Young Harlan Ellison Speaks, part 3

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Education

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• harlan
• ellison
• science
• fiction
• sci
• fi
• author
• writer

[Teabonesteak]

@WestVirginiaRebel . Yes, people could discuss who started what and which came first but Dangerous Visions was created with a purpose in mind and that purpose was achieved. I 'd hardly suspect Damon Knight created his Orbit series with the same intention that Harlan compiled Dangerous Visions. Given historical context and the fact you didn't answer my original question (how old are you?), I would say your opinion doesn't carry much weight as to how "dangerous" Dangerous Visions was at the time.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

@Teabonesteak I don't know if it qualifies, but Damon Knight's "Orbit" series began publishing in 1966.

Ellison definitely deserves credit for bringing a lot of new writers attention; my main point was that the publishing taboos that he was rebelling against had already fallen by 1967.

[Teabonesteak]

@WestVirginiaRebel You're saying there is another anthology of original stories by a combination of the "old wave" writers and "new wave" writers before dangerous visions? Could you give me a title?

[WestVirginiaRebel]

@Teabonesteak What I mean is, Ellison's original goal of publishing science fiction stories with taboo subjects had already been achieved by 1967 when Dangerous Visions came out. Both the original and Again, Dangerous visions took a few years to put together (Ellison began working on DV in 1965 I believe.)

[Teabonesteak]

@WestVirginiaRebel How old are you?

[WestVirginiaRebel]

IMO, "Dangerous Visions" wasn't that "Dangerous" by the time it was published (1967) when the "New Wave" was already in full swing. Still a classic, though.

This looks/sounds like circa 1970 given the earlier environmental talk.

[joshweiss01]

@CDBBryan Do you not know of the background of the 'front runner', Herman Cain? Do I have to spell everything out for you because you live under a rock? Give me a break!

[joshweiss01]

@CDBBryan About those psychiatrists, be sure to recommend them to your Republican friends and all the other Randian lunatics that are certain that the world revolves around them. This is why the Republican house is rendering itself ridiculous with all of that red neck science denying idiocy and bible belting crackpots that block any kind of effective legislation just because Obama SUPPORTS it! Don't send me any more crap!

[CDBBryan]

@joshweiss01 That's pretty far off-topic, pretty angry, and I just find it hard to continue a discussion this torqued up about a guy hypotheticallly trying to sell some pizzas.

The numbers of several psychiatrists are available in your local yellow pages.

That's all I can do.

Thank you, and good night.

[CDBBryan]

@joshweiss01 Read also OBAMANOMICS by Timothy Carney, an extensively detailed argument against expansive government spending, that actually benefits a few corporations like GE and Pfizer with all this green spending and Obamacare,allegedly to help middle class and poor. But in truth it just benefits the largest corporations by squeezing out smaller competitors, narrows competition, raises prices, and all those increases are passed on to consumers.

Attack actual corruption, not "the rich"

[CDBBryan]

@joshweiss01 "Before Madoff was nailed I would have bet good money that you and people like you would have been shouting from the roof tops about what a fine hard working honorable man he is and how we should leave this poor guy alone to make more money. "

And there you are getting overly personal, assuming a lot of crap you don't know, viciously attacking me, just because I disagree with you. You just rendered yourself ridiculous.

Read WHY THE LEFT HATES AMERICA, by Dan Flynn, pp115-145

[joshweiss01]

@CDBBryan How are we taking away from the rich. Quick, I want math not some emotional knee-jerk response. Some guy gets a loan from a bank and stumbles across a trick to gain public acceptance for his product, say, for example, it's pizza. He then rails at the Gov. because he is of the impression that his contribution to the business community is so unique that he deserves tax exempt status. Yet he continues to use public services such as fire, police and the maintaining of roads. Uses airports!

[joshweiss01]

@CDBBryan 

[joshweiss01]

@CDBBryan Ok you have mentioned two, TWO brilliant guys who deserve their successes. Unfortunately we have seen more Bernie Madoff types who have gamed the system and screwed up Wall Street. Before Madoff was nailed I would have bet good money that you and people like you would have been shouting from the roof tops about what a fine hard working honorable man he is and how we should leave this poor guy alone to make more money. Well I'm glad they DIDN'T leave him alone. More SEC enforcement!

[CDBBryan]

@joshweiss01 " convincing the people that they are ripping off that they should give up more and more and more because the rich need to own more of everyone's life"

The 'rich' I see are generally guys who work 12 hours a day to build something, that includes jobs for the rest of us, innovations, technology, a better world.

Guys like Steve Jobs? Bill Gates?

It is not only the rich who prosper. Taking away from them only shrinks growth for everyone.

[joshweiss01]

@CDBBryan During the last thirty years we have seen the road to hell paved by people with BAD intentions and they keep convincing the people that they are ripping off that they should give up more and more and more because the rich need to own more of everyone's life.

[FractalBolt]

Did that guy pull his shades off because he knew wearing them indoors was kind of lame?

[CDBBryan]

In the long term, perhaps Ellison may turn out to be right, that speculative fiction will inspire many to create a better world.

In the same way that STAR TREK inspired many to become engineers and scientists, speculative fiction could inspire a better society.

But utopias tend to turn out as a road to hell paved in good intentions. As in the examples of Fahrenheit 451 and BRAVE NEW WORLD, or "Repent Harlequin", progressives and liberals may take us down a path of unintended consequences.

[666caimbirdofhell]

Oh and forget love-letters. It's the I-Age nowadays. Henceforth why I'm online blabbering away.

[666caimbirdofhell]

Hey Harlan,

I know I complain a lot, but I think you're fascinating... which is the reason you earned my attention in the first place. And I love Shakespeare! And Beowulf1 I tend to use it daily in my dialog.

Thank you

[geinikan1kan]

I agree with WASrul, both about the video and now. In Part 1 Ellison goes on about a new "planetary" consciousness that links human around the globe. It might sound precious nowadays, but Ellison is articulating an idea that is really important in the post-WWII world, and in the "postmodern" world. Watching stocks rise and fall it'seasy to forget that the world is not infinite. Things might be reaching a kind of crisis point. Let's hope our "species" has the sense (not just reason) to get thru.

[WASrul]

The part at the end, where he says "it's up to YOU, watching this now, to say where it's going..." is kind of awesome, when you consider that we're watching it on YouTube, and just the enormous changes that have happened since "Dangerous Visions" came out in 1967.

we're living in an amazing time, right now. we really are.