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.
Tag: behavior
The Artist Who Worries Too Much…
The artist who worries too much about the socio-political conjunctures of his time will soon find himself wasting his intellect with questions he cannot solve, that is, he will waste neurons uselessly and end up frustrated. Of course, this is not very intelligent… If there are issues of this nature that can affect him, the prudent thing to do is just to know about them, be prepared if necessary, and if they do come knocking on his door, adapts as best he can. So act, but only if he have no other option. And for the rest, do not worry about what he does not have control over, focusing on what is most important and what allows him a field of action.
Vigny and I
Much of what Vigny says about himself I could attribute to me without changing a comma. I have, like Vigny, this “besoin éternel
d’organization”, without which I cannot move; I am, like him, “seul”, “exempt de tout fanatisme”; life has also taken care to endow me with this “sévérité froide et un peu sombre” which is not innate; as for the creative method, identically I conceive, plan, mold, and let cool down before the final execution; I could also say with all my soul that “l’indépendance fut toujours mon désir”; I also share Vigny’s repugnance to futility, fruit of someone who, being “toujours en conversation avec moi-même”, finds in the hindrance of interruptions always a reason for frustrations… and the list could go on. Vigny, however, makes the point: “Aimer, inventer, admirer, voilà ma vie.” Ah, Monsieur! Regrettably, these words of yours I can no longer subscribe to…. But it is okay: God gave me the sense of humor.
In This Age Where There Are More Voices Than Ears…
In this age where there are more voices than ears, more books than readers, and more ease than willingness to learn, it is unlikely that a true intellectual authority will rise up and achieve the prestige of a Voltaire, a Goethe, or a Walter Scott. The attention he would garner for himself would at most be fleeting, and he would therefore hardly enjoy the solid and lasting recognition that great intellectuals have enjoyed in other times. This shows but one characteristic of this age of diffuse and uninterrupted bombarded attention. It is to be feared what can come of an age not only lacking true authorities, but guided by false ones; but, in any case, what one must conclude is that, to the intellectual, everything has become considerably better.