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I've seen some things in People that have surprised me. I think one of the problems the old generation of leftists had was they denied that side of themselves. I don't mean they stopped themselves from reading People, but they didn't understand how much people care about the things they really care about. They didn't even admit that they themselves cared about them...I think if you're going to try to make a better world it has to be on the basis of understanding human beings and not pretending that they don't have the characteristics you don't want them to have. Our eagerness to read gossip, the eagerness to be entertained, the longing of people for Coca Cola, has got to be incorporated in the understanding of people. You have to see it in yourself and in other people. I feel an incredible sympathy for the maligned communist bureaucrats who tried to provide housing to all the people. But they made certain mistakes by not being aware of certain aspects of the human soul. I mean, to build unbelievably ugly housing with no corners of beauty in it was misguided because people felt depressed in those buildings. The next round of leftists has to be aware of every aspect of the human soul, including the desire to read People and enjoy it and why we enjoy it and what need it fulfills.
-- Wally Shawn
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