(i) Today our people exist in a modern techno-managerial state whose increasingly authoritarian form of rule is directly proportional to societal decline. (ii) To get along, we must be reduced to a lowest common denominator. Any differences or inequalities in thought, culture, achievement, and feeling, must be eliminated. But inequality is the natural condition of mankind; to eradicate inequality we must eradicate mankind.
(iii) I repeat: inequality is the natural condition of mankind. We differ in many things, such as abilities, talents, material success, level of suffering, perception. Each one of us has a place, a part to play. Every one of us has a unique destiny. Yet we are all interdependent. Man is a social being.
(iv) There are those -- perhaps the majority of people--who are happily oblivious to life’s deeper meanings, who are content to amble through life like mere vertebrates. And then there are those people endowed with a penetrating vision that is as cruel as it is clear. These are the poets.
(v) One of the most painful things a man can endure is to be aware of the fundamental absurdity of life. It sets him apart from the masses, for whom physical pleasure is everything.
(vi) Life is absurd and tragic. But in the end we can only set our face to the wind and laugh. That, I think, is the best strategy.
8 comments:
"There are those -- perhaps the majority of people--who are happily oblivious to life’s deeper meanings, who are content to amble through life like mere vertebrates. And then there are those people endowed with a penetrating vision that is as cruel as it is clear. These are the poets.
One of the most painful things a man can endure is to be aware of the fundamental absurdity of life. It sets him apart from the masses, for whom physical pleasure is everything."
Magnificently expressed.
As a young writer, who passed away last year, said:
"Todo es terrible, pero nada es serio"
("Everything is terrible, but nothing is serious")
A Manifesto?
You elucidate a truth which, deep down, many know and feel but few are prepared to admit to or confront. Our disintegrating society, the increasing abandonment of community and family structures serves to intensify and emphasise inequality.
Thank you for this post, Admiral.
Admiral; Thinker of Proustian thoughts - no more posts? your writings and images are missed. Come back soon.
Admiral Cod:
Much of what you say is valid though it seems your word choice introduces a set of meanings and implicit understandings that contrast with the thrust or essence of what you are trying to say.
In discussing culture, your use of inequality is invalid. The notion of difference would be more accurate in discussing the homogenization of culture. That is, to discuss inequality as natural to humanity or mankind is to introduce political rights and economic wealth into an analysis that aspires to strip away these very constructs.
The notion that human life is absurd is itself absurd. This perspective is only possible for someone attempting to live or appreciate existence outside of arbitrary social constructs that have become institutionalized and are themselves reality, regardless of physical or empirical measurement to the contrary. For someone who appreciates inequality, most likely stemming from monetary wealth, every last purchase, power or privilege than can be derived from this fabricated instrument of value known as money would be equally absurd. This of course, in great contrast to the editorial content of this weblog.
The real question is, have you arrived at this conclusion from thought, analysis and reason or is it simply the byproduct of experience and the inevitable conclusion of a life's worth of materialism and the crippling boredom of Orange County?
Reason, reflection, tradition, prejudice, experience...all have combined to help form my worldview. The 'crippling boredom' you ascribe to OC is no different in substance, I would argue, to the boredom to be found, say, on Manhattan's Upper East Side, or in Charleston, SC, or in Montana. The crisis is in the modern spirit, manifested most widely, I think, in the US.
Boredom, like beauty, is highly subjective. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder then boredom is an experience of the individual. I've never been bored during my visits to orange county, LA is crazy but fun, i love the weather, food is delicious, large parts of coastline are beautiful although i will readily admit driving anywhere in and around LA can be tiresome and yes, boring, but then i dislike cars and driving pretty much anywhere. Half of my family has lived in SC for the past 300 years or more, they don't find Charleston boring or they would have moved on by now. I think perceptions of fear form the modern spirit as much as anything these days. Whether it be threat of global terrorism or fear of sundry criminality in the streets making parents too frightend to allow their children to play freely in the neighbourhood, socialising and playing, using their imaginations, being active in games with bicycles, rollerskates or simply picnicking and climbing trees. That formed a large part of my childhood and i now see so many of my friends children denied these opportunities. Insularity, isolation and distrust are rife among all age groups. Now that,to me, is cetainly boring.
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