of you, a sweet song rises, like a wanderer, from my heart clearing the clouds and paving a way for you. For this reason I feel your love blessing me. Your love reaches out to me and brings us together. Come to my side, O my beloved. Like the Wizard of Oz you know well how to open hearts so that the music of true love may play. From Dominga Navarro in Caracas Excuse me, but wasn't the Wizard of Oz a fraud?

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 21:45:12 (EDT) From: Barry Email: None To: Jim Subject: To bad the carpenters broke up! Message:

That could have been thier biggest hit!

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 23:49:15 (EDT) From: Francesca :C) Email: None To: Barry Subject: Barry too funny! LOLOLOLsss [nt] Message:

[nt]

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 21:51:06 (EDT) From: Jim Email: None To: Barry Subject: Guess what? OT Message:

Nate just called. His brother's getting married in Nanaimo on the 25th of this month and he'll be sticking around for a few days after. I told him you were coming to town two weeks later and asked him to see if he could stay long enough so we could all hookup. He said he'd try. Meanwhile, I think Laurie might want you guys to take Boz back with you. I don't know, he's kind of settled in but it's pretty much at Mocha's expense, if you can imagine. The rest -- we really should be emailing .....

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 00:50:22 (EDT) From: Barry Email: None To: Jim Subject: Cool Jim! Awsome! I'll e-mail!(nt) Message:

sss

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 23:46:42 (EDT) From: such Email: None To: Jim Subject: say hi to Diana Krall Message:

and her family in Nanaimo

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 21:05:23 (EDT) From: Abi Email: None To: Jim Subject: Re: More unintentional premie humour Message:

I remember once we all went off to a festival in Rome via coach from Conrwall and on the way we all chanted 'we're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz, because, because, because, because... of the wonderful things he does!!' (repeat fifty million times). God only knows what the coach driver thought. And yes, it did strike me at the time that the Wizard was a fraud and why was it that all the love-sick premies were singing this song. I think everyone was so infantalised by the cult they they all became childlike and unthinking and innocent and ... brainwashed.

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 19:27:48 (EDT) From: Perfessor J. Suchabanana Email: None To: Jim Subject: story behind da Wizard of Oz Message:

Actually, 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' is an allegory. It was originally written by Frank L. Baum [1856-1919] in 1900. Baum was a Populist journalist who was sympathetic to the plight of American farmers, factory workers, and veterans in their stuggles with Wall St. banks and corporations, the railroads, and the federal govt. Accordingly, Oz is Washington DC, and the farmers [i.e. scarecrow], factory workers [tinman], veterans [lion], and naive citizen Dorothy from Kansas follow the yellow brick road of the establishment Gold Standard [which is also oppressing them], as they all go to the great city to meet with the President - who turns out to be an incomptent fraud in dealing with the wicked witch of Wall St. [Hetty Green] and her associates and minions. The book was written after 3 decades of labor strife and government suppression of unions/strikes, veterans being stiffed on their bonuses and pensions, and farmers going bankrupt because of railroad and bank monopoly practices and hard cash via the Gold Standard. Progressives, farmers, and the Populist Party supported government regulation of railroads, big corporations, and banks, interstate commerce practices, a Silver standard for specie, fair labor practices and better working conditions, etc. The Gay 90s of the 19th century [unlike the Gay 1990s] was actually a period beset with economic Panics [aka Depressions]. Baum's book was so successful that he wrote 13 more books in the Oz series. Ever since a movie was made in 1938 featuring Judy Garland et al, the much-loved movie has essentially relegated relegated the socio-political allegory to a children's fairy tale. Peace and lentils,

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 15:05:52 (EDT) From: suchabanana Email: None To: Perfessor J. Suchabanana Subject: Baum probably preferred the term 'Progressive' Message:

over 'populist'. He became disillusioned with politics. The wizard of Oz is rife with socio-political allegory, satire [some self-deprecating], and of course childlike fantasy. r.e. Oz [silver and gold were weighed per oz.] haha He also worked in carnivals/circus and in sales in the Midwest and Great Plains states -- note the traveling patent medicine salesman with the wagon in Kansas (appearing before Dorothy's dream, after the great cyclone [like the one that hit Aberdeen, SD, where Baum had operated a failing farm town newspaper]) It is interesting to note that he also wrote a prose companion to Mother Goose rhymes -- some of those English rhymes have long been held to be satires, too. His second Oz book not so subtly satirizes the suffragette and feminist movement[s]. His wife's family included prominent feminist leaders. Also, Baum was into occultism and thesosophy! He later moved to Hollywood, California, where he retired comfortably on his estate!

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 14:21:34 (EDT) From: such Email: None To: Perfessor J. Suchabanana Subject: lion may also represent W.J.Bryan [nt] Message:

'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has provided unknowing generations with a gentle and friendly Midwestern critique of the Populist rationale on these very same grounds. Led by naive innocence and protected by good will, the farmer, the laborer and the politician approach the mystic holder of national power to ask for personal fulfillment. Their desires, as well as the Wizard's cleverness in answering them, are all self-delusion. Each of these characters carries within him the solution to his own problem, were he only to view himself objectively. The fearsome Wizard turns out to be nothing more than a common man, capable of shrewd but mundane answers to these self-induced needs. Like any good politician he gives the people what they want. Throughout the story Baum poses a central thought; the [American] desire for symbols of fulfillment is illusory. Real needs lie elsewhere.' (excerpt, Littlefield article)

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 14:19:00 (EDT) From: such Email: None To: Perfessor J. Suchabanana Subject: 'Oh, Aunt Em. I'm so glad to be at home again!' Message:

'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has provided unknowing generations with a gentle and friendly Midwestern critique of the Populist rationale on these very same grounds. Led by naive innocence and protected by good will, the farmer, the laborer and the politician approach the mystic holder of national power to ask for personal fulfillment. Their desires, as well as the Wizard's cleverness in answering them, are all self-delusion. Each of these characters carries within him the solution to his own problem, were he only to view himself objectively. The fearsome Wizard turns out to be nothing more than a common man, capable of shrewd but mundane answers to these self-induced needs. Like any good politician he gives the people what they want. Throughout the story Baum poses a central thought; the [American] desire for symbols of fulfillment is illusory. Real needs lie elsewhere.' (excerpt, Littlefield article)

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 13:28:46 (EDT) From: Francesca :C) Email: None To: Perfessor J. Suchabanana Subject: And Dorothy had to WAKE UP from the dream Message:

. . . in order to get back home to Kansas. Pay no attention to that Rat behind the curtain. And wake up and see all the faces of your friends and family surrounding you -- the ones who are here to love you in this life you have! That's the message of the Judy Garland version, eh? Great background, Prof. Such! All the best, Francesca

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 00:15:42 (EDT) From: BeenThereDoneThat Email: None To: Perfessor J. Suchabanana Subject: Re: story behind da Wizard of Oz Message:

DANG!!!!! You're one smart cookie. Where do I sign up for history 101 with the great Perfessor Suchabanana???

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 01:48:15 (EDT) From: such Email: None To: BeenThereDoneThat Subject: Re:tired Message:

DANG!!!!! You're one smart cookie. Where do I sign up for history 101 with the great Perfessor Suchabanana??? --- i.e. retired. also, am tired of dat other wizard of oz [i.e. you-know-who] Actually, I am practically a recluse these days, 'cept for my music and writing projects, + some internet postings. Peace and lentils,

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 08:59:50 (EDT) From: BeenThereDoneThat Email: None To: such Subject: Re: Re:tired Message:

Well,phoooey.....You, Perfessor, are the sort of teacher I could have listened to all day. You are the kind of teacher I hope my kids are fortunate enough to have for at least one class each year.....Please reconsider. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, donchya know!!!!!!

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 11:41:56 (EDT) From: such Email: None To: BeenThereDoneThat Subject: got tired of p.c. + dumbed-down curriculum Message:

+ zippo support for faculty from benign administrators. talk about revisionism -- in the name of misguided so-called 'political correctness', many facts are being distorted, negated and/or manipulated by revisionists in social sciences. then there is pressure from politically-driven curriculum committees to use only certain texts for undergraduate core classes. I could elaborate at length on the gross inaccuracies, skewered subjectivity, and rife political prejudices and selectivity injected into texts we had to use, but it would probably wreck my weekend. I was trained in historiography and inductive scientific approaches to history. Prior to the 19th century, history was essentially the province of chroniclers -- of the powers-that-be. Today, people with pronounced p.c. axes to grind have laid siege and stormed the ivy-mantled towers of academia, generating curriculum and approaches designed to serve their political agendas. Similarly, in hiring procedures and tenure reviews, as well as administrative appointments. while I do hope that I made a positive contribution in some people's lives and their education, I prefer to write independently nowadays, compose and record music, and enjoy the blessings of Nature. At least, now I don't have deans telling me to give Cs to football players who flunked the exams and never came to class, or radical gender feminist colleagues who depict practically every male figure in history as a chauvinist pig sexual exploiter/oppressor. [We had many complaints from students about the p.c. agenda being rammed down their throats by extremist instructors (i.e. from da p.c. cult -- haha)] Upon occasion, I like to watch that tele show, Politically Incorrect, just for kicks. Thanks.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 13:32:17 (EDT) From: Francesca :C) Email: None To: such Subject: And thank you prof. such Message:

Your political uncorrectness and views are always welcome here. As well as your wild sense of humor and witticisms, of course. Bests, Francesca

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 21:49:59 (EDT) From: Jerry Email: None To: Perfessor J. Suchabanana Subject: Are you shittin' me? Message:

That's all very interesting... if it's true. But who was the Good Witch, eh? What was her name, Wendy I think it was? And what did the ruby shoes stand for, not to mention Toto. What was he all about, smart guy? And Auntie May? Who was she? I think I see some loopholes in the theory, perfesser. Ever since a movie was made in 1938 featuring Judy Garland et al, the much-loved movie has essentially relegated relegated the socio-political allegory to a children's fairy tale. I think you've got this backwards, such. I think a children's fairy tale has been relegated to a socio-political allegory. At least, that's what it sounds like to this skeptic. Sorry.

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 23:42:17 (EDT) From: such Email: None To: Jerry Subject: I wouldn't shit you Message:

yer my favourite... ok, so be ignorant and opinionated in your skepticism. Baum was a an ardent Populist editor/journalist. He originally wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a fantasy socio-political commentary, then embellished it and created a whole Oz series for kids after people liked it, and he saw a chance to make da proverbial buck. -- Just like Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels and Moliere's Candide and John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress were all allegories. Wendy? that was in the play Peter Pan - written by the Englishman Sir James Barrie in 1904. naturally, not every single thing and person is an allegory in the story. This is like American Cultural History 399. Get a PhD in History in this field, and Then - maybe - we can discuss this rationally and informatively. What was the Populist platform? the goals of the Progressives? the Bonus Army? Who wrote The Octopus? [another Populist allegory] etc. etc. Incidentally, the movie was made while the Depression was still happening, especially in the farm-belt and factory towns. Movies cost a nickel then [sometimes a dime]. the movie also celebrated the invention of colour 16mm film processing -- in Kansas everything's black and white -- then, when they get to Oz - bingo - colour! Ok, Q and A is over. Don't forget that the mid-term is next week. Please bring a blue-book and a pen.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 10:38:54 (EDT) From: Jerry Email: None To: such Subject: Really? Message:

Such, Baum was always telling children's fairy tales. It was the love of his life. Children were always gathering around him way before the Wizard Of Oz to hear him spin his tales. He even wrote a book on Mother Goose called Mother Goose In Prose explaining to the delight of both children and adults how it is a cow can jump over the moon, how black birds baking in a pie could fly away, or even why a mouse would run up a clock. Nowhere have I heard or read that his fantasies were rooted in his political views. He was just a great storyteller who loved telling stories, the more fantastic the better. Of course, I'm not a professional teacher, as you are, but being curious, I did some research on the net, and nowhere did I find any reference that Baum was a Populist (which he very well might have been), who wrote the Wizard Of Oz as a socio-political allegory. You're the only one. I hope you don't teach your students this. You've denigrated an innocent storyteller into a moneygrubbing opportunist. Shame of you, perfessor!

