Arquivo de Notes | Page 236 of 284

The Collapse of Democracy

I have fun, for a few minutes, imagining chances for the natural collapse of democracy. The collapse is natural because democracy is naturally flawed and incompetent. Let’s see: the first hypothesis would be some kind of revolution. Difficult. Revolutions make noise, the people are the master of noise, and hardly the people would support a revolution for the abdication of their power. The people would never say: “Really, I am an imbecile, and the world would be better off if I stopped meddling in issues that I don’t have the least capacity to evaluate.” That is why, even if democratic regions were to find themselves in misery, it would be difficult for an undemocratic solution to be approved by “sovereign will.” Second hypothesis: subjugation by force. Undemocratic countries would subjugate the less developed and control them politically. Very, very difficult if done uncovered: it would culminate in war, death, revolt, etc. etc. War seems to me, above all, not intelligent. There is a third hypothesis, still considering subjugation by force, but in a veiled way. That is: by economic force, the most developed and undemocratic would undermine the sovereignty of the backward. It seems perfectly possible to me, given the infinite and hypothetical means of execution. To cover up the people would be a very easy task in the marketing era. It would be difficult, perhaps, to subjugate the ego of the representatives of the supreme will. But for that there is the capital, there is information technology, there is intimidation engineering. It’s funny: even if we dispense with conspiracy theories, conjuring up collusion among the global elite, there is still a balloon inflating, inflating, inflating, and it is inevitable not to have fun imagining it bursting.

____________

Every Attack of a Moral Nature Is, First of All, a Testimony of Vanity

Every attack of a moral nature is, first of all, a testimony of vanity. Those who attack consider themselves morally superior to those who are attacked. But when executed en masse, not only does vanity manifest itself, but cowardice and, who knows, certain sadism, natural to the members of the noble species when unable to control their most perverse impulses. Of these, what is expected of a hyena is expected: a smile of scorn and blood running down their teeth.

____________

E. T. A. Hoffmann in the 21st Century

I smile imagining the judge E. T. A. Hoffmann: a judge, in the words of Carpeaux, “of the most honorable and — in difficult times of political reaction — of the most independent ever Prussia had.” I smile at this judge in our esteemed century. I mean: the judge, who was also a very skilled narrator, would be easily destroyed by the stupid and envious hordes who, in these times, have fun ruining lives and careers. Very funny would be, for example, the plot of Die Elixiere des Tenfels, an excellently crafted novel, adapted to our days: an evangelical pastor possessed by the devil is led to murder and incest, succeeding not only in camouflaging his crimes but also in gaining positions in the social pyramid. I ask: is it or is it not fun to imagine what would happen to the reputation of this judge if he had the novel released today? Would he be able, for example, to be appointed to the Supreme Court? The honorable judge in this century would learn what is to be democratically lynched.

____________

The Great Art Demands the Great Themes

The accurate study of the artistic technique runs the great risk of clouding the motivation of the art in the author’s head. Beauty is fundamentally created from acute perception and not from abstract motivation. If aesthetics escapes the understanding of the weak rationalism, it is not a consequence that, freed from experience, represents anything. The expressive effect is supported by the technique, but it will never be powerful if based on frivolity: to be great, art demands the great themes.

____________