It would be interesting to analyze how Demons became a masterpiece despite being conceived by Dostoevsky for ostensibly pamphleteering purposes. It is a real feat that this has happened, since the most likely destination of a work motivated in this way is the trash can. It is impressive not only Dostoevsky’s ability to give scope to the episode, but also the sense of urgency and importance only possible in a true visionary. The work, therefore, ended up being strengthened by the same qualities that ordinarily foul it up. More than a real, complex, original and profound plot, it came out as a denouncement and a prophecy, being equally valuable to philosophers, psychologists and historians. Very few are the works of which one can say the same.
Category: Notes
It Is Very Difficult, Today, Not to Sympathize…
It is very difficult, today, not to sympathize with those targeted by the fury of the imbeciles. It is the same feeling inspired by a cowardly action: one instinctively sides with the weaker side. And to see all these public lynchings, all this rabid infamy that tears down reputations and careers overnight, and always insatiable, always looking for the next target, is something that arouses in equal measure disgust and revolt. Who allowed such stupids to have a voice? Even theoretically, the results of Rousseau’s wretched demagogy are all too obvious; but observing them in practice, effective and acclaimed, can only lead to utter misanthropy.
The Investigation of the Origin of Political Ideologies…
Although it is a fifth-rate topic, investigating the origin of the political ideologies that run in the mouths of the masses teaches a bit about the moral corruption of man. The perversity and cynicism of those who give birth to ideologies is astonishing to the most hardened of moralists. Control freaks, experts in the very efficient science of lying, have stripped politics of any morality and turned it into the simple art of machination. It is surprising to see them, with absolute impudence, proclaiming false narratives that cover the vilest interests and that effectively condemn to misery those they ask for—and get!—support. It is a depravity without limits. Instructive, however, as it teaches how low man can sink.
It Seems Certain That, One Day, Brazil Will Make…
It seems certain that, one day, Brazil will make the Brazilian language official, since time inevitably particularizes the language spoken in different lands, making idiomatic unity increasingly difficult. There are, in this, many plausible reasons and many mistakes. The first of these is the assumption that a language must have a “unity”, that is, it must be spoken in the same way unanimously. It is laughable to think that, if such a Brazilian language becomes official, it will not be susceptible to the same regional variations and the same evolutionary processes that all widely spoken languages have undergone and will undergo. One has to be very ignorant to suppose that some pens will guide the language spoken in the streets, when it is this that, ultimately, guides the grammars. Stupid measures like this latest orthographic agreement only make it more evident. On the other hand, it is understandable and even natural that a nation long for an authentic expression. But one must be very careful to distinguish to what extent this authenticity represents a necessary evolution, rather than a sudden break with the roots that allowed it to evolve.