Re: What If Everyone Saw This Facebook Status?

poocer — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:15:55 -0000

Putting money into education defeats the idea that the lower classes must not rock the boat or disturb the status quo. Bread and circuses (chips, deep upholstery and TV) will keep them quiet as do the Electoral College and voter restrictions. "All men are created equal" meant only that wealthy Americans are equal to wealthy Brits. Thru education and the media, more and more of us have learned of these injustices and demanded legislative changes. When we raise such issues we are a danger to the oligarchy. Ignorance begets either more ignorance or revolution. Can we find a middle way?
Remember, this is not about progressive vs. conservative; it's about inequality!

Re: Gohn Brothers, broadfalls, & men’s plain dress

poocer — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:10:58 -0000

I first found Gohn brothers in The Whole Earth Catalog, which for me was one of the greatest publications ever. How I miss it! For years I wore the dropfall pants and found them to be superior to jeans for general use. Of course, the uniform in those days and our set was overalls, themselves like jeans a political statement. Now I have almost a dozen pairs but seldom wear them __wife bought 'em__ as they bind the knees and the paunch. (Not as easy to shed the paunch at 74 as at 34) And I'm really bored with well-meaners taking me aside and whispering "Your flies are open". Big deal! With the social revolution of the 60s and 70s jeans became the worldwide democratic leveler, like the tee shirt and later, flipflops.
Jan de hartog, in his wonderful novel Peaceable Kingdom, says that early Quakers would not wear indigo-dyed clothes as processing the plant for dye was so disagreeable that only slaves could be made to do it..
Simple clothing comes naturally to me, although for years working in architects' offices had me in the professional uniform: Oxford gray wool-and-acrylic suit with 2 pairs of pants, all navy-blue socks for ease of laundry sorting, button-down blue Oxford shirts and knit ties for drafting. Chinos were for days when I could get away with no jacket, but the tie stayed, a bow tie in colorful Indian silk or Madras cotton. Long gone together with my 30 inch waist!
Our family's earliest immigrants came to Delaware 40 years before William Penn, spoke Swedish and later Dutch and Lenni Lenape. They were soldiers, traders and farmers. One was actually a translator between Penn and the Indians. Then came the Quakers and the Anabaptists responding to Penn's offer of religious freedom, and many of them spoke German for several generations. (Eighty percent of Pennsylvanians spoke German in 1776.) I don't know how they dressed, but being in the heart of Chester County, the Quakers at least surely wore gray. Several early towns in Pennsylvania were founded partly by my ancestors, among them Upland (renamed Chester by Penn) and Germantown.
Even my parents had very few clothes by today's standards. All of both's fit nicely into one small closet. Many were home-made. Neither wore jeans, tees or sports shoes. Mom never wore slacks.
Now that I'm retired from architecture and spend most of my time gardening I'm ready to simplify. It may be difficult, however, to convince my wife to give away the suits and blazers which she loves to see me in. I wear cargo shorts almost all the time__to Meeting, too__and Redwing boots in the garden.
I'm interested in the plainness statement. I never minded looking different, always had a beard unless it was forbidden by an employer. Now (the last few months) I have an Amish beard and after shaving my bald head since the 60s (very odd then; "I'm not bald, I just shave my head") I have begun to let my thin gray hair grow down to a blunt cut at ear and nape and will not flatten it. Since the 60s I have worn a hat against sunburn and sunstroke, but not the Gohn Brothers kind. There are no visible Mennonites here in Shasta County, so I suppose I'll stand out. I will not abandon my tiny gold earring, however. How's that for contradiction?
I admit to being mildly narcissistic. Always loved being in costume on stage and in historical pageants. It's amazing how much a simple change in hair and beard style evokes a particuler period. Some re-enactors and dancers are so attached to their current style that they can't conceive of changing. Not me! But I cannot see wearing the full Amish outfit. Too contrived!
I am non-thieist, non-religion, anti-religious (including religious property). I attend the small Monthly Meeting in Redding, CA.
Inspired by these recently discovered sites on plainness, I think I'll simplify my wardrobe and red out my stuffed closet.

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Re: What If Everyone Saw This Facebook Status?

Re: Gohn Brothers, broadfalls, & men’s plain dress