Letters

Would I Lie to You?
I'm surprised that after spending "several weeks in Ekman's lying world," journalist Matt Smith, in "The Face of Lying" (Sept. 16), walks away referring to the field of face reading as the "Psychology of Deception." Its proper name is sociopsychophysiology, which Dr. Paul Ekman of UCSF is apparently trying to wed with what is referred to in the intelligence world as indirect interrogation -- good cop doing a solo routine.

I'm also surprised the CIA hasn't sought to fund his work through any one of its sham foundations.

Ken Richard
Via Internet

Evil Yuppies' Night Out
A national performing arts company (big, big, big!) investing in a run-down theater space at 24th and Mission ("Mission Theatrical," Cothran, Sept. 16)? What about all of those evil cocktails-from-Bruno's-swigging yuppies the Weekly keeps talking about? Won't they be the ones attending these shows? Anyway, I'm sure whatever happens it won't benefit the students [of City College].

David Sutton
Via Internet

All Nestor, All The Time
I'm curious about "Nestor Makhno," who has appropriated the name of a Russian revolutionary anarchist (and murderer) ("Mission Yuppie Identification Project! Radio Ear Tags Next!" Dog Bites, Sept. 16). Mr. Makhno: From where did you move to "get away" from the yuppies? How long have you been a Mission resident? Are you "poor"? How do you presume to speak for the poor? What sort of constructive contribution have you and your friends made to our neighborhood? Have you helped address the problems that were here before the restaurants opened and the Marina crowd began queuing up?

La Rondalla: There's a restaurant for you. A kid was recently shot to death outside while my roommate looked on -- one of many gang-related deaths to occur within a few blocks from where I live. No yuppies or SUVs were involved, as I recall, though that "key commodity of modern bourgeois society," the automobile, did play a role. It was a drive-by.

I have been known to read Wired magazine. I even have e-mail. I'm not poor. But I've never owned a car. I guess that means when the revolution comes, Nestor and friends will be obliged to bash in my face instead of my windshield.

I'd rather have yuppies for neighbors than hatemongers like Mr. Makhno.
Roger Rohrbach
Via Internet

Evil Yuppies at Bruno's II: The Return
First, I must confess a personal shortcoming. Had I possessed at age 13 the keen, in-depth understanding of Marxist political theory that Mr. Makhno obviously possesses, an entire sordid period of juvenile delinquency could have been avoided ("Yuppie Bastards: Caveat Emptor," Letters, Sept. 16; "Mission Yuppie Identification Project! Radio Ear Tags Next!" Dog Bites). You see, when I was 13 I was arrested for vandalism for smashing the windows of a car parked down the street. Now, if I had only known then that the sole difference between "vandalism" and "direct action" to save the community from "the predators of the global market system" was a trite, oversimplified political rationalization, I'm sure that the friendly police officer who arrested me would not only have let me go, but would have thanked me for helping to save our neighborhood.

Unfortunately, I didn't arrive at the level of Mr. Makhno's sophisticated understanding of political theory until the next year.

I must also confess I am unclear on a central concept. For example, is someone a yuppie simply because they drive an SUV or a BMW? Isn't it possible that someone scrimped and saved enough money working at some dive bar (or other Makhno-approved job) and wanted to buy an SUV because they genuinely liked getting out of the city and driving to the mountains? How exactly do we know a yuppie when we see one? Is it like pornography?

I'm certain that all the pseudo-boho-hipster-look-at-me-I'm-reading-Kierkegaard types who are now complaining about yuppie infestation lamented plenty when they dispossessed Hispanic families from the Inner Mission in the first place. Who do you think we have to thank for this current infestation?

Aren't there too many important issues abounding in this city to waste time cultivating such ultra-short range xenophobia? "Goddamn those people from 20 blocks away coming in to ruin my neighborhood."

Fuck it, I'm getting a latte, getting in my SUV, and driving to the Mission to have dinner at Bruno's, and I've got to make a couple calls on the way .... Maybe I'll leave a worn copy of the Communist Manifesto on my dashboard, just in case.

Matt Goodin
Sunset