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| QUOTATIONS 1153-1165 |
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| 1153. Almost everyone nowadays laments the general decline of morals and manners. Yet, if it is true that each nation has the government it deserves, it must be also true that each culture deserves the morality it practices. Our contemporary culture and society are based on and driven by the industrial production of the enormous quantities of goods of any imaginable kind. For this mass production to go on the larger and larger numbers of seemingly insatiable consumers are needed. Now, the total consumption of a society can be divided into two parts, the collective or public, and the individual or private. To the first belong such governmental expenditures as maintenance of law and order, public education, medicare (in countries where it is universally accessible), etc. But this represents a relatively small part of the overall consumption in the modern industrial society. Most of what is produced in it, like food, cars, clothes, electronic equipment, etc. is consumed by individuals. And these individuals, the citizens of the modern industrial states, are perpetually overwhelmed by the mind-boggling availability of the consumer products and by the relentless advertising, pushing and prodding, tempting and cajoling to choose and to buy this or that one. Again, since buying is an act of an individual, both mass production and mass advertising create in the mind of an individual consumer an impression that he or she can choose and buy whatever answers best his or her particular preferences. Consequently, each individual in the consumer society spends a lot of time figuring out what he or she likes, which is conducive to forming a special kind of individualistic mentality, a self-pleasing one, whose main concern is to satisfy personal needs and wants. It doesn't require a great leap of imagination to see that such a self-pleasing mode of acting as a consumer of artifacts translates easily and almost inevitably into a similarly self-pleasing behaviour in the other spheres of human interaction. When consumerism becomes the most prominent feature of one's personality one enters into relationships with other people according to how much pleasure they are going to provide for him or her, and those who cease to do that are as easily discarded or exchanged for the new and improved models as TV sets or refrigerators. But since morality is based on how we treat the others rather than ourselves, it is clear that the self-centred individual consumer of both the material goods and inter-personal relations can't be anything but essentially immoral. The consumer culture is likewise an essentially immoral culture, and one who embraces wholeheartedly this culture as an individual consumer cannot escape being immoral. 1154. It has been for sometime now, and I would be hard pressed to tell for how long and why, that I began to see every single day in my life as an advance given to me by I know not whom (by Life itself, I suppose or by God, whoever He is), the advance which has to be repaid preferably the very same day, or the day after at most, by doing something important, something of a lasting value, at least in my own eyes and to the best of my abilities. 1155. Like the famous "Greek fire" used by the Byzantines to fend off their numerous enemies, that almost miraculous flammable substance which instead of being extinguished was getting stronger and stronger the more water had been poured on it, so are some souls that have the inextinguishable fire in them which burns brighter and brighter the more cold water of discouragement, scorn and persecution is being poured on them. And we all, unfortunately, know too many of those who see the carrying around the buckets of such a cold water as their primary function in life. 1156. The numerous taboos which the early religions were so obsessed with (Judaism with its more than 600 commandments and prohibitions is the best known example of this universal phenomenon) served nevertheless, despite their apparent to the modern mind unreasonableness in many cases, the very important role in organizing the small separate family groupings of pre-historic men into more or less cohesive tribal societies. Though from tribe to tribe what was prohibited and proscribed widely varied, the habit of almost blind obedience, the uniform submission to those prohibitions by the members of the tribe instilled in each and everyone of them the corresponding habit of the individual self-denial of certain things for the sake of something else, which was indispensable in controlling and suppressing the inherent savagery of men and in civilizing the essentially egotistical individuals to sacrifice their own personal wants and desires for the benefit of the community as a whole. For it taught the early men a self-discipline without which no civilized society can exist. And as appalling as it may sound to a modern libertarian, it is the unquestionable and almost automatic obedience of the majority to the uniform set of rules that keeps a society together. Moreover, the very morality we are so often talking about and so highly praise has its origins in those obscure and irrational ancient taboos and prohibitions. Of course, as the human knowledge grew in the process of civilization, the rules became more and more reasonable, yet their socializing function remains the same, that is to inculcate more or less similar pattern of behaviour in all members of the group. One can see how this process of socialization works by observing the group of small children at play. For they literally invent as they go those artificial taboos, meaningful to nobody else but the members of this group, to make sure that everybody at play obeys the same rules, whatever they are, thus providing the unifying element to keep the play going. And if anyone questions whether this or that particular taboo makes any sense the doubter immediately and without too many explanations is excluded from the group. For the children intuitively understand that any particular