<p>clear PM’s!</p>
<p>I am so famous. I have a thread devoted to me. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Maybe the thread was not devoted to you, but to chaos in general–an outcry for all members of this internet community to clear their respective inboxes to avoid the chaos that noncommunication would inevitably cause. </p>
<p>Nah, it’s about you.</p>
<p>hahahhahahha</p>
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<p>Ah, you are a genius, tom.</p>
<p>Any body here reading Thomas Wolf</p>
<p>In fact, I’m reading an advance copy of Patriot’s Reward, a fascinating book set in coastal New Hampshire in the late 18th century – taking us to the town of Exeter eventually – as we follow the story of a slave from his arrival aboard the slave ship Exeter in Portsmouth. (Wouldn’t you know, the book was written by an Andover alum?) The author is a direct descendant of the original owner of Will, the slave and the hero/protagonist of the story. Will fights for American independence in the Revolutionary War…which is highly ironic. </p>
<p>Without being preachy, the story lays out the way American history has been shaped by slavery. It’s like the way everyone’s parents spell out lofty ideals and yet, as children, we experience that disappointment when they fall short. Same thing with American history, predicated on the principle that “all men are created equal” and yet we wrote into our Constitution a provision that counted black men as 4/5 of white men.</p>
<p>When I was real young we’d see two water fountains at the department store. And we’d ask, “Why?” And we were told to hush. Now, we knew it was wrong. The grown-ups knew it was wrong. But that was the way things were done and you don’t upset traditions in polite society…even if those traditions are the opposite of polite.</p>
<p>Perhaps these things explain why I don’t chafe when the kids here don’t follow along like so many cattle when they’re told all about “this is how things are done” when it comes to admissions or anything else about boarding school life. If the kids don’t ask “Why?” when it comes to redundant water fountains or anything else, the adults will remain comfortably numb. Me? I like being taken out of my comfort zone. This book does that for me. It’s a little slice of chaos, in fact.</p>
<p>But no, it’s not Thomas Wolfe.</p>
<p>Very interesting. I think I will read Patriot’s Reward when I find some time.</p>
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<p>Indeed. Everybody loves chaos. 
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<p>D’yr- my E dosn’t work</p>
<p>“Everybody loves chaos.”</p>
<p>Actually today I had a discussion on chaos theory with an MIT engineer I know. He loves chaos theory without a doubt!</p>
<p>shooh! Chaos, today is ur lucky day in CC!</p>
<p>has anybody read ‘The Chosen’ by Chaim Potok? We r doing in English class…kinda cool one! Any comments abt the book?</p>
<p>That sounds very interesting, D’yer. I remember it being 3/5 though… that was what we learned this year. Something I forgot in my exam essay, though. ;)</p>
<p>Chaos, your PMs are full, so I’m sending a PM to Infinite.</p>
<p>why do everyone send PMs to Chaos?!</p>
<p>VERY GOOD OLIVIA! KarateDad pointed out my error 21 minutes after I posted it. Rather than correct it later we decided to see if anyone would pick up on my goof.</p>
<p>3/5 of a person.</p>
<p>Of course, to begin with, Native Americans weren’t counted at all. But if you’ve read “Undaunted Courage,” the Stephen Ambrose account of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, you’d know that the attitudes at the time were that the Native Americans were savages that needed to be converted while Africans/Negroes were regarded as subhuman. On the expedition there was one Negro and it was revolutionary (though not really thought of that way at the time by the expedition party) that on matters put up for a vote, he not only had a vote, but his counted as much as anyone else’s. That was astonishing to the President, one Thomas Jefferson, the man who penned the extraordinary words, “all men are created equal” and called that a “self-evident” truth.</p>
<p>3/5 of a person. Written in ink. In our Constitution. The great promise of America wasn’t even kept by its Founders…the people who preached the promise of the new nation. But there’s a lesson in that. They didn’t create a nation that was perfect for us to come around later and destroy. They created an imperfect nation with great potential for us to continue to work at and improve upon. It’s a work-in-progress. I’m pretty sure that some of the people waiting eagerly for tomorrow’s mail and e-mail will be doing some of the heavy lifting in years to come! Regardless of what the mail and e-mail says.</p>
<p>Well written, D’yer.</p>
<p>I remember learning about the 3/5ths thing in the fifth grade. We were naive and didn’t understand, so some kids said ‘Well, that’s good, at least they had SOME votes.’ They didn’t get that it wasn’t about them voting, but about them being used as property taxes. :(</p>