[Cold]playin’ with my heart

“BASIC AND NON-BASIC NEEDS”

RSVP

: Mr. Meaty (03/19, 10:38AM)

“MM… any enlightenment on the OB’s ‘need'”?

Certainly. I think we have to start with the concept of “need” itself. What is it when one “needs” something? There are, of course, different kinds of “need” but one can categorize them broadly speaking into “basic needs” on the one hand and “non-basic needs”on the other. The dilemma however, is that the categories themselves allow a considerable degree of flexibility.

Ordinarily, basic “needs” cover areas such as food and shelter – let’s call them “basic material needs” but while the poster’s “need” is clearly not of this sort, that does not mean that for her “need” for the record player, records and so on, is not a “basic need.” The “need” in this case, of course, is not so much a “basic material need” but rather a “basic psychological need.” The question then devolves into attempting to determine whether or not such “basic psychological needs” are to be considered any less “basic,” so to speak, than “basic material needs.” This is a difficult but not insuperable problem. It seems to me that the issue turns on the degree of the technological advancement of any given society.

The more advanced any given society is I think we can say, “certeris paribus” (that’s Latin for “other things being equal”), the more prominent is the role of “basic psychological needs.” Normally, the need for “basic material needs” has been met by modern methods of production although, of course, there are exceptions to this in cases of extreme poverty or stupidity. But, as a general rule of thumb I think this is so. In the case of our own technologically advanced society I think we can say with a fair degree of assurance that the “basic psychological needs” as in the case of the bitcher, far outstrip her “basic material needs.”So yes, I think we can say that her need for her record player, her records and so on, constitute real “basic needs.”

I note that you put the word “need” in quotation marks. Perhaps you were wondering about my frequent use of quotation marks as well. I found this of considerable interest since my comment on “You can’t fix” – which was deleted by the way (I’ve got to be careful here) – used quotation marks to reconcile “Stupid’s” guilt over his use over the term “retard” which, while being currently “politically incorrect,” appears in the Concise Oxford Dictionary and so actually exists in extra-mental reality. So “Stupid” should not feel any guilt.

I hope that these observations have been helpful for you.

A pleasure as always.

Cheerio!

THE BALLET

RSVP

: Mr Meaty (4:01PM)

Certainly. While there is normally no direct cause-effect relationship between one’s sexual orientation and one’s taste in music, I believe that there are certain congruities which might bear further scrutiny. I am thinking of the ballet.

When you go to the ballet, as I’m sure you do, is your attention fixed on the grace of the ballerina? I am thinking of those times when she leaps into the air and her tutu flies up, revealing a glimpse of her firm, rounded buttocks or, perchance, her magnificent labia? Or do you find that your attention is riveted on her partner’s tights and his bulging ballsack to the point where your own ballsack begins to bulge?

I think if we start with these basic questions we might embark on a meaningful exploration of the roots (so to speak) of your sexual orientation. Write back soon.

A pleasure as always.

Cheerio!

ETHNOGRAPHIC SEXUAL IDENTITIES

RSVP

: Bad dog Molly (09/19, 5:55PM)

As you know, Mr. Meaty has continually made reference to his being gay so I thought it might be interesting to explore what it is to be gay, i.e., the mind of the male homosexual, but he seems to have left by the back door.

While there is no necessary connection with being gay and listening to any particular form of music there is, so I maintained, between male homosexuality and certain forms of entertainment of which the ballet – it could also be pairs figure skating – is THE paradigmatic spectacle. Ballet is a celebration of the graceful female form exemplified by the ballerina as she twirls and poses while being (quite literally) supported by her sturdy well-endowed male partner. In effect, ballet with its focus on the female form, is THE fullest expression of female narcissism. The spectators, largely female themselves (together with their male homosexual friends), applaud the ballerina in the same way as the male sports fan applauds the sports hero who, of course, embodies the paradigmatic male virtues of strength, speed and violence.

The example of the ballet – by the way I am neither a fan of ballet nor a homosexual – was to illustrate what I believe to be ethnographic sexual identities by which I mean that in the same way that the heterosexual female can never explain to the heterosexual male the nature of the female mind – females don’t usually think in those terms in any case – so the male homosexual can never explain the nature of the homosexual mind to the male heterosexual. Put differently, sexual orientation is ethnographic, restricted to the particular sexual orientation one happens to have. Sadly, however, Mr. Meaty never managed to explain this to us.

I hope that this has cleared everything up.

A pleasure as always.

Cheerio!

of just what her “femaleness” is, so the male homosexual