Talk:Cosmic View

An unconventional wish

The current article says:

Although the essay ends with a rather conventional wish expressed in language unfortunately reminiscent of government bureaucracies—"No difference of nationality, race, creed, or conviction, age or sex may weaken our effort as human beings to live and work for the good of all"

I'm about to change it. Here's why. It was written in 1957. Conventional wish? This was the height of the cold war. In the US, of McCarthyism. Racial segregation is US policy. It is unclear a catholic can be elected president. The modern women's rights movement hasn't started yet. Children are chattel. Yes, the sentence stands out as bizarre. One encounters this effect often when reading history written in the 50's and 60's. But it stands out because the culture of a half century ago is so vastly different than ours. Government bureaucracy? There wasn't a major government on the planet advocating this full set of principles. 02:48, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

Please. This language is so p.c. – so, well, reminiscent of government bureaucracies then and now – that it's almost embarrassing. In fact, the ponderous platitudes expressed were typical of, say, United Nations speak in the 1950s and of countless government bureaucracies since. I'm not going to fight over this because the little-viewed article isn't worth it. But I stand by the evaluation of this hilariously clunking, solemn, humorless, self-important, stuffed-shirt, and anticlimactic conclusion to the book. Casey Abell 11:59, 13 August 2007 (UTC)