taboo is valid nor for what it is (it can be totally irrational and senseless) but for what it does to enforce the uniformity of attitude and behaviour, without which no group can stay together; and if not, then the play is over and nobody but the utter loner want this to happen. The basic training of just enlisted soldiers in the boot camps is another example of such forced socialization in its most open, stripped of all pretence, form. The numerous senseless rules and regulations the young soldiers are required to carry out and the disproportionately severe punishments inflicted on them for failure to do so are all the means to one end - to make them act as one homogeneous body and obey without any questions their commanders in the battle. For without such a discipline they are surely going to be defeated. Finally, to conclude, as hard as it is to accept in our progressive, enlightened by science and enriched by technology age, it is those irrational and groundless taboos that our ancestors obeyed, often on the pain of death, that have made us, paradoxically, what we are today - the most rational creatures ever walked this Earth. 1157. Choosing our mates for their looks, which is quite obviously programmed in the human genetic code, helped through thousands of years of natural selection to make us, as a species much better looking than our pre-historic ancestors. Unfortunately, the same genetic tendency to pay attention in the mating process first and foremost to external appearance, while disregarding, for all intent and purposes, the internal qualities of the potential mates, has resulted in a rather disappointing outcome, which is that though we are undoubtedly better looking, on the whole, we aren't any better as human beings than our forefathers were. And this goes a long way to explain why the so-called "veneer of civilization" is so thin and so easily discarded at the first opportunity and under the slightest pretext. For as far as our character, our passion, our way of thinking are concerned, we aren't that far from the point we were at tens of thousands years ago, and, contrary to the wishful thinking of Walter Bagehot, the hereditary barbaric impulse is not decaying and dying out, at least not as far as the overwhelming majority of mankind is concerned any way. 1158. The division of labour, which has been largely responsible for the tremendous material progress of mankind, is also, on a personal level, the main cause of both the liberation and the enslavement of the individual. It liberates, firstly, by continuously generating greater and greater numbers of diverse possible occupations and, secondly, by creating the objective conditions which allow (albeit under the favourable circumstances, since we are dealing here with probabilities, not necessities) an individual to be more or less fully engaged in an occupation the most suitable for his or her talent and inclination. But because everyone possesses a variety of abilities and interests and is usually capable of more than a single application of them, the division of labour, which by definition confines such an individual to one and only narrow position to the detriment of the fuller development and enjoyment of one's multiple potentials, leads in truth to the enslavement of one's personality. A great deal of the modern man's unhappiness can be attributed to this enslaving restrictions of a single choice, to the exclusion of all possible others, one has to make usually quite early in life, the choice which for most of us is virtually irreversible. But since the division of labour is here to stay for any foreseeable future, it is hard to imagine how this opposition between the personal aspirations and the demands of the increasingly specializing society can ever be resolved and the cure for this modern malady be found. P.S. Now, if what has been said above is true, then the old Communist promise "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs" contains the irreconcilable contradiction. For the level of productivity necessary to satisfy everybody's possible needs can only be achieved with the highest possible division of labour, which in its turn prevents the widest possible expression of one's abilities. 1159. The history of the major, seminal breakthroughs in science and arts, which are commonly viewed as the salient indicators and recognizable steps in the unstoppable progress of Mankind as a whole, under the closer examination is essentially the history of the separate individuals, who for whatever reasons broke the established and honoured tradition of devoting one's life for the good of the next generation and decided, quite consciously to live it for one's own sake. This resolution, usually made quite early in life, frees such individuals from all the social, economic and often even the moral obligations and allows them to apply all their energies (which have to be unusually great to begin with in order to defy tradition) to the single-minded pursuit of their goals and aspirations which, when they coincide, often accidentally, with the needs of society as a whole, result in the major achievements of human race. In fairness, it has to be acknowledged that both types, the many who sacrifice their lives for the sake of their progeny, and the few who refuse to do so in order to pursue their own individual ambitions (provided, of course, they are channelled in positive directions) are equally indispensable in the greater scheme of things. For without the first the Mankind would not have survived, and without the second it would never make any progress. 1160. To be a politician one has to have ambition, be free from inhibitions, endure a bad nutrition, have wife above suspicion, and trust her intuition. To be a politician one has to be tactician who's led by premonition, learns using repetitions without intermissions. To be a politician join every coalition, uphold approved traditions, and sign all petitions. To be a politician try profit by attrition, or by concealed sedition, or by abject submission. To be a politician be better than magician to conjure apparitions of future acquisitions. To be a politician when caught, profess admission through insincere contrition and promise swift transition to new, upright position. To be a politician one has to have ambitions... 1161. Recently I was asked, rather bluntly, who I am, and I couldn't answer the question. Embarrassed, I tried awkwardly to turn everything into a joke. But the truth is I had no ready reply at that moment, which is quite unusual for me. Of course, I could have said that it was unfair to ask anybody such a fundamental question in such a direct manner. But that would have been just another way to avoid the answering. Latter on, when I had some time to think about it (the public embarrassment always make me do that) I realized that almost anything I can say about myself, the opposite of it may be applied to me as well, and with almost equal justification. So, here are the results of my thinking, and, if you wish, sort of a confession. Who am I? I am nothing, and I am everything. I am unique, and I am common. I am old, and I am young. I am ugly, and I am beautiful. I am poor, and I am rich. I am sick, and I am healthy. I am awake, and I am asleep. I am here, and I am there. I am a dreamer, and I am a realist. I am a sinner, and I am a saint. I am knowledgeable, and I am ignorant. I am right, and I am wrong. I am nobody, and I am everybody... I can stop now, or I can go on forever. But what is the point, I'm sure you got the idea by now. So let me conclude with a short verse: From nowhere I've come and have nowhere to go My future is uncertain as my past Yet, be it as it may, still go on I must My only choice, seems, to walk fast or slow. 1162.To lead a happy life, or just a contented one Learn not to regret what could not be undone. 1163. Being the only child of a well-educated and a very intelligent woman who not only, like any parent, tried to create me in her own image (the only form of immortality available to us) but also, in her particular case, brought me up as her spiritual and intellectual companion because by virtue of the circumstances, none other was within her reach at that time, I was since early childhood the beneficiary (and, probably the victim as well)of her unfulfilled need for it. And as a companion, albeit a surrogate one, I grew up feeling somewhat equal (for this is one of the conditions for a companionship) to the only person who had power over me at that time in my life. My mother never told me to do anything without explaining first the reason for it and always took her time to convince me that it was also in my best interests. Moreover, I was allowed (and I suspect even encouraged) to argue and to question her commands until we together could come up with the mutually satisfactory compromise, which neither undermined her authority nor hurt my dignity. It is not surprising then that I was ill prepared for the "real world" where no one who had the slightest power over me (and at times it felt as if it was almost everyone I had personal or business relationships with) had either time or inclination to explain to me the reasonableness of their demands and orders, and certainly would rather not to listen to my objections. I was expected to obey without any questioning and the sooner the better, and if I didn't the punishment in one form or another would follow unfailingly. My conflicts with the authoritarianism of any kind and on any scale started when I was 7 and entered the school. I still remember my bewilderment at the multitude of the seemingly unreasonable rules and regulations and my almost automatic refusal to do as I was told unless and until some justification was provided for them. And though by now, at 57, I understand (some will find me a rather slow learner) how naive and hazardous was it for me to expect throughout my life the care and patience of my mother from the people who don't give a damn about me, I still can't help but to act in response to the senseless demands in essentially same way as when I was 7 years old. Which makes me often wonder if it is only me who, despite the countless hurts and disappointments such a behaviour caused me, is so incorrigible or is it the fate I share with who knows how many? 1164. Many are born to be the followers, a few to be the leaders. But the tiniest minority of them all are those who have chosen to be neither. And theirs is the worst lot of any. For the world which is forever divided into the rulers and the ruled has no place, no understanding and, above all, no tolerance for those who refuse or, which is more probable, are simply incapable of being either. 1165.Having grown up in a society driven by the insatiable consumerism, in a culture that not just tell but literally shouts day and night at the top of its advertising lungs the all-pervasive, all-encompassing promise to fulfill one's every wish and whim as long as one is willing and able to pay for it, many victims of AIDS seem to be incapable to grasp the simple fact which is obvious to everybody else, namely, that a scientific breakthrough, a revolutionary medical discovery, apparently necessary in order to combat this deadly and so far incurable disease, cannot be bought at any price and that no government, no matter how sympathetic it is to their plight and how much money it is willing to spend to find the cure, can speed up the process of scientific thinking and inventiveness. And among the people living and dying with AIDS the young gay men who account for 70% of all AIDS cases have apparently the most difficulties in accepting this, no doubt devastating and yet indisputable truth, largely because the whole ethos of their existence is based on the enthusiastic pursuit of all available joys and pleasures of life, and they vehemently refuse to heed any reminder of some insurmountable limitations to it. Like all young, they fiercely resent any encroachment on their freedom and, being gay, the sexual freedom in particular is the most important one for them to preserve, since for better or worse, sex constitutes the most essential part of their identity and giving it up even to save their very lives is the sacrifice they are unwