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Civilization
“Look history over and you will see. The missionary comes after the whiskey—I mean, he arrives after the whiskey—I mean, he arrives after the whiskey has arrived. Next comes the poor immigrant with ax and hoe and rifle; next, the trader, next the miscellaneous rush; next the gambler, the desperado, the highwayman, and all of their kindred in sin of both sexes; and next the smart chap who has bought up an old grant that covers all the land; this brings in the lawyer tribe; the vigilance committee brings the undertaker. All these interests bring the newspaper; the newspaper starts up politics and a railroad; all hands turn to and build a church and a jail—and behold, civilization is established forever in the land.”
—Mark Twain (1835-1910), social observer,
quoted in Stephen Longstreet, The Wilder Shore:
A Gala Social History of San Francisco, 1849-1906
(Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., 1968)
(Thanks to alert WORDster Dwight Teeter)
quoted in Stephen Longstreet, The Wilder Shore:
A Gala Social History of San Francisco, 1849-1906
(Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., 1968)
(Thanks to alert WORDster Dwight Teeter)
Editorial Comment: And when the newspapers die....
News Note: Debate over journalism@Utah State.
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I've got a small gig going at Microsoft's Centre for Information Work...
ReplyDeleteMicrosoft recently released a video of some of its thinking about future technology trends..
One thing that fascinated me -and gave me hope for the future of journalism - were the images of a man reading an electronic newspaper...
If you're interested, go to the following link and watch the video clip:
http://www.metaprinter.com/
Well . . . if the newspapers started up politics, then maybe the politics die, too, when the newspapers die? Haven't quite figured out the rest.
ReplyDelete