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 11:17:24 (EDT) From: such Email: None To: Jerry Subject: pick a bone w/ a doggie, Jerry Message:

-- Not me. I didn't say he was 'money-grubbing', nor that he didn't also love to write/edit children's stories -- simply that he used elements of topical socio-political commentary as allegory in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. And, I delineated those elements. If you will observe, your sources do not discuss his journalist career or political persuasions. Do not simply rely on the net. Many incomplete historical biographies appear on the net. btw, I learned about Baum when I was a college student myself -- way back when. I'm Not 'the only one.' By innuendo, you, sir, have also denigrated the research of my own award-winning history professors.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 14:22:00 (EDT) From: Joe Email: None To: such Subject: You are right, Such Message:

Baum was part of the populist, William Jennings Bryan movement at the turn of the century. It's true that there are all kind of political allegories in there. Also, the 1890s to about 1930 was about the most viciously racist period in American History, and Baum was reacting to that as well. Whether Baum meant this or not, the Wizard of Oz was also adopted by the gay rights movement, and Yip Harburg included when he wrote the musical lyrics for the movie. [He also wrote Finnegan's Rainbow, a musical on broadway with clear socialist overtones.] Any, you can not the symbolism adopted by the gay rights movement from the movie, like the rainbow, and all through the 50s and 60s being 'a friend of Dorothy' was a code word among gay people to identify each other.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 15:36:42 (EDT) From: suchaBanana Email: None To: Joe Subject: also, Judy Garland! Message:

what happened in NYC at the Stonewall Inn, when she died in 1969, after all?!!! the beginning of the modern politically 'out' gay rights movement. the Wiz was a black adaptation of the Wizard of Oz. The film 'Under the Rainbow' delved into the plight of the lil' people who were the dwarves and midgets featured as the munchkins! [One of them has been a casual acquaintance for 16 years] how 'bout The Rainbow Coalition! The Rainbow Gypsies, groceries, etc.!! hohohoho Peace and lentils, da lil' swami

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 12:15:34 (EDT) From: Jerry Email: None To: such Subject: I still think it's bullshit Message:

Such, you banana, you, you said that Baum saw a chance to capitalize on the Wizard Of Oz, I think 'proverbial dollar' was the phrase you used, when he saw how successful his tale had become. Maybe you're not the only one who thinks that Baum was capitalizing on a tale that started out as a socio-political allegory, but I think that tale is just as fantastic as the Wizard Of Oz, itself, and not nearly as good. And my sources DO mention he was a journalist and an editor, as well as a salesman, an actor, and a theater manager. They mention that as a journalist he was a bigot who spoke unkindly about Native Americans. That's about it! Nowhere is there mention of his political affiliations other than he was married to the daughter of a leading feminist. Such, maybe you're right about the socio-political allegory stuff, but I'm not buying it, no offense to you. It just doesn't set well. It just sounds like something somebody made up for the hell of it, like the story that Puff The Magic Dragon is about marijuana, or that Paul McCartney is dead, or that Alice In Wonderland is an allegory on drug use and quantum physics. I suppose you believe that one, too.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 12:42:11 (EDT) From: Suchabanana Email: None To: Jerry Subject: http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/dbj5/oz.html Message:

Introduction -- Taking a Stand for the Powerless Majority... It is often said that art can function as a commentary on the times; jazz reflected the 'roaring twenties,' and the peace-loving tunes of the 1970s supported the desire of America's youth to end the Vietnam War. However, some pieces of art are not so conspicuous in revealing their observations. One such piece of art is The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, written by L. Frank Baum just after the climax of the Populist movement. The idea for the analysis of this author and his work was derived from 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: A Parable on Populism,' by Henry M. Littlefield. His essay focused on the numerous similarities between Baum's work and the United States during the late 1800s. We share his point of view that The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was written as a children's story first and an allegory second. Specifically, Littlefield theorized that Baum concentrated on the development of the Populist movement and the pecuniary motives of the silverites. Littlefield opened the doorway to the symbolism of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz for us. From this point, we began research on L. Frank Baum and his career, important figures in the Populist movement, silver versus gold, the election of 1896, the state of affairs in and around the Unites States in the 1890s, and the influence of the book on the twentieth century. After giving ourselves an understanding of the information involved in these topics, we began to analyze The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and look for symbolism within the text. We attempted to relate the characters of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to prominent figures during the 1890s. In this process, we identified similar characteristics between Oz characters and historical figures. After this, we chose quotations from the text that supported our theories for Baum's symbolism. We also searched the text for a single theme that commonly appeared in each of his historical symbols. We found this theme to be Baum's personal belief that the powerless majority, although evidently suffering, was not really powerless; they had the ability to free themselves from the rule of the rich minority. This topic addresses this year's theme, 'Taking a Stand,' by showing how L. Frank Baum wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as an allegory to convey his stand for the powerless majority during the late 1800s. Baum, like many other artists, used his writing to communicate his opinions of the world around him. However, this presentation was unconventional relative to the methods that other artists have used. The convention would be to write or produce artwork that focuses on the opinion at hand. Baum chose to focus on the children's story and made his opinions a secondary and latent issue. It was in this way that Baum took a stand for what he believed in. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- The Gold Standard as the Yellow Brick Road... 'After a few hours the road began to be rough, and the walking grew so difficult that the Scarecrow often stumbled over the yellow brick, which were here very uneven. Sometimes, indeed, they were broken or missing altogether, leaving holes that Toto jumped across and Dorothy walked around. As for the Scarecrow, having no brains he walked straight ahead, and so stepped into the holes and fell full length on the hard bricks.' In the late 1890s, a major issue was the currency of the United States. The gold standard was perceived as insufficient and was already almost cornered by Jim Fisk and Jay Gould. Baum, like many others, favored bimetallism. Here, he reveals his opinion that although the gold standard had holes and obstacles, it could still last through the long haul. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Silver Coinage as the Silver Shoes... ''The Witch of the East was proud of those silver shoes,' said one of the Munchkins; 'and there is some charm connected with them; but what it is we never knew.'' 'At that moment Dorothy saw lying on the table the silver shoes that had belonged to the Witch of the East. 'I wonder if they will fit me,' she said to Toto. 'They would be just the thing to take a long walk in, for they could not wear out.'' Supporters of the silver movement argued that it had the elasticity and abundance to last for a long time. Dorothy likewise felt the silver shoes to 'be just the thing to take a long walk in, for they could not wear out.' Additionally, the Wicked Witch of the East was proud of the silver shoes because 'there is some charm connected with them.' The banker bosses during that time had the power to control money but the addition of silver to the gold standard would dampen their ability to hold power by money. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Uncle Sam as Dorothy 'She (the Witch of the West) looked down at Dorothy's feet, and seeing the Silver Shoes, began to tremble with fear, for she knew what a powerful charm belonged to them. At first the Witch was tempted to run away from Dorothy; but she happened to look into the child's eyes and saw how simple the soul behind them was, and that the little girl did not know of the wonderful power the Silver Shoes gave her.' In Baum's mind, the nation was unknowing and innocent. They always had the chance to implement silver, but they were too 'simple' to realize its power. Dorothy owned the power of the silver shoes but was too innocent to recognize it. In this passage, Baum reveals his opinion that the railroad barons and banker bosses fed off of the innocence of the nation (Dorothy). --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- William Jennings Bryan as the Cowardly Lion... 'I learned that if I roared very loudly every living thing was frightened and got out of my way. Whenever I've met a man I've been awfully scared; but I just roared at him, and he has always run away as fast as he could go.' Bryan, who never actually won a presidential election, ran many times, including the 1896 election against William McKinley. In speeches such as the Cross of Gold, Bryan was known for his tremendous oratory skills. Baum symbolized his strong words but less powerful actions in the ways of the cowardly lion, who roared loudly but tightened with fear. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- An Eastern Worker as the Tin Woodman... 'He (the Cowardly Lion) struck at the Tin Woodman with his sharp claws. But, to the Lion's surprise, he could make no impression on the tin, although the Woodman fell over in the road and lay still.' The eastern laborers of Baum's era were often cruelly subjected to long hours, low pay, and an inability to argue for themselves because labor unions were prohibited and the ones that existed were powerless. Baum noted in this passage how William Jennings Bryan could not get the vote of the worker during his election. Baum was taking a stand against the approach of the Populists and Bryan. He contended that the worker could find his own solution just as the Tin Woodman, in accepting his fake heart, found his own emotions. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- A Midwestern Farmer as the Scarecrow 'As for the Scarecrow, having no brains he walked straight ahead, and so stepped into the holes and fell at full length on the hard bricks. It never hurt him, however, and Dorothy would pick him up and set him upon his feet again, while he joined her in laughing merrily at his own mishap.' Baum's experiences during the droughts that he observed in Aberdeen, SD made him sympathize for the farmer. He took a stand in favor of the motives of the common farmer as represented by the Scarecrow. For this character, Baum contradicted his theme, which pointed out that the individual could find the solution to his dilemma. Baum suggested for the Scarecrow that farmers do need some aid. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- William McKinley and Mark Hanna as the Wizard of Oz... ''No; you are all wrong,' said the little man, meekly. 'I have been making believe.' 'Making believe!' cried Dorothy. 'Are you not a great Wizard?' 'Hush, my dear,' he said; 'don't speak so loud, or you will be overheard--and I should be ruined. I'm supposed to be a Great Wizard.' 'And aren't you?' she asked. 'Not a bit of it, my dear; I'm just a common man.' 'You're more than that,' said the Scarecrow, in a grieved tone; 'you're a humbug.'' ''What is that (a balloonist)?' asked Dorothy. 'A man who goes up in a balloon on circus day, so as to draw a crowd of people together and get them to pay to see the circus,' he explained.' Mark Hanna presented William McKinley, who won the election of 1896, as a great man and coerced the people into electing him, even though he was simply a common man. The Wizard of Oz was 'supposed to be a Great Wizard,' but was in reality just an ordinary man. Baum supported the common man and objected to Mark Hanna's dominance. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- A Banker Boss as the Wicked Witch of the East ''She was the wicked Witch of the East, as I said,' answered the little woman. 'She has held all the Munchkins in bondage for many years, making them slave for her night and day. Now they, are all set free, and are grateful to you for the favour.'' The banker bosses during the late 1800s easily controlled manufacturing and business in the east using such methods as trusts and interlocking directorates. The common worker, especially the child worker, suffered at the expense of the profits of these banker bosses. In Oz, the Wicked Witch of the East held the Munchkins in bondage, who were forced to 'slave for her night and day.' --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- A Railroad Baron as the Wicked Witch of the West 'She (the Witch of the West) looked down at Dorothy's feet, and seeing the Silver Shoes, began to tremble with fear, for she knew what a powerful charm belonged to them. At first the Witch was tempted to run away from Dorothy; but she happened to look into the child's eyes and saw how simple the soul behind them was, and that the little girl did not know of the wonderful power the Silver Shoes gave her. So the Wicked Witch laughed to herself, and thought, 'I can still make her my slave, for she does not know how to use her power.' Then she said to Dorothy, harshly and severely, 'Come with me; and see that you mind everything that I tell you, for if you do not I will make an end to you, as I did of the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow.'' The monopolistic railroad barons of the late 1800s ruled over the common workers and farmers, controlling the farmers shipping expenses and manipulating the earnings of railroad workers. In the same way, the Wicked Witch of the West made an end to the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow. Many people, including Baum, feared that the population of the US (Dorothy) would be the next victim. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- The Plains Indians as the Winged Monkeys... ''Once,' began the leader, 'we were a free people, living happily in the great forest, flying from tree to tree, eating nuts and fruit, and doing just as we pleased without calling anybody master. Perhaps some of us were rather too full of mischief at times, flying down to pull the tails of the animals that had no wings, chasing birds, and throwing nuts at the people who walked in the forest. But we were careless and happy and full of fun, and enjoyed every minute of the day. This was many years ago, long before Oz came out of the clouds to rule over this land.'' The Plains Indians, in the 1890s, were unable to find a home anywhere in America. At this time, the frontier was dying out, and the US government was unable to send them west again. Baum explains the very similar situation the Winged Monkeys endured through in this passage. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Imperialism Represents the Cat and the Mouse... 'He (the Tin Woodman) saw a strange beast come bounding over the grass towards them. It was, indeed, a great, yellow wildcat, and the Woodman thought it must be chasing something, for its ears were lying close to its head and its mouth was wide open, showing two rows of ugly teeth, while its red eyes glowed like balls of fire. As it came nearer the Tin Woodman saw that running before the beast was a little gray field-mouse, and although he had no heart he knew it was wrong for the wildcat to harm such a pretty, harmless creature. So the Woodman raised his axe, and as the wildcat ran by he gave it a quick blow that cut the beast's head clean off from its body, and it rolled over at his feet in two pieces.' America was entering the arena of worldwide imperialism in the 1890s. Baum was not a supporter of this movement. To support his stand against American imperialism, he incorporated this passage into the story. The passage illustrates the Tin Woodman's heart for the weaker creature as well as Baum's sympathies for the weaker country, which could have easily been the Philippines. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Geography of Oz... East The eastern region of the land of Oz, the blue land of the Munchkins, paralleled the United States east coast. There was a distinctive slave-master relationship between the Munchkins and the Wicked Witch of the East that symbolized the mistreatment of eastern workers in factories, at banks, and at the voting booths. West The west in Oz was inhabited by the Winged Monkeys and the Winkies. The Winged Monkeys were symbols of the plains Indians and the Winkies represented frontiersmen. Baum described the land with the words, 'as they advanced the ground became rougher and hillier, for there were no farms nor houses in this country of the West, and the ground was untilled.' These words could describe the terrain of Baum's South Dakota perfectly. North Although, the travelers never encounter the land of the Gillikans during the first book, its purple color and mountainous terrain that are incorporated in later editions of the Oz collection suggest the areas of northern Michigan and Minnesota. South The best connection between Baum's life and the southern land of the Quadlings was that Baum travelled through Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri selling china and he included a country of china having 'a floor as smooth and shining and white as the bottom of a big platter. Scattered around were many houses made entirely of china.' --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Taking a Stand... At first, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz seems to be the average, simple children's novel. However, further investigation of the plot and the political aspects of the author, L. Frank Baum, reveals an allegory that takes a stand for the powerless majority. Written in 1900, Oz symbolically portrays such figures as the eastern worker and the midwestern farmer as somewhat powerless; Baum believed that although these people suffered greatly, they also were able to solve their own problems. In this way, L. Frank Baum took a stand for this poweless majority, but in a unique fashion. Like other reformist writers of that period, such as Upton Sinclair, who wrote The Jungle, and Frank Norris, writer of The Octopus, Baum took a stand for what he felt was right. Unlike those writers, he did not directly voice his opnion; instead, he symbolically represented the significant aspects of the late 1800s and thus revealed his take on America. It is in this way that The Wonderful Wizard of Oz takes a stand for the powerless majority.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 12:55:15 (EDT) From: such Email: None To: Suchabanana Subject: Baum and Populism discussion group! Message:

H-SHGAPE Discussion: The Wizard of Oz and Populism From: IN%'H-SHGAPE@h-net.msu.edu' 'H-Net Gilded Age and Progressive Era List' 14-APR-1998 23:10:35.35 To: IN%'H-SHGAPE@H-NET.MSU.EDU' 'Recipients of H-SHGAPE digests' CC: Subj: H-SHGAPE Digest - 13 Apr 1998 to 14 Apr 1998 Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 08:43:36 -0500 From: 'Ballard Campbell, H-SHGAPE' Subject: Replies: All About Oz (7 replies) (1) From: IN%'china@wam.umd.edu' 'Christine R. Gray' 13-APR-1998 11:12:12.57 To: IN%'H-SHGAPE@H-NET.MSU.edu' 'H-Net Gilded Age and Progressive Era List' CC: Subj: RE: Query: subplot of the _Wizard of Oz_ I can't give you details on Oz or Baum, but let me know if you want the address of the Oz list. It's very, very active. Christine Gray Christine R. Gray, Ph.D. 'You are unique--just like everyone else.' china@wam.umd.edu (2) From: IN%'amy.chazkel@yale.edu' 'Amy Chazkel' 13-APR-1998 12:00:33.87 To: IN%'H-SHGAPE@H-NET.MSU.edu' CC: Subj: Wizard of Oz For an interpretation of the content, historical context, and biographical information on Frank Baum and his *Wizard of Oz*, a good place to start -and one that does NOT view the book as a populist allegory- is William Leach's *Land of Desire*. -Amy Chazkel Department of History Yale University (3) From: IN%'scottm@rice.edu' 'Scott Marler' 13-APR-1998 12:40:53.20 To: IN%'H-SHGAPE@H-NET.MSU.edu' 'H-Net Gilded Age and Progressive Era List' CC: Subj: RE: Query: subplot of the _Wizard of Oz_ With regard to the question about the allegorical status of the Wizard of Oz, a recent discussion from the standpoint of therapeutic 'mind-cure' is William Leach's 1993 book Land of Desire: Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture, esp. pp. 248-60. The locus classicus of the populist reading of Oz is probably Henry Littlefield's article in American Quarterly, Spring 1964. Scott Marler graduate student Rice University (4) >Subj: Wizard of Oz > >Dear readers, > I heard that the Wizard of Oz was an allegory of populism, I even >heard it from a history lecture as an undergraduate. However, when I >checked the book out of the library there was an introduction to the text >which claimed otherwise. The author of the introduction wrote that Baum >was a newspaper writer in Chicago, and he never wrote about the problems >of farmers. He said that the Wizard of Oz was an example of Baum's >interest in the power of the mind. For example, Dorathy gets home on her >own power without the help of others. The author debunked the use of the >Wizard of Oz because Baum himself was not a populist or concerned with >farming problems. It concerns me that so many people use it as an >allegory when it may not be correct. What have others discovered about >Baum and the use of his work? > >Sincerely, > >Diane Schumacher >Acalanes High School > > From: IN%'rweir@mtholyoke.edu' 'Robert Weir' 13-APR-1998 12:49:55.19 To: IN%'H-SHGAPE@H-NET.MSU.edu' 'H-Net Gilded Age and Progressive Era List' CC: Subj: RE: Query: subplot of the _Wizard of Oz_ The question of Baum's Populism has raged for over three decades now and derives largely from a seminal article written by Henry Littlefield for the American Quarterly in 1964 (vol. XVI). The text of that article is available on line: http://www.amphigory.com/oz.htm For what it's worth, my take is that Oz is likely to be equal parts intentional and unintentional commentary on Populism. Baum's time in the Dakotas could not have failed to impress Populism into his consciousness. With the risk of opening a literary debate of which I am ill qualified to comment, I'd say that nearly all works of fiction parallel the writer's own time to some degree or other. The open question for Oz, then, becomes to what degree is Baum doing this? I have long been persuaded by many of Littlefield's arguments, particularly as applied to the Tin Woodsman, free silver, and the Scarecrow. I'd also add that most people only encounter Baum through Hollywood and that the book is different in several important ways, again outlined by Littlefield. A final speculation. Subsequent Oz books are not open to the speculation involving The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. My guess is that Baum--who had been a struggling writer--knew a good franchise when he saw it and dropped politics for profit. But as for the truth of all this --- another example of how wise Marc Bloch was when he defined history as 'the event plus the interpretations of that event.' Rob Weir Associate Professor Liberal Studies Bay Path College Longmeadow, MA 01106 (5) From: IN%'sthomas@hs1.hst.msu.edu' 'Sam J. Thomas' 13-APR-1998 14:18:16.26 To: IN%'H-SHGAPE@H-NET.MSU.edu' 'H-Net Gilded Age and Progressive Era List' CC: IN%'sthomas@hs1.hst.msu.edu' Subj: RE: Query: subplot of the _Wizard of Oz_ The 'classic' analysis of Baum's first wizard book was written by Henry Littlefield and published in the American Quarterly (1964) subtitled 'A Parable of Populism.' A more recent and different analysis is by William Leach in his Land of Desire: Merchants, Power and the Rise of a New American Culture (1993). See Ch. 8, Mind Cure and The Happiness Machine. There have been other analyses as well, one, for example (the source of which I cannot recall), challenged Littlefield and viewd Baum's book as an allegory of Progressive reform. For teaching purposes, however, whether one thinks that Littlefield is wrong or not, his analysis is a wonderful way to explain Populism in imagery that students readily relate to. Sam Thomas HST Mich. State Univ East Lansing, MI sthomas@hs1.hst.msu.edu (6) From: IN%'reedwards@vassar.edu' 13-APR-1998 14:59:47.52 To: IN%'H-SHGAPE@H-NET.MSU.edu' 'H-Net Gilded Age and Progressive Era List' CC: Subj: RE: Query: subplot of the _Wizard of Oz_ To the contrary, Frank Baum worked on behalf of William Jennings Bryan during the 1896 campaign, in his hometown (Baum's, not Bryan's). A student of mine produced a webpage for this, in my site-in-progress; it's at: http://iberia.vassar.edu/1896/wiz.html He cites the relevant articles that explore Baum's background. I find the allegory argument pretty persuasive. Rebecca Edwards Vassar College (7) From: IN%'NUnger@mailer.scu.edu' 'Nancy Unger' 13-APR-1998 15:34:36.95 To: IN%'H-SHGAPE@H-NET.MSU.edu' CC: Subj: Query: subplot of the _Wizard of Oz_ -Reply Henry Littlefield's article 'Wizard of Oz: Parable on Populism '(American = Quarterly 1964) is the standard source for this interpretation. See = also 'the Rise and Fall of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a 'Parable of = Populism'' by David Parker in the Journal of Georgia Association of = Historians (1994 15 49-63), which details the many different ways Baum's = tale has been interpreted. Personally, It doesn't matter so much to me whether or not it was Baum's = INTENT to write a populist parable. All my students are familiar with = that story and seeing it as a parable helps them understand some sophistica= ted concepts. I hope this helps. Nancy C. Unger Department of History Santa Clara University 500 El Camino Real Santa Clara, CA 95053 phone (408) 554-6889 fax (408) 554-2181 nunger@mailer.scu.edu From: IN%'H-SHGAPE@h-net.msu.edu' 'H-Net Gilded Age and Progressive Era List' 15-APR-1998 23:08:37.48 To: IN%'H-SHGAPE@H-NET.MSU.EDU' 'Recipients of H-SHGAPE digests' CC: Subj: H-SHGAPE Digest - 14 Apr 1998 to 15 Apr 1998 Subject: Replies: more about Oz More about the subplot of 'OZ' (8) From: IN%'wintert@email.uc.edu' 'thomas winter' 13-APR-1998 20:31:09.95 To: IN%'H-SHGAPE@H-NET.MSU.edu' 'H-Net Gilded Age and Progressive Era List' CC: Subj: RE: Query: subplot of the _Wizard of Oz_ Re. Wizard of Oz subplot I told myb students the same story as a Populism lecture opener. Who is the author of the intro you are referring to? Thomas Winter thomas.winter@uc.edu (9) From: IN%'cccocks@ucdavis.edu' 13-APR-1998 20:53:51.98 William Leach includes an interesting discussion of _The Wizard of Oz_ and Baum's career as window dresser in his _Land of Desire._ I think he also notes alternative readings of the book, including the one labeling it a Populist fable. Catherine Cocks Lecturer History Department University of California, Davis (10) [the original query is reprinted below, followed by a response] >From: IN%'dschu@silcon.com' 'Diane Schumacher' 12-APR-1998 23:14:45.66 >To: IN%'H-SHGAPE@H-NET.MSU.edu' 'H-Net Gilded Age and Progressive Era >List' >CC: >Subj: Wizard of Oz > >Dear readers, > I heard that the Wizard of Oz was an allegory of populism, I even >heard it from a history lecture as an undergraduate. However, when I >checked the book out of the library there was an introduction to the text >which claimed otherwise. The author of the introduction wrote that Baum >was a newspaper writer in Chicago, and he never wrote about the problems >of farmers. He said that the Wizard of Oz was an example of Baum's >interest in the power of the mind. For example, Dorathy gets home on her >own power without the help of others. The author debunked the use of the >Wizard of Oz because Baum himself was not a populist or concerned with >farming problems. It concerns me that so many people use it as an >allegory when it may not be correct. What have others discovered about >Baum and the use of his work? > >Sincerely, > >Diane Schumacher >Acalanes High School From: IN%'JRBiggs@aol.com' 'JRBiggs' 14-APR-1998 17:37:14.20 Subj: Replies: All About Oz The most recent discussion of Baum's Wizard of Oz as political allegory is Gretchen Ritter, Silver Slippers and a Golden Cap: Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Historical Memory in American Politcs, in Journal of American Studies, December 1997. From: IN%'H-SHGAPE@h-net.msu.edu' 'H-Net Gilded Age and Progressive Era List' 17-APR-1998 23:13:47.61 To: IN%'H-SHGAPE@H-NET.MSU.EDU' 'Recipients of H-SHGAPE digests' CC: Subj: H-SHGAPE Digest - 16 Apr 1998 to 17 Apr 1998 Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1998 08:12:37 -0500c From: 'Ballard Campbell, H-SHGAPE' Subject: Reply: another angle on OZ In all the suggestions made about Baum's work as a possible allegory for populism, no one has yet mentioned that suffragist Matilda Joslyn Gage was Frank Baum's mother-in-law. According to _Notable American Women_, Gage lived with Frank & Maud Baum in Chicago during the last years of her life (she died in 1885). I'm sure there's been some scholarship on this relationship and its possible influence on the Wizard of Oz, but can't now recall where. Perhaps in Ritter's article, cited in a recent communication? Was Gage the good witch or the bad witch? Or neither? Was Dorothy a 'strong-minded' or 'new' woman?

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 12:30:45 (EDT) From: Perfessor Suchabanana Email: None To: Jerry Subject: Exhibit A: Message:

The Rise and Fall of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a 'Parable on Populism'   by David B. Parker As published in the JOURNAL OF THE GEORGIA ASSOCIATION OF HISTORIANS, vol. 15 (1994), pp. 49-63. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is one of America's favorite pieces of juvenile literature. Children like it because it is a good story, full of fun characters and exciting adventures. Adults--especially those of us in history and related fields--like it because we can read between L. Frank Baum's lines and see various images of the United States at the turn of the century. That has been true since 1964, when American Quarterly published Henry M. Littlefield's 'The Wizard of Oz: Parable on Populism.' Littlefield described all sorts of hidden meanings and allusions to Gilded Age society in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: the wicked Witch of the East represented eastern industrialists and bankers who controlled the people (the Munchkins); the Scarecrow was the wise but naive western farmer; the Tin Woodman stood for the dehumanized industrial worker; the Cowardly Lion was William Jennings Bryan, Populist presidential candidate in 1896; the Yellow Brick Road, with all its dangers, was the gold standard; Dorothy's silver slippers (Judy Garland's were ruby red, but Baum originally made them silver) represented the Populists' solution to the nation's economic woes ('the free and unlimited coinage of silver'); Emerald City was Washington, D.C.; the Wizard, 'a little bumbling old man, hiding behind a facade of paper mache and noise, . . . able to be everything to everybody,' was any of the Gilded Age presidents.(1) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was no longer an innocent fairy tale. According to Littlefield, Baum, a reform-minded Democrat who supported William Jennings Bryan's pro-silver candidacy, wrote the book as a parable of the Populists, an allegory of their failed efforts to reform the nation in 1896. 'Baum never allowed the consistency of the allegory to take precedence over the theme of youthful entertainment,' Littlefield hedged at one point; 'the allegory always remains in a minor key.' Still, he concluded that 'the relationships and analogies outlined above . . . are far too consistent to be coincidental.'(2) It was an interesting notion, one scholars could not leave alone, and they soon began to find additional correspondences between Populism and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Richard Jensen, in a 1971 study of Midwestern politics and culture, devoted two pages to Baum's story. He implicitly qualified Littlefield by pointing out that not all pro-Bryan silverites were Populists. But Jensen then proceeded to add two new points to the standard Littlefield interpretation, finding analogies for Toto and Oz itself: Dorothy's faithful dog represented the teetotaling Prohibitionists, an important part of the silverite coalition, and anyone familiar with the silverites' slogan '16 to 1'--that is, the ratio of sixteen ounces of silver to one ounce of gold--would have instantly recognized 'Oz' as the abbreviation for 'ounce.'(3) A few years later, literary scholar Brian Attebery wrote that 'it is too much to say . . . that The Wizard is a 'Parable on Populism,' but it does share many of the Populist concerns and biases.' Like Jensen, Attebery cautioned against an uncritical acceptance of Littlefield; and again like Jensen, he went on to suggest an analogy of his own: 'Dorothy, bold, resourceful, leading the men around her toward success, is a juvenile Mary Lease, the Kansas firebrand who told her neighbors to raise less corn and more hell.'(4) The most extensive treatment of the Littlefield thesis is an article by Hugh Rockoff in the Journal of Political Economy. Rockoff, who saw in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz 'a sophisticated commentary on the political and economic debates of the Populist Era,' discovered a surprising number of new analogies. The Deadly Poppy Field, where the Cowardly Lion fell asleep and could not move forward, was the anti-imperialism that threatened to make Bryan forget the main issue of silver (note the Oriental connotation of poppies and opium). Once in the Emerald Palace, Dorothy had to pass through seven halls and climb three flights of stairs; seven and three make seventy-three, which stands for the Crime of '73, the congressional act that eliminated the coinage of silver and that proved to all Populists the collusion between congress and bankers. The Wicked Witch of the East was Grover Cleveland; of the West, William McKinley. The enslavement of the yellow Winkies was 'a not very well disguised reference to McKinley's decision to deny immediate independence to the Philippines' after the Spanish-American War. The Wizard himself was Mark Hanna, McKinley's campaign manager, although Rockoff noted that 'this is one of the few points at which the allegory does not work straightforwardly.' About half of Rockoff's article consisted of an economic analysis that justified Bryan and Baum's silver stance.(5) In a recent history of the Populist movement, Gene Clanton wrote that while The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was 'a classic parable on the silver crusade,' Littlefield had gotten some of it confused. Clanton explained (as had Jensen) that not all pro-Bryan silverites were Populists. A number of reform Democrats shared the Populists' distrust of railroads and bankers,their support for inflation, and so forth, but the Democrats disagreed with the Populists' call for a strong and active government to solve those problems, and in fact they tended to see Populists as dangerous socialist radicals. Clanton suggested that if the Wicked Witch of the East was the forces of industrial capitalism, then Baum's Wicked Witch of the West was Populism itself. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz 'mirrored perfectly the middle-ground ideology that was fundamental among those who favored reform yet opposed Populism,' wrote Clanton. 'Baum's story was an apt metaphor or parable of Progressivism, not Populism.' This was hardly the death knell for Littlefield; he had simply confused pro-Bryan, silverite Democrats for pro-Bryan, silverite Populists.(6) As scholars continued to extend and modify Littlefield's interpretation, laymen discovered it as well. Perhaps the best example was a widely-reprinted essay, first published in the Los Angeles Times in 1988, in which Michael A. Genovese described The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as 'the story of the sad collapse of Populism and the issues upon which the movement was based.' Genovese's brief analysis was pure Littlefield. But there was one notable (and somewhat disturbing) aspect of Genovese's piece: Littlefield's name was never mentioned. The phrase 'according to one scholar' never appeared. Less than a quarter century after his article appeared, Littlefield had entered the public domain.(7) Several factors help explain Littlefield's popularity. First, he produced an overwhelming number of correspondences, and others have added to the list. One would be hard pressed to find any character, setting, or event in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that does not have a 'Populist parable' analogy. Second, educators discovered Littlefield's usefulness in teaching Populism and related topics. (This was the reason Littlefield, at the time a high school teacher, developed his analysis in the first place; the correspondences between Populism and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, he wrote, 'furnish a teaching mechanism which is guaranteed to reach any level of student.')(8) The journal Social Education suggested using The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to help secondary school students understand the issues behind Populism, and I myself proposed the Littlefield thesis as a possible lecture topic in an instructor's manual for a popular college-level textbook.(9) Another textbook contained a two-page 'special feature' essay explaining The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a Populist allegory (although once again Littlefield's name was not mentioned).(10) Third, many people in post-Watergate, post-Vietnam America were fascinated to learn that their favorite children's story was something of a subversive document, an anti-establishment fairy tale. Hence in 1988 the Utne Reader praised a newspaper article for 'expos[ing] Oz as a parable on Populism,' a movement that had been critical of 'Eastern banks and railroads, which [Populists] charged with oppressing farmers and industrial workers.'(11) By the 1980s, Littlefield's interpretation had become the standard line on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.(12) Recently, however, one of his basic assertions--that the book was, like the Populist movement itself, a critique of American industrial capitalism--has been challenged by scholars who argue that the book actually celebrated the urban consumer culture of the turn of the century. The best statement of this revisionist view is William R. Leach's two essays in a new edition of the book. Baum's masterpiece was popular, Leach explained, 'because it met--almost perfectly--the particular ethical and emotional needs of people living in a new urban, industrial society.' Leach pointed out that the book exalted the opulence and magic of the metropolis. The Emerald City, with its prosperous homes and luxurious stores, resembled nothing as much as it did the 'White City' of Chicago's Columbian Exposition of 1893, which Baum had visited several times. Furthermore, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz reflected Baum's belief in theosophy, a spiritualist/occultist quasi-religious movement that was popular in the late nineteenth century. Specifically, the book emphasized an aspect of theosophy that Norman Vincent Peale would later call 'the power of positive thinking': theosophy led to 'a new upbeat and positive psychology' that 'opposed all kinds of negative thinking--especially fear, worry, and anxiety.' It was through this positive thinking, and not through any magic of the Wizard, that Dorothy and her companions (as well as everyone else in Oz) got what they wanted. 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was an optimistic secular theraputic text,' wrote Leach. 'It helped make people feel at home in America's new industrial economy, and it helped them appreciate and enjoy, without guilt, the new consumer abundance and way of living produced by that economy.' Leach concluded that 'the book both reflected and helped create a new cultural consciousness--a new way of seeing and being in harmony with the new industrial order.'(13) Leach's new look at Baum directly challenged much of what Littlefield wrote.(14) Furthermore, it was consistent with Baum's background. Before he became a professional writer, Baum worked as a traveling salesman and owned a dry goods store. In 1897, he founded The Show Window, the first journal ever devoted to decorating store windows, and in 1900 (the same year as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz), he published The Art of Decorating Dry Goods Windows and Interiors, the first book on the subject. Furthermore, Baum's involvement in the theater, as everything from actor to producer and writer, taught him to appreciate the artistic lifestyle that only the big cities could offer. Leach's essays did not necessarily overturn Littlefield, however. Baum might have been 'a shopkeeper, a traveling salesman, an actor, a playwright, a windowdresser,'(15) but he was also a reform-minded Democrat who supported Bryan's pro-silver campaign in 1896. Given this, Littlefield's thesis still seems plausible. For years after Baum's death in 1919, the best biography of him was a twenty-five-page sketch written by Martin Gardner for a new edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1957. Gardner wrote just two sentences on Baum's politics: 'Aside from marching in a few torchlight parades for William Jennings Bryan, Baum was as inactive in politics as in church affairs [which is to say, pretty inactive]. He consistently voted as a democrat [sic], however, and his sympathies always seem to have been on the side of the laboring classes.' Four years later, the first book-length study of Baum appeared. Written by Frank Joslyn Baum (Baum's son, who died during the project) and Russell P. MacFall, the biography did not go beyond Gardner in discussing Baum's politics.(16) Baum's political affiliation was a big part of Littlefield's argument for seeing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a Populist allegory. Citing Gardner, Littlefield mentioned Baum's support for Democratic candidates and, of course, the torchlight parades for Bryan. 'No one who marched in even a few such parades could have been unaffected by Bryan's campaign,' Littlefield asserted.(17) If one begins with the assumption that Baum was a Bryan Democrat, it is easy to read a Populist (or at least a pro-silver) message into the book. But was Baum a Bryan Democrat? In the summer of 1888, Baum moved his family to Aberdeen, South Dakota, where he opened a dry goods store. In January 1890, after the business failed, he bought a local newspaper, renaming it the Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer. The Pioneer was obviously a Republican paper. During the municipal elections that spring, Baum editorialized in support of the Republican candidates; after they won, he wrote that 'Aberdeen has redeemed herself . . . [a]fter suffering for nearly a year from the incompetence of a democratic administration.' Later that year, Baum urged unity against the growing Independent movement: 'We are all members of one great family, the family which saved the Union, the family which stands together as the emblem of prosperity among the nations--Republicanism!' Not only did Baum speak for the Republican party; he spoke against the movement that would soon evolve into the Populists.(18) It must be admitted that the Pioneer had been a Republican paper before Baum bought it, and perhaps he had to maintain its partisan identification in order to maintain its circulation. Furthermore, Baum's Pioneer, while clearly Republican, was quite progressive: he wrote in support of women's suffrage, alternative religions, occultism, toleration, and so on. So perhaps Baum was a closet Democrat in Aberdeen, forced to hide his true political feelings. But that appears not to be the case. In the summer of 1896, the year of the election that would mark what has been called 'The Climax of Populism,' Baum published a poem in a Chicago newspaper: When McKinley gets the chair, boys, There'll be a jollification Throughout our happy nation And contentment everywhere! Great will be our satisfaction When the 'honest money' faction Seats McKinley in the chair!   No more the ample crops of grain That in our granaries have lain Will seek a purchaser in vain Or be at mercy of the 'bull' or 'bear'; Our merchants won't be trembling At the silverites' dissembling When McKinley gets the chair!   When McKinley gets the chair, boys, The magic word 'protection' Will banish all dejection And free the workingman from every care; We will gain the world's respect When it knows our coin's 'correct' And McKinley's in the chair!   Hardly the writings of a silverite! Michael Patrick Hearn, the leading scholar on L. Frank Baum, quoted this poem in a recent letter to the New York Times. Hearn wrote that he had found 'no evidence that Baum's story is in any way a Populist allegory'; Littlefield's argument, Hearn concluded, 'has no basis in fact.' A month later, Henry M. Littlefield responded to Hearn's letter, agreeing that 'there is no basis in fact to consider Baum a supporter of turn-of-the-century Populist ideology.'(19) Thomas A. Bailey once suggested that we set up a computer network to keep track of misinformation that has been corrected--sort of a national clearinghouse for discredited myths. Is it time to move Littlefield to the computer trashpile of misinformation? Given the mounting evidence against it--given that Littlefield himself has admitted that it has 'no basis in fact'--should we forget the whole notion of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a parable on Populism? That would be a big mistake. Perhaps we can no longer say that Baum wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz 'as an allegory of the silver movement,' but we can still read it as an allegory of the silver movement--or, as Henry Littlefield noted just two years ago, 'we can bring our own symbolism to it.' Recent scholarship might have taken away Baum's intent, but the images are still there, vivid as ever.(20) And because the images are still there, the Littlefield interpretation (especially as modified by Clanton, Rockoff, and others) remains a useful pedagogical device. Baum gave us a delightful and unforgettable way of illustrating a number of Gilded Age issues, from Populism and the silver movement to the Gilded Age presidency, from the problems of labor to the insurrection in the Philippines. Thirty years ago, Henry M. Littlefield looked at The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and saw things no one had seen there before. More recently, William R. Leach has shown us another new way of looking at the book, a way that emphasizes a different side of the Gilded Age--the fascination with the city and urban abundance, the rise of a new industrial ethic, and so on. Leach's argument is just as compelling as Littlefield's. 'Factual' or not, both are impressive achievements. But even more impressive is the achievement of L. Frank Baum himself. In the preface to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Baum stated that he wanted to write a new sort of children's story: a modernized, American story, shorn of all the Old World images and motifs. He was tremendously successful in this, producing not only the first real American fairy tale, but one that showed American society and culture in all its wonderful diversity and contradictions, a story so rich it can be, like the book's title character, anything we want it to be--including, if we wish, a parable on Populism.(21)   NOTES 1. Henry M. Littlefield, 'The Wizard of Oz: Parable on Populism,' American Quarterly 16 (1964): 47-58 (quotation on 54); L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Chicago, 1900). 2. Littlefield, 'Parable on Populism,' 50, 58. 3. Richard Jensen, The Winning of the Midwest: Social and Political Conflict, 1888-1896 (Chicago, 1971), 282-83. 4. Brian Attebery, The Fantasy Tradition in American Literature: From Irving to Le Guin (Bloomington, 1980), 86-87. 5. Hugh Rockoff, 'The 'Wizard of Oz' as a Monetary Allegory,' Journal of Political Economy 98 (1990): 739, 751. 6. Gene Clanton, Populism: The Humane Preference in America, 1890-1900 (Boston, 1991), 149-50. Fred Erisman, 'L. Frank Baum and the Progressive Dilemma,' American Quarterly 20 (1968): 616-23, made a similar point, but outside the context of Littlefield's analogies. 7. Los Angeles Times, 19 March 1988. 8. Littlefield, 'Parable on Populism,' 58. For a brief discussion of how he came to write the essay, see Henry M. Littlefield, 'The Wizard of Allegory,' Baum Bugle 36 (Spring 1992):24-25. The Baum Bugle is published by the International Wizard of Oz Club. 9. David W. Van Cleaf and Charles W. Funkhouser, 'Inquiry, 'Oz,' and Populism,' Social Education 51 (1987): 282-83; Thomas S. Morgan and David B. Parker, Instructor's Manual and Test Bank to Accompany America: A Narrative History, Second Edition, by George B. Tindall (New York, 1988), 213. 10. Robert A. Divine et al., America: Past and Present (Glenview, Ill., 1984), 594-95. The essay was retained in later editions of the textbook; the third edition was published in 1991. For other examples of educators and the Littlefield thesis, see Michael Gessel, 'Tale of a Parable,' Baum Bugle 36 (Spring 1992): 19-23. 11. Michael Dregni, 'The Politics of Oz,' Utne Reader 28 (July/August 1988): 32-33. The newspaper cited was In These Times, 18 Feb. 1987. 12. There have been other interpretations of the book--scholars have read it from psychoanalytical, feminist, theological/philosophical, mythological, and Marxist perspectives, among others --- -but Littlefield's was easily the best known and most widely accepted of the bunch. 13. William R. Leach, 'The Clown from Syracuse: The Life and Times of L. Frank Baum,' in L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Belmont, Calif., 1991), 2; Leach, 'A Trickster's Tale: L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,' in ibid., 168, 174. Stuart Culver discussed Baum's book as a reflection of the advertising that accompanied the consumer culture. Culver, 'What Manikins Want: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and The Art of Decorating Dry Goods Windows,' Representations 21 (1988): 97-116. 14. One could try to reconcile the differences by suggesting that The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was not so much about the Populists themselves as it was about the culture that gave rise to the Populists. Midwestern farmers were well aware of the consumer paradise Leach described (through the Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog, for example); perhaps their inablity to partake more fully in that paradise was one of the reasons for the agrarian discontent that led to the Populists. But this oversimplifies Littlefield's argument, which was about silver and gold, William Jennings Bryan and dehumanized factory workers, not just 'agrarian discontent.' I appreciate Robert C. McMath, Jr.'s and James Cassidy's helpful comments on this point. 15. Leach, 'Clown from Syracuse,' 3. 16. Martin Gardner, 'The Royal Historian of Oz,' in Gardner and Russel B. Nye, The Wizard of Oz and Who He Was (East Lansing, Mich., 1957), 29; Frank Joslyn Baum and Russell P. MacFall, To Please a Child: A Biography of L. Frank Baum, Royal Historian of Oz (Chicago, 1961), 85, 124. ('The Royal Historian of Oz' is a title L. Frank Baum himself had used.) Michael Patrick Hearn is preparing a new biography of Baum; for now, the most reliable source of information is Hearn, ed., The Annotated Wizard of Oz (New York, 1973). 17. Littlefield, 'Parable on Populism,' 49. 18. Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer, 12 April 1890, 19 April 1890, 18 Oct. 1890. For more on Baum's editorship and political affiliation, see Nancy Tystad Koupal, 'The Wonderful Wizard of the West: L. Frank Baum in South Dakota, 1888-91,' Great Plains Quarterly 9 (1989): 207-8. 19. Robert F. Durden, The Climax of Populism: The Election of 1896 (Lexington, 1965); Chicago Times Herald, 12 July 1896, quoted in New York Times, 20 Dec. 1991; New York Times, 7 Feb. 1992. 20. Thomas A. Bailey, 'The Mythmakers of American History,' Journal of American History 55 (1968): 18; Divine et al., America, 594; Littlefield, 'The Wizard of Allegory,' 25. 21. When describing characters and settings that readers have never encountered before, writers (and especially writers of fantasy) might naturally use familiar imagery to help the reader along. This could explain why The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is richer and more vivid than Baum's later books in the series (he wrote 13 others, from The Marvelous Land of Oz to Glinda of Oz): after that original volume, the characters and settings were no longer unknown--from the second book on, readers had encountered them before--and so Baum had less reason to use American images as the basis for his descriptions. And as good as some of those later books are, an Ozian Oz(described on its own terms) was nowhere near as fascinating as an American Oz.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 13:01:10 (EDT) From: such Email: None To: Perfessor Suchabanana Subject: Re: Exhibit B: Littlefield Message:

The Wizard of Oz: Parable on Populism by Henry M. Littlefield On the deserts of North Africa in 1941 two tough Australian brigades went into battle singing: Have you heard of the wonderful wizard, The wonderful Wizard of Oz, And he is a wonderful wizard, If ever a wizard there was. It was a song they had brought with them from Australia and would soon spread to England. Forever afterward it reminded Winston Churchill of those 'buoyant days.'[1] Churchill's nostalgia is only one symptom of the world-wide delight found in an American fairy tale about a little girl and her odyssey in the strange land of Oz. The song he reflects upon came from a classic 1939 Hollywood production of the story, which introduced millions of people not only to the land of Oz, but to a talented young lady named Judy Garland as well. Ever since its publication in 1900 Lyman Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has been immensely popular, providing the basis for a profitable musical comedy, three movies, and a number of plays. It is an indigenous creation, curiously warm and touching, although no one really knows why. For despite wholehearted acceptance by generations of readers, Baum's tale has been accorded neither critical acclaim, nor extended critical examination. Interested scholars, such as Russel B. Nye and Martin Gardiner, look upon The Wizard of Oz as the first in a long and delightful series of Oz stories, and understandably base their appreciation of Baum's talent on the totality of his works[2]. The Wizard of Oz is an entity unto itself, however, and was not originally written with a sequel in mind. Baum informed his readers in 1904 that he has produced The Marvelous Land of Oz reluctantly and only in answer to well over a thousand letters demanding that he creation another Oz tale[3]. His original effort remains unique and to some degree separate from the books which follow. But its uniqueness does not rest alone on its peculiar and transcendent popularity. Professor Nye finds a 'strain of moralism' in the Oz books, as well as 'a well-developed sense of satire,' and Baum stories often include searching parodies on the contradiction in human nature. The second book in the series, The Marvelous Land of Oz, is a blatant satire on feminism and the suffragette movement[4]. In it Baum attempted to duplicate the format used so successfully in The Wizard, yet no one has noted a similar play on contemporary movements in the latter work. Nevertheless, one does exist, and it reflects to an astonishing degree the world of political reality which surrounded Baum in 1900. In order to understand the relationship of The Wizard to turn-of-the-century America, it is necessary first to know something of Baum's background. Born near Syracuse in 1856, Baum was brought up in a wealthy home and early became interested in the theater. He wrote some plays which enjoyed brief success and then, with his wife and two sons, journeyed to Aberdeen, South Dakota, in 1887. Aberdeen was a little prairie town and there Baum edited the local weekly until it failed in 1891[5]. For many years Western farmers had been in a state of loud, though unsuccessful, revolt. While Baum was living in South Dakota not only was the frontier a thing of the past, but the Romantic view of benign nature had disappeared we well. The stark reality of the dry, open plains and the acceptance of man's Darwinian subservience to his environment served to crush Romantic idealism[6]. Hamlin Garland's visit to Iowa and South Dakota coincided with Baum's arrival. Henry Nash Smith observes, 'Garland's success as a portrayer of hardship and suffering on Northwestern farms was due in part to the fact that his personal experience happened to parallel the shock which the entire West received in the later 1880's from the combined effects of low prices, ... grasshoppers, drought, the terrible blizzards of the winter of 1886-1887, and the juggling of freight rates...'[7] As we shall see, Baum's prairie experience was no less deeply etched, although he did not employ naturalism to express it. Baum's stay in South Dakota also covered the period of the formation of the Populist party, which Professor Nye likens to a fanatic 'crusade'. Western farmers had for a long time sought governmental aid in the form of economic panaceas, but to no avail. The Populist movement symbolized a desperate attempt to use the power of the ballot[8]. In 1891 Baum moved to Chicago where he was surrounded by those dynamic elements of reform which made the city so notable during the 1890's[9]. In Chicago Baum certainly saw the results of the frightful depression which had closed down up on the nation in 1893. Moreover, he took part in the pivotal election of 1896, marching in 'torch-light parades for William Jennings Bryan'. Martin Gardiner notes besides, that he 'consistently voted as a democrat...and his sympathies seem always to have been on the side of the laboring classes.' No one who marched in even a few such parades could have been unaffected by Bryan's campaign. Putting all the farmers' hopes in a basket labeled 'free coinage of silver,' Bryan's platform rested mainly on the issue of adding silver to the nation's gold standard. Though he lost, he did at least bring the plight of the little man into national focus[11]. Between 1896 and 1900, while Baum worked and wrote in Chicago, the great depression faded away and the war with Spain thrust the United States into world prominence. Bryan maintained Midwestern control over the Democratic party, and often spoke out against American policies toward Cuba and the Philippines. By 1900 it was evident that Bryan would run again, although now imperialism and not silver seemed the issue of primary concern. In order to promote greater enthusiasm, however, Bryan felt compelled once more to sound the silver lietmotif in his campaign[12]. Bryan's second futile attempt at the presidency culminated in November 1900. The previous winter Baum had attempted unsuccessfully to sell a rather original volume of children's fantasy, but that April, George M. Hill, a small Chicago publisher, finally agreed to print The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Baum's allegiance to the cause of Democratic Populism must be balanced against the fact that he was not a political activist. Martin Gardiner finds all through all of his writings 'a theme of tolerance, with many episodes that poke fun at narrow nationalism and ethnocentrism.' Nevertheless, Professor Nye quotes Baum as having a desire to write stories that would 'bear the stamp of our times and depict the progressive fairies of today.'[13] The Wizard of Oz has neither the mature religious appeal of a Pilgrim's Progress, nor the philosophic depth of a Candide. Baum's most thoughtful devotees see in it only a warm, cleverly written fairy tale. Yet the original Oz book conceals an unsuspected depth, and it is the purpose of this study to demonstrate that Baum's immortal American fantasy encompasses more than heretofore believed. For Baum created a children's story with a symbolic allegory implicit within its story line and characterizations. The allegory always remains in a minor key, subordinated to the major theme and readily abandoned whenever it threatens to distort the appeal of the fantasy. But through it, in the form of a subtle parable, Baum delineated a Midwesterner's vibrant and ironic portrait of this country as it entered the twentieth century. We are introduced to both Dorothy and Kansas at the same time: 'Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife. Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles. There was four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room; and this room contained a rusty-looking cooking stove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds. When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it. Even the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else. When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young pretty wife. The sun and wind had changed her too. They had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her cheeks and lips, and they were gray also. She was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now. When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came to her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child's laughter that she would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy's merry voice reached her ears; and she still looked at the little girl with wonder that she could find anything to laugh at. Uncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night and did not know what joy was. He was gray also, from his long beard to his rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn, and rarely spoke. It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing as gray as her other surroundings. Toto was not gray; he was a little black dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose. Toto played all day long, and Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly.[14] Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur would not have recognized Uncle Henry's farm; it us straight out of Hamlin Garland.[15] On it a deadly environment dominated everyone and everything except Dorothy and her pet. The setting is Old Testament and nature seems grayly impersonal and even angry. Yet it is a fearsome cyclone that lifts Dorothy and Toto in their house and deposits them 'very gently -- for a cyclone -- in the midst of a country of marvelous beauty.' We immediately sense the contrast between Oz and Kansas. Here there are 'stately trees bearing rich and luscious fruits... gorgeous flowers... and birds with ... brilliant plumage' sing in the trees. In Oz 'a small brook rushing and sparkling along' murmurs 'in a voice very grateful to a little girl who had lived so long on the dry, gray prairie.'(p. 20) Trouble intrudes. Dorothy's house has come down on the Wicked Witch of the East, killing her. Nature, by sheer accident, can provide benefits, for indirectly the cyclone has disposed of one of the two truly bad influences in the land of Oz. Notice that evil ruled in both the East and the West; after Dorothy's coming it rules only in the West. The Wicked Witch of the East had kept the little Munchkin people 'in bondage for many years, making them slave for her night and day.' (pp. 22-23). Just what this slavery entailed is not immediately clear, but Baum later gives us a specific example. The Tin Woodman, whom Dorothy meets on her way to the Emerald City, had been put under a spell by the Witch of the East. Once an independent and hard working human being, the Woodman found that each time he swung his axe it chopped off a different part of his body. Knowing no other trade he 'worked harder than ever,' for luckily in Oz tinsmiths can repair such things. Soon the Woodman was all tin (p. 59). In this way Eastern witchcraft dehumanized a simple laborer so that the faster and better he worked the more quickly he became a kind of machine. Here is a Populist view of evil Eastern influences on honest labor which could hardly be more pointed.[16] There is one thing seriously wrong with being made of tin; when it rains rust sets in. Tin Woodman had been standing in the same position for a year without moving before Dorothy came along and oiled his joints. The Tin Woodman's situation has an obvious parallel in the condition of many Eastern workers after the depression of 1893.[17] While Tin Woodman is standing still, rusted solid, he deludes himself into thinking he is no longer capable of that most human of sentiments, love. Hate does not fill the void, a constant lesson in the Oz books, and Tin Woodman feels that only a heart will make him sensitive again. So he accompanies Dorothy to see if the Wizard will give him one. Oz itself is a magic oasis surrounded by impassable deserts, and the country is divided in a very orderly fashion. In the North and South the people are ruled by good witches, who are not quite as powerful as the wicked ones of the East and West. In the center of the land is the magnificent Emerald City ruled by the Wizard of Oz, a successful humbug whom even the witches mistakenly feel 'is more powerful than all the rest of us together' (p.24). Despite these forces, the mark of goodness, placed on Dorothy's forehead by the Witch of the North, serves as protection for Dorothy throughout her travels. Goodness and innocence prevail even over the powers of evil and delusion in Oz. Perhaps it is this basic and beautiful optimism that makes Baum's tale so characteristically American -- and Midwestern. Dorothy is Baum's Miss Everyman. She is one of us, levelheaded and human, and she has a real problem. Young readers can understand her quandary as readily as can adults. She is good, not precious, and she thinks quite naturally about others. For all the attractions of Oz, Dorothy desires only to return to the gray plains and Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. She is directed toward the Emerald City by the good Witch of the North, since the Wizard will surely be able to solve the problem of the impassable deserts. Dorothy sets out on the Yellow Brick Road wearing the Witch of the East's magic Silver Shoes. Silver shoes walking on a golden road; henceforth Dorothy becomes the innocent agent of Baum's ironic view of the Silver issue. Remember, neither Dorothy, nor the good Witch of the North, nor the Munchkins understand the power of these shoes. The allegory is abundantly clear. On the next to last page of the book Baum has Glinda, Witch of the South, tell Dorothy, 'Your Silver Shoes will carry you over the desert.....If you had known their power you could have gone back to your Aunt Em the very first day you came to this country.'. Glinda explains, 'All you have to do is knock the heels together three times and command the shoes to carry you wherever you wish to go.' (p.257). William Jennings Bryan never outlined the advantages of the silver standard any more effectively. Not understanding the magic of the Silver Shoes, Dorothy walks the mundane -- and dangerous -- Yellow Brick Road. The first person she meets is a Scarecrow. After escaping from his wooden perch, the Scarecrow displays a terrible sense of inferiority and self doubt, for he has determined that he needs real brains to replace the common straw in his head. William Allen White wrote an article in 1896 entitled 'What's the Matter With Kansas?'. In it he accused Kansas farmers of ignorance, irrationality and general muddle-headedness. What's wrong with Kansas are the people, said Mr. White.[18] Baum's character seems to have read White's angry characterization. But Baum never takes White seriously and so the Scarecrow soon emerges as innately a very shrewd and very capable individual. The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman accompany Dorothy along the Yellow Brick Road, one seeking brains, the other a heart. They meet next the Cowardly Lion. As King of Beasts he explains, 'I learned that if I roared very loudly every living thing was frightened and got out of my way.' Born a coward, he sobs, 'Whenever there is danger my heart begins to beat fast.' 'Perhaps you have heart disease,' suggests Tin Woodman, who always worries about hearts. But the Lion desires only courage and so he joins the party to ask help from the Wizard (pp.65-72) The Lion represents Bryan himself. In the election of 1896 Bryan lost the vote of Eastern Labor, though he tried hard to gain their support. In Baum's story the Lion meeting the little group, 'struck at the Tin Woodman with his sharp claws.' But, to his surprise, 'he could make no impression on the tin, although the Woodman fell over in the road and lay still.' Baum here refers to the fact that in 1896 workers were often pressured into voting for McKinley and gold by their employers.[19] Amazed, the Lion says, 'he nearly blunted my claws,' and he adds even more appropriately, 'When they scratched against the tine it made a cold shiver run down my back' (pp. 67-68). The King of Beasts is not after all very cowardly, and Bryan, although a pacifist and an anti-imperialist in a time of national expansion, is not either.[20] The magic Silver Shoes belong to Dorothy, however. Silver's potent charm, which had come to mean so much to so many in the Midwest, could not be entrusted to a political symbol. Baum delivers Dorothy from the world of adventure and fantasy to the real world of heartbreak and desolution through the power of Silver. It represents a real force in a land of illusion, and neither the Cowardly Lion nor Bryan truly needs or understands its use. All together now the small party moves toward the Emerald City. Coxey's Army of tramps and indigents, marching to ask President Cleveland for work in 1894, appears no more naively innocent than this group of four characters going to see a humbug Wizard, to request favors that only the little girl among them deserves. Those who enter the Emerald City must wear green glasses. Dorothy later discovers that the greeness of dresses and ribbons disappears on leaving, and everything becomes a bland white. Perhaps the magic of any city is thus self imposed. But the Wizard dwells here and so the Emerald City represents the national Capitol. The Wizard, a little bumbling old man, hiding behind a facade of paper mache and noise, might be any president from Grant to McKinley. He comes straight from the fairgrounds on Omaha, Nebraska, and he symbolizes the American criterion for leadership -- he is able to be everything to everybody. As each of our heroes enters the throne room to ask a favor the Wizard assumes different shapes, representing different views toward national leadership. To Dorothy he appears as an enormous head, 'bigger than the head of the biggest giant.' An apt image for a naive and innocent little citizen. To the Scarecrow he appears to be a lovely, gossamer fairy, a most appropriate form for an idealistic Kansas farmer. The Woodman sees a horrible beast, as would any exploited Eastern laborer after the trouble of the 1890's. But the Cowardly Lion, like W. J. Bryan, sees a 'Ball of Fire, so fierce and glowing he could scarcely bear to gaze upon it.' Baum then provides an additional analogy, for when the Lion 'tried to go nearer he singed his whiskers and he crept back tremblingly to a spot nearer the door.' (p. 134) The Wizard has asked them all to kill the Witch of the West. The golden road does not go in that direction and so they must follow the sun, as have many pioneers in the past. The land they now pass through is 'rougher and hillier, for there were no farms nor houses in the country of the West and the ground was untilled' (p.140). The Witch of the West uses natural forces to achieve her ends; she is Baum's version of sentient and malign nature. Finding Dorothy and her friends in the West, the Witch sends forty wolves against them, then forty vicious crows and finally a great swarm of black bees. But it is through the power of a magic golden cap that she summons the flying monkeys. They capture the little girl and dispose of her companions. Baum makes these Winged Monkeys into an Oz substitute for the plains Indians. Their leader says, 'Once we were a free people, living happily in the great forest, flying from tree to tree, eating nuts and fruit, and doing just as we pleased without calling anybody master.' 'This,' he explains, 'was many years ago, long before Oz came out of the clouds to rule over this land' (p. 172). But like many Indian tribes Baum's monkeys are not inherently bad; their actions depend wholly upon the bidding of others. Under the control of an evil influence, they do evil. Under the control of goodness and innocence, as personified by Dorothy, the monkeys are helpful and kind, although unable to take her to Kansas. Says the Monkey King, 'We belong to this country alone, and cannot leave it' (p. 213). The same could be said with equal truth of the first Americans. Dorothy presents a special problem to the Witch. Seeing the mark on Dorothy's forehead and the Silver Shoes on her feet, the Witch begins 'to tremble with fear, for she knew what a powerful charm belonged to them.' Then 'she happened to look into the child's eyes and saw how simple the soul behind them was, and that the little girl did now know of the wonderful power the Silver shoes gave her' (p. 150). Here Baum again uses the Silver allegory to state the blunt homily that while goodness affords a people ultimate protection against evil, ignorance of their capabilities allows evil to impose itself upon them. The Witch assumes that proportions of a kind of western Mark Hanna or Banker Boss, who, through natural malevolence, manipulates the people and holds them prisoner by cynically taking advantage of their innate innocence. Enslaved in the West 'Dorothy went to work meekly, with her mind made up to work as hard as she could; for she was glad the Wicked Witch had decided not to kill her' (p. 150). Many Western farmers have held these same grim thoughts in less mystical terms. If the Witch of the West is a diabolical force of Darwinian or Spencerian nature, then another contravening force may be counted upon the dispose of her. Dorothy destroys the evil Witch by angrily dousing her with a bucket of water. Water, that precious commodity which the drought-ridden farmers on the great plains needed so badly, and which if correctly used could create an agricultural paradise, or at least dissolve a wicked witch. Plain water brings an end to malign nature in the West. When Dorothy and her companions return to the Emerald City they soon discover that the Wizard is really nothing more than 'a little man, with a bald head and a wrinkled face.' Can this be the ruler of the land? Our friends looked at him in surprise and dismay. 'I thought Oz was a great Head,' said Dorothy....'And I thought Oz was a terrible Beast,' said the Tin Woodman. 'And I thought Oz was a Ball of Fire,' exclaimed the Lion. 'No; you are all wrong,' said the little man meekly. 'I have been making believe.' Dorothy asks if he is truly a great Wizard. He confides, 'Not a bit of it, my Dear; I'm just a common man.' Scarecrow adds, 'You're more than that...you're a humbug' (p. 184). The Wizard's deception is of long standing in Oz and even the Witches were taken in. How was it accomplished? 'It was a great mistake my ever letting you into the Throne Room,' the Wizard complains. 'Usually I will not see even my subjects, and so they believe I am something terrible' (p. 185). What a wonderful lesson for youngsters of the decade when Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland and William McKinley were hiding in the White House. Formerly the Wizard was a mimic, a ventriloquist and a circus balloonist. The latter trade involved going 'up in a balloon on circus day, so as to draw a crowd of people together and get them to pay to see the circus' (p. 186-187). Such skills are as admirable adapted to success in late-nineteenth-century politics as they are to the humbug wizardry of Baum's story. A pointed comment on Midwestern political ideals is the fact that our little Wizard comes from Omaha, Nebraska, a center of Populist agitation. 'Why, that isn't very far from Kansas,' cries Dorothy. Nor, indeed, are any of the characters in the wonderful land of Oz. The Wizard, of course, can provide the objects of self-delusion desired by Tin Woodman, Scarecrow and Lion. But Dorothy's hope of going home fades when the Wizard's balloon leaves too soon. Understand this: Dorothy wishes to leave a green and fabulous land, from which all evil has disappeared, to go back to the gray desolation of the Kansas prairies. Dorothy is an orphan, Aunt Em and Uncle Henry are her only family. Reality is never far from Dorothy's consciousness and in the most heartrending terms she explains her reasoning to the good Witch Glinda, Aunt Em will surely think something dreadful has happened to me, and that will make her put on mourning; and unless the crops are better this year than there were last I am sure Uncle Henry cannot afford it. (p. 254) The Silver Shoes furnish Dorothy with a magic means of travel. But when she arrives back in Kansas she finds, 'The Silver Shoes had fallen off in her flight through the air, and were lost forever in the desert' (p.259). Were the 'her' to refer to America in 1900, Baum's statement could hardly be contradicted. Current historiography tends to criticize the Populist movement for its 'delusions, myths and foibles,' Professor C. Vann Woodward observed recently.[22] Yet The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has provided unknowing generations with a gentle and friendly Midwestern critique of the Populist rationale on these very same grounds. Led by naive innocence and protected by good will, the farmer, the laborer and the politician approach the mystic holder of national power to ask for personal fulfillment. Their desires, as well as the Wizard's cleverness in answering them, are all self-delusion. Each of these characters carries within him the solution to his own problem, were he only to view himself objectively. The fearsome Wizard turns out to be nothing more than a common man, capable of shrewd but mundane answers to these self-induced needs. Like any good politician he gives the people what they want. Throughout the story Baum poses a central thought; the American desire for symbols of fulfillment is illusory. Real needs lie elsewhere. Thus the Wizard cannot help Dorothy, for of all the characters only she has a wish that is selfless, and only she has a direct connection to honest, hopeless human beings. Dorothy supplies real fulfillment when she returns to her aunt and uncle, using the Silver Shoes, and cures some of their misery and heartache. In this way Baum tells us that the Silver crusade at least brought back Dorothy's lovely spirit to the disconsolate plains farmer. Her laughter, love and good will are no small addition to that gray land, although the magic of Silver has been lost forever as a result. Noteworthy too is Baum's prophetic placement of leadership of Oz after Dorothy's departure. The Scarecrow reigns over the Emerald City, the Tin Woodman rules in the West and the Lion protects smaller beast in 'a grand old forest.' Thereby farm interests achieve national importance, industrialism moves West and Bryan commands only a forest full of lesser politicians. Baum's Fantasy succeeds in bridging the gap between what children want and what they should have. It is an admirable example of the way in which an imaginative writer can teach goodness and morality without producing the almost inevitable side effect of nausea. Today's children's books are either saccharine and empty, or boring and pedantic. Baum's first Oz tale -- and those which succeed it -- are immortal not so much because the 'heart-aches and nightmares are left out' as that 'the wonderment and joy' are retained (p. 1). Baum declares 'The story of 'the Wonderful Wizard of Oz' was written solely to pleasure children of today' (p. 1). In 1963 there are very few children who have never heard of the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman or the Cowardly Lion, and whether they know W. W. Denslow's original illustrations of Dorothy, or Judy Garland's whimsical characterization, is immaterial. The Wizard has become a genuine piece of America folklore because, knowing his audience, Baum never allowed the consistency of the allegory to take precedence over the theme of youthful entertainment. Yet once discovered, the author's allergorical intent seems clear, and it gives depth and lasting interest even to children who only sense something else beneath the surface of the story. Consider the fun in picturing turn-of-the-century America, a difficult era at best, using these ready-made symbols provided by Baum. The relationship and analogies outlined above are admittedly theoretical, but they are far too consistent to be coincidental, and they furnish a teaching mechanism which is guaranteed to reach any level of student. The Wizard of Oz says so much about so many things that it is hard not to imagine a satisfied and mischievous gleam in Lyman Frank Baum's eye as he had Dorothy say, 'And oh, Aunt Em! I'm so glad to be at home again!'

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 12:48:17 (EDT) From: such Email: None To: Perfessor Suchabanana Subject: Baum's Cornell connection Message:

It was while Frank was home on holiday that he met the other love of his life, Maud Gage. Through his sister Harriet’s persistence, Frank agreed to meet Maud at a party. She was still at Cornell University while Frank was with The Maid of Arran Company. After the holiday season came to a close, Maud left to go back to school to the admiration of other male suitors and Frank stayed with the Company. Maud came from a prosperous family who lived in Fayetteville, NY. Maud’s mother, Matilda Joslyn Gage, was a nationally known feminist and her father was a dry-goods merchant. It is interesting to note, that Matilda worked with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony in her later years. It was in the Gage home that these three women wrote History of Woman Suffrage published in four volumes from 1881 to 1902.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 13:03:50 (EDT) From: Perfessor Such Email: None To: such Subject: Footnotes: Message:

Footnotes 1. Winston S. Churchill, Their Finest Hour (Cambridge, 1949). pp. 615-16. 2. Martin Gardiner and Russel B. Nye, The Wizard of Oz and Who He Was (East Lansing, Mich., 1957), pp. 7 ff, 14-16, 19. Professor Nye's 'Appreciation' and Martin Gardiner's 'The Royal Historian of Oz' totaling some fourth-five pages, present as definitive an analysis of Baum and his works as is available today. 3. L Frank Bum, The Marvelous Land of Oz (Chicago, 1904), p 3 (Author's Note). 4. Gardiner and Nye, Wizard, pp. 5-7,23. 5. Ibid., pp. 20-22. 6. See Calton F. Culmsee, Malign Nature and the Frontier (Logan, Utah, 1959), VII, 5, 11, 14. The classic work in the field of symbolism in Western literature is Henry Nash Smith, Virgin Lane (New York, 1961), pp. 225-26, 261, 284-90. 7. Ibid., p. 287. 8. Russel B. Nye, Midwestern Progressive Politics (East Lansing, Mich., 1959). pp. 63, 56-58, 75, 105. See also John D. Hicks, The Populist Revolt (Minneapolish, 1931), pp. 82, 93-95, 264-68. 9. See Ray Ginger, Altgeld's America (New York, 1958). 10. GArdiner and Nye, Wizard, p. 29 11. See Williams Jennings Bryan, The First Battle (Lincoln, Neb., 1897), pp. 612-29. Two recent studies are notable: Harold U. Faulkner, Politics, REform and Expansion (New York, 1959), pp. 187-211 and Nye, Politics, pp. 105-20. 12. See Richard Hofstadter's shattering essay on Bryan in The American Political Tradition (New York, 1960), pp 186-205. Nye, Politics, pp. 121-22; Faulkner Reform, pp. 272-75. 13.Gardiner and Nye, Wizard, pp. 1, 30. 14. L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, pp. 11-13. All quotations cited in the text are from the inexpensive but accurate Dover paperback edition (New York, 1960). 15. Henry Nash Smith says of Garland's works in the 1890's, 'It has at last become possible to deal with the Western farmer in literature as a human being instead of seeing him through a veil of literary convention, class prejudice or social theory.' Virgin Land, p. 290. 16. Hicks declares that from the start 'The Alliance and Populist platforms championed boldly the cause of labor....' Revolt p. 324. See also Bryan's Labor Day speech, Battle, pp. 375-83. 17. Faulkner, Reform, pp. 142-43. 18. Richard Hofstadter (ed.), Great Issues in American History (New York, 1960), II, 147-53. 19. Bryan, Battle, pp 617-618, 'During the campaign I ran across various evidences of coercion, direct and indirect.' See Hicks, Revolt, p. 325, who notes that 'For some reason labor remained singularly unimpressed' by Bryan. Faulkner finds overt pressure as well, Reform, pp. 208-9. 20. Faulkner, Reform, pp. 257-58. 21. Professor Nye observes that during 1890 (while Baum was editing his Aberdeen weekly) the Nebraska Farmer's Alliance 'launched the wildest campaign in Nebraska history.' Politics, p. 64-65. Bryan was a Senator from Nebraska and it was in Omaha that the Populist party ratified its platform on July 4, 1892. Seen Henry Steele Comager (ed.), Documents of American History (New York, 1958). II, 143-46. 22. C. Vann Woodward, 'Our Past Isn't What It Used To Be,' The New York Times Book Review (July 28, 1963), p. 1; Hofstadter, Tradition

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 12:20:31 (EDT) From: such Email: None To: Jerry Subject: or that JFK's murder was a conspiracy... [nt] Message:

ciao!

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 14:30:17 (EDT) From: BeenThereDoneThat Email: None To: such Subject: Re: or that JFK's murder was a conspiracy... Message:

After seeing the film Thirteen Days in October, and piecing together my husband's military career, as well as my parent's memories of that time frame (I was in grade school), we finally feel JFK's assination makes sense if viewed through the bruised ego's of US military top brass. JFK was gonna put those bad good ole boys outa business being friendly with them Russians, donchya know? We looked up all the players, what happened to their careers, etc. It's truly sickening. I used to hear Vietnam vets talk where I worked in the '70's about how they were forbidden to bomb certain areas because of Mrs. Ladybird Johnson's bazillion acres of plantations. Not to worry though..now we have schoolboy Prezeeedent Georgie to re-establish stupidity. So esteemed, Perfessor, is this JFK theory possible or do you think it was mafia inspired? It really is a shame you don't teach anymore. The caliber of truly great teachers is dwindling. I get happy for my kids and their friends when they come across a college prof who is passionate, borderline crazed, about their field. The passion is contagious and learning takes place that is wonderful to watch. But, alas, I understand your point of view very well. I work with kids who have fallen through the cracks because of bad curriculum and it is a nightmare at times to deal with all the political/educational/circus crud. Always it is at the expense of the children. May I inquire if you have posted a journey or is that too personal? The feeling of having a near nervous breakdown after discovering this site has subsided. I'm still discovering all the pieces for myself. I couldn't make sense out of the new video about knowledge info trainings. M seemded to contradict himself over and over and over. Even the actor guy, Michael Nori, a very talented individual, looked to me like he wasn't even buying it. Very uncomfortable. Ya know, premies bash this site but they aren't offering any truth with any substance. This place is filled with people who are honest. People like me recognize that here. Those that come spewing hate and venom are as scary here as they are in the premie world. It's that blind fanatacism (sp) that resemble shades of Nixonism-oops, make that Nazism. 'Follow the money, forget about the myth that surrounds the White House'= 'Ivory Rock.' A part time perfect master? Part time on stage then part time partying? How is that none of our business?

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 15:22:21 (EDT) From: suchabanana Email: None To: BeenThereDoneThat Subject: prem-think = 'substance'-abuse Message:

yeah, if one needs 'training' now [after decades of practice] to tell people about one's own inner experience and m., then the whole m. trip is revealing itself as a contrived control-trip hype -- the part that has to do with him. Your experience is whatever it is, and whatever you make of it -- yourself, independent of 'incultcated' concepts about himhimhim. r.e. JFK assassination -- I think it was a mafia/fed. govt. covert operation. I spent a lot of time looking at records/documents/files, films, autopsy, backgrounds of people involved. what a tangled web -- officially sealed by LBJ from the American people. There is a very informative book on the subject: High Treason. [the writing is very poor quality, but the data and facts presented are compelling, to say the least!] r.e. 'The feeling of having a near nervous breakdown after discovering this site has subsided. I'm still discovering all the pieces for myself.' yep, been there, done that, too!! still discovering all da pieces -- and peace Is... Peace and lentils, da lil' swami j. suchabanana

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 01:40:28 (EDT) From: such Email: None To: such Subject: also, they were silver slippers Message:

in Baum's original story of 1900. The 1938 Hollywood movie and modern revisionism of the allegorical fable have recast the slippers as ruby.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 15:46:51 (EDT) From: Bin Liner Email: None To: such Subject: Hollywood revisionism Message:

Thanks for your explanation of the W of Oz & all the articles that went with it . I never liked the film & didn't know it was based on a book, especially one with such an interesting allegorical meaning. Apart from a few books like those of Laura Ingalls Wilder the reality of the 19th century American dream has never crossed the Atlantic. The sufferings & poverty of the generation (or 2) which followed the pioneers has been ignored in favour of the great cowboy movie view of life then, & that's what most believe life was like in those parts in those days. Mind you most people in England have only a tenuous grip on the issues that concerned their own ancestors: what with dumbing down & deliberate distortions & omissions by those with an axe to grind, or people to control & manipulate, hardly anyone knows jackshit. Better go to Ireland : they've got a ferocious historical memory there, even if a lot of it is selective. It's fitting that Rawat has chosen to live in the City of Lies. Pat Dorrity

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 15:55:41 (EDT) From: such Email: None To: Bin Liner Subject: all that glitters is Not gold! Message:

da pot of gold at the end of da cult rainbow btw, where's da end of da rainbow? glitter-town, maybe...

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 21:56:51 (EDT) From: Barry Email: None To: Jerry Subject: Hey Jerry? Message:

Have you ever seen it at the same time your playing the p-Floyd album D-side of the Moon? Try sinking them up...It's really wierd, but it actually works!

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 18:56:32 (EDT) From: pay no attention to the man Email: None To: Jim Subject: behind the curtain! (nt) Message:

nt

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 18:51:11 (EDT) From: Pauline Premie Email: None To: Jim Subject: How Hateful Message:

Jim, we all know you are the leader of an international conspiracy to 'bring Maharaji down' and only Richard II in his valiant and insightful posts is standing between eternal peace and Maharaji's destruction. It's really serious, and you guys are an organized cell to bring that about. It just gives me the willies, it's so much mind. See, I'm sure that the poem you quoted was part of a conspiracy of ex-premies to get that posted on enjoyinglife just so you could make fun of it. But see, the Wizard of Oz was a fraud, in the MOVIE but the REAL Wizard of Oz, without Judy Garland around wasn't a fraud. And even if he was, he was a fraud for the purpose of showing Judy Garland and Ray Bolger, and those other guys that had what they needed and wanted all along. What they were looking for was right in their own back yards. The fact that the Wizard couldn't tell them that, and made them risk their lives to go kill a witch and everything, well, you guys are just making that stuff up because you are in a French Communist Hate Group.

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 19:16:49 (EDT) From: anon Email: None To: Pauline Premie Subject: Hater! Message:

Love is a word that is constantly heard, Hate is a word that is not. Love, I am told, is more precious than gold. Love, I have read, is hot. But hate is the verb that to me is superb, And Love but a drug on the mart. Any kiddie in school can love like a fool, But Hating, my boy, is an Art. -- Ogden Nash

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 19:11:03 (EDT) From: Jim Email: None To: Pauline Premie Subject: THAT IS TRULY FUNNY! Message:

But see, the Wizard of Oz was a fraud, in the MOVIE but the REAL Wizard of Oz, without Judy Garland around wasn't a fraud. I didn't even READ past that ... why bother? Cute!

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 19:02:26 (EDT) From: such Email: None To: Pauline Premie Subject: dat's organized stem cells! [nt] Message:

[nt]

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 19:00:41 (EDT) From: anon Email: None To: Pauline Premie Subject: pot -> crack ; kettle -> pot: black Message:

pot -> crack

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 18:45:06 (EDT) From: such Email: None To: Jim Subject: brothers and sisters, Message:

get down on yer knees, touch your television sets, and say 'because of you, I am saved'. Hallelujah! Now, you can help our mission with the propagation of the Lord's message of personal salvation to these poor illiterate folks in India and Cote d'Ivoire [shown on this video], by joining our monthly participation sponsorship program now. operators are standing by. as a token of his thanks, each year you will also receive this lovely 2X3 inch color photo of the lord himself.

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 18:31:09 (EDT) From: Francesca ~) Email: None To: Jim Subject: Pay no attention ... Message:

... to that man behind the curtain! As I said to Joy, below: 'Yeah there was this dweeby little tubby rat behind the curtain. Once we shut down his amplifiers (listening to nightly satsang, going to programs, listening to his drivel), we saw that he couldn't get us back to Kansas, or anywhere else we blew in from on the hippie trail.' Hello premies. Pardon me, but your delusion is showing. Good one, Jim! Bests, f

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 18:37:44 (EDT) From: anon Email: None To: Francesca ~) Subject: press to test Message:

[click!] Release, to detonate.

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 18:28:28 (EDT) From: such Email: None To: Jim Subject: waa-waa! I want my M.TV! Message:

Not! hehehehehe

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 18:58:34 (EDT) From: suchabanana Email: None To: such Subject: how many premies to change a lightbulb? Message:

How many premies does it take to change a lightbulb? uh, duh, uhhhh... lessee here: 1 premie to coordinate, 3 to form a committee, 1 to write da letter asking m's approval, 1 to convey the message to m. at his Presidential suite, 1 to interpret the message for the premies, 1 to communicate the message to the premies, 3 to form a committee to select da lightbulb, 3 to select da lightbulb, 3 to participate in funding the lightbulb, 1 to buy the lightbulb, 1 to rent the hall where the lightbulb crew of volunteers will be trained, 1 to call the phone tree list of community premies, 1 to facilitate da meeting, 1 to train the lightbulb crew, 2 to hold the ladder, 3 to share dat experience, and 1 bongo premie to climb da ladder and screw it in. then, when m. comes to da event, he can say, 'what's with dat light, ya dumb phlegmies. couldn't you do better than that?' so, repeat the whole procedure...

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 19:15:02 (EDT) From: Jim Email: None To: suchabanana Subject: Here's another Message:

Question: How many premies does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Answer: Oh no you don't! I can see where you're trying to go with that question. No way I'm going to answer it. Besides, what's a lightbulb anyway? Words are ambiguous (CD).

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 19:13:06 (EDT) From: Jim Email: None To: suchabanana Subject: Here's one answer Message:

[no text]

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 16:47:32 (EDT) From: Lesley Email: None To: All Subject: retrospectives Message:

In the fight for money between the tax office and private enterprise, one of the dirtiest tricks is to make a new ruling retrospective; I imagine it is also one of the most lucrative tricks. It just isn't fair play, is it. Change your mind, fair enough, say that you are not the Lord of the Universe, fine, good actually, but don't try and pretend that you never said you were, Mr Rawat. I was thinking about this because I was wondering why we don't spill the beans more, even the odd bean someone like me (never high up in the organisation) knows. The answer that comes is that it would be like doing a retrospective: pretending the past was different than it was, that I was not a premie, and accepted as such, at the time I learnt some fact, and therefore changing the rules retrospectively. Hi, everyone, I had fun logging in today and reading the familiar names, lots of great posts, Lesley, Ex premie and proud of it!

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 18:36:26 (EDT) From: Francesca :C) Email: None To: Lesley Subject: And the schizophrenia is ... Message:

... that they still think he IS the 'lord' or the equivalent thereof. They just deny it. Read that poem Jim posted above! I would love to have a video of the people who say he's just a good friend going through the darshan line, or in rapture in the front row seat at a program. Yeah, right. Good to see you here! love, Francesca

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 16:03:24 (EDT) From: swami j. suchabanana Email: None To: All Subject: da Twilight Zone: Those who don't learn... Message:

Subject: those who don't learn those who don't learn from the lessons [sic mistakes] of history are doomed to repeat them... welcome to the twilight zone: But, hey, man, like that's not fair to bring up the past. this is knowledge lite now. you guys are still stuck in the 1970s and 1980s. marjoe never said he was god or a savior; it's all lies, lies, lies. why do you people keep bringing that stuff up? those quotes must have been made up, too. besides, why can't the hateful exes and rape victims [who are clearly being manipulated by the ex-premies] just get a life and move along, and not disturb our blissful groovy scene? you guys are bringing us down with your blather and yakety yak -- bummer. and, like, you know, everyone around miragey already knows there ain't no sanity clause, anyway, so whatsa big deal, dude?! So, he is a very very 'successful businessman', and he smokes dope and drinks booze. bfd. heck, thousands of premies like to smoke lotsa dope and drink booze and have illicit sex, too. also, what's wrong with having tens of millions of dollars? I mean, maybe he earned that money, or people probably gave it to him -- or maybe they gave it to Elan Vital. this isn't a religion, after all. ok, so it's registered as a church. there are plenty of ministers getting filthy rich -- at least miragey is earning that money. I mean, it must be very difficult flying that complicated plane around, and very trying staying in those hotel suites, and terribly lonely with only a lovely blonde mistress and some servants to keep him company on the road. besides, at the heart of it, maybe by practicing this kn we can all be rich,too, just like him. 'Now the Lincoln owner, he's had money a long, long time. But the Mercedes owner -- the 'practical man.' (Maharaji) Isn't that the perfect example he is setting for us -- that you can have it all - 'that experience' + every luxury and material thing in this world, every drug, as much extramarital sex as you'll ever want, and not even be attached to any of it --- he is so perfect, after all, he is the Master?! that's the beauty of it all. who needs compassion, morality, ethics, empathy for the poor or for the hateful disbelievers? we are special, we are saved, we know something you don't -- that feeling, that gratitude, that synchronization, that participation, that possibility... you guys keep bringing up facts. facts, facts, facts -- whats yer problem? what do facts have to do with 'that experience, 'that experience of feeling', that feeling of 'the heart', that 'thirst', that 'possibility' that only miragey offers and can ever satisfy? I mean, he is the Master. he can put you in touch with your breath, that swing, that simplicity, that possibility of fulfillment, and then you will have the opportunity of gratitude, participation, and synchronization, and perhaps be so lucky as to even receive training in how to tell your own friends and family about it, and how to gradually introduce them to miragey, too. the naturalness the spontaneity, the blissful truth -- not the hateful lies of ex-premies -- those who never experienced this knowledge during the 30 years they practiced it daily, and/or those who don't know what they're talking about r.e. miragey, just because they might have been his financial advisor, or the president of divine light mission [EV], or his chauffeur, or his national coordinator, or his instructors -- they were obviously just in their minds the whole bleepin time -- and totally missed out. what a waste of human potential -- what a bunch of loosers! I mean, like, they obviously never realized this knowledge or who maharaji really is. like, who is guru maharaj ji? ask, and you will find da answer. every premie worth their ashram socks or spray-painted holi shirt knows da answer to that question. he is da superior power in person. 'I bow before you', my lord... C'mon, premies, back me up here. As miragey said, this is a 'war.' He needs more canon fodder for this holy war. We all know who miragey really is [wink wink]. he isn't just some meditation teacher -- he is the Master, da Perfect Master, da satguru, da Balyogeshwar, god in human form, the living lord of the universe come to bring about the new millenium - a thousand years of peace. and 'you can't come home without the master'. 'not a leaf stirs' in this whole world that he is not aware of. ok, so he has admitted that he doesn't hear our prayers. big deal. ok, so he doesn't know what happens after death. but, that's no reason not to place our salvation, our lives, our souls in his precious hands, or to completely surrender the reins of our lives at his holy lotus feet. Right? I mean, we are like little children. And miragey is such a father to us all. we are so weak and so small, and he is all-knowing, he is so big, he is so strong, he is the Master, as he has told us so many many many times for so many many many years. the message remains the same. he hasn't changed the message at all. it was mishler's fault, bill patterson's fault,bill wishard's fault, david smith's fault, vijayanand, charanand, mata ji, satpal, bhole ji, sharon stokke, ira woods, joan apter, gary girard, tim gallwey, donner, dettmers, terry yingling's fault, linda gross, david mankoff, eric reinemer, charles glasser, robert jacobs, jean-michel, marolyn's fault, randy prouty, parlokanand, chris cruse, rajeshwar, satyanand, Tiny reinhardt, suzy bai, geof and kim, rich neal, jiva, the anand band, charles cameron, glen whittaker, all the ashram premies, the 100,000 deluded premies who never got it, et al, etc. always remember -- miragey is perfect. he said so, himself -- so it must be true. he also said that if the master was imperfect he wouldn't be the perfect master. 'We have to find this Word by a teacher, a guide. A guide who is perfect, and who can teach this perfect Knowledge to us. A perfect guide can guide us. You need a burning lamp to light other lamps. So, in the same way you need an enlightened Perfect Master to make you enlightened and perfect also. IF THE MASTER HIMSELF IS NOT PERFECT, HOW CAN HE MAKE YOU PERFECT? YOU NEED A PERFECT Master.'( -Maharaji) So he must know what he is talking about because he is the master -- therefore everything he says or does must be perfect. follow? that's the sheer simple beauty of it -- never leave room for doubt. got it? see, I really gotcha this time, kiddo. no ex-premie doubtmaker logic can contend with the sheer simple beauty of trusting in da perfection and divine wisdom of the Master. ever since that magical transmission of energy at the time of initiation [the shaktipat]; it says so right on pg. 77 of the authorized book, Who is Guru Maharaj ji?: 'the initiation is a profound spiritual event in which an indefinable essence, or energy, is transmitted between human beings.' See? that's the key and the proof of the hasty pudding. and only miragey holds the key. see, he was channeling halfway around the world through the instructors. now, he is channeling that same energy through DVD players while smoking cigs backstage, or having sex and drinking cognac in another part of the world. he is omnipotent and omniscient, maybe not in his indivualized form but as his Guru Maharaj ji -- you know, in the 3rd person. see? that essence, that external 'indefinable energy' transmission between human beings can not be defined or explained. you have to feel it, to trust completely in miragey, I mean, 'when Satguru comes... He is perfect, He was perfect, and He will be perfect... A devotee is sitting in America, Guru is sitting in India, but both have a very powerful connection...So, remember. We have to find that God, that person who is perfect... So, remember: we are part of Him who has manifested Himself as a Guru and who has come into this earth, and now we have to be One with Him. We have to completely merge and make our souls one with Him because He is perfect, and once we merge with Him we will also be perfect.' - miragey see, you guys are just totally confused, in yer minds, and missing out! you and Way, and Deborah, and that swami banana, et al. see? this whole thing is 'indefinable'. without trust, without being that humble 'servant', without dedicating your mind and the reins of your life, without that synchronization and participation -- how could you possibly understand? this knowledge can not be understood, anyway. so, your attempts to explain it, your doubts, your questions will all be answered if you just become like a trusting little child -- and trust 100% in the word of the Master -- his word is always straight. As he has told us so many many times: 'No cheat, no deceit.' [Rod Serling: You have just been to a place where time and space stand still, where there is never room for doubt, worries, regrets, only the bliss and peace of that feeling, that understanding, that knowledge, that experience, that darshan, that divine lila of god in human form -- the Perfect Master, whose every infallible word and action are like divine dewdrops of nectar.] yes, this internet is his divine play -- His lila, his sport. that's why he wanted all the premies to go on the internet and check out the websites in the first place, see the rotten ex-vegetables, and come to his own site for the truth [and for some milk and cookies] - the truth which only he knows, which only he reveals, which only he understands -- in da Twilight Zone.] hope this finally makes everything 'perfectly clear'. but even then, You guys probably just don't get it.] --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- do all those raps sound familiar? they don't call that 'incultcation', for nuttin! jai suchabanana. bolie shri ratrugudev maharaj ki jai! Peace and lentils, hohohohohohohohohohohohoho

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 14:39:06 (EDT) From: Bryn Email: None To: swami j. suchabanana Subject: I'll go with that. Nice blast. nt Message:

nt

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 16:17:21 (EDT) From: Ulf Email: None To: swami j. suchabanana Subject: Rigth on brother , j.s.c.a. nt. Message:

bhyjk

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 12:21:41 (EDT) From: BeenThereDoneThat Email: None To: All Subject: Jobs with Maharaji Message:

On Maharaji's website it is possible to apply for jobs. Are these people paid by him with social security and all other necesary US taxes or are these people that go to Elan Vital? If they are direct employees of Maharaji, are the expenses of having these employees included in the expense accounts for accepting an invitation to an event? Or do they work for the company that owns the residence and boat?

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Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 14:27:06 (EDT) From: Joe Email: None To: BeenThereDoneThat Subject: Re: Jobs with Maharaji Message:

From what I can gather, and given that Elan Vital and Maharaji are SO SECRETIVE, it's hard to know, that people who work for Elan Vital are employed by the Elan Vital organization in whatever country it's in. You can bet there are mucho expense accounts for whoever is employed by EV. Then, I think Visions, which is a subsidiary of Elan Vital, also hires people, including, we have been told two of Maharaji's kids, Wadi Sue, and Daya. I can only suspect what kind of salaries are paid to them, what kind of 'perks' they get for working there, and what kind of expense accounts they have, but they both are used to living lives of absolute luxury since they were born, and I'm sure there have been plently of mechanisms to keep them living in that style. It appears that Maharaji's residences, his planes, etc., are owned by SEVA Corporation, which probably actually employs his servants to run the house, the planes, etc. Since Elan Vital pays the 'expenses' Maharaji incurs for 'EV' events, including paying the 'lease' Maharaji's own plane to attend events, Seva is essentially a means to funnel back money from Elan Vital to Maharaji. It's probably all perfectly legal, but Elan Vital verges on lying when it says on its website that Maharaji doesn't own the Gulfstream, but that it is leased from another company. Well, the 'other company' is compeletly controlled by cult members and Maharaji's family, and I wouldn't be a bit surprised that Elan Vital even pays Maharaji to fly his own plane. I doubt Maharaji has any employess of his own. I bet even Patrick McCracken, his personal valet, as well as the other residence servants, are employees of SEVA or some other shell corporation. Everything has likely been set up to insulate Maharaji from liability and taxes.

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Date: Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 07:40:47 (EDT) From: WMary Email: None To: Joe Subject: Re: Jobs with Maharaji Message:

I believe the corp. used for the plane employees, is Execucorp. From what I remember from FV posting a few years ago. Maybe able to locate it on search engine.

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