Heavy Industries, Uglyness, and Desolation Greet the Traveler. Low Quality.
“ They [Sylvia Y& John Sutherland] talk once in a while in as few pained words as possible about "it" or "it all" as in the sentence, "There is just no escape from it." And if I asked, "From what?" the answer might be "The whole thing," or "The whole organized bit," or even "The system." Sylvia once said defensively, "Well, you know how to cope with it," which puffed me up so much at the time I was embarrassed to ask what "it" was and so remained somewhat puzzled. I thought it was something more mysterious than technology. But now I see that the "it" was mainly, if not entirely, technology. But, that doesn’t sound right either. The "it" is a kind of force that gives rise to technology, something undefined, but inhuman, mechanical, lifeless, a blind monster, a death force. Something hideous they are running from but know they can never escape. I’m putting it way too heavily here but in a less emphatic and less defined way this is what it is. “
I-94 entering Billings, MT. Typical for the Narrator, scenery or situations he does not approve of, get no mention in ZMM. Evidently the Narrator did not stop in Billings! As was twice the case for myself, I did not stop here, nor did I have any desire to do so. The passage above was part an explanation of the Sutherlands feelings re Minneapolis and their modern society generally.
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(Photo = Summer2006 0380 ...... ZMM Page = 014 ...... WayPt = 116k)