[-empyre-] Avataric -

[Alan Sondheim]

Hi - This is my last post, since my time is more than up here in empyre, 
so I'll keep things short. I do agree for the most part with John, but I 
think his (your) post is overly optimistic; you say "In the twenty-first 
century, not only is identity not fixed or inherited, it is absolutely 
malleable, subject to continuous invention and re-invention. It is, in 
short, avataric." - and I just don't see this, given the current (and 
foreseeable future) political/economic climate. Class identity in the US 
is hardening; continuous invention and re-invention requires capital or at 
least access to technology as production, not just reception, and 
inheritence statistically is becoming increasingly critical (more people 
living at home because there's no money out there, etc.). Income and 
racial gaps are increasing, and we have the largest per capita prison 
system in the world, not to mention overall number of prisoners. The world 
is appalling for a lot of people, so my question is the usual (stupid) one 
I ask - for whom is identity malleable? The rest of your post I agree with 
and thank you for your reply! I'm bowing out of the discussion at this 
point; I feel I've already written beyond my time here. Thanks again, Alan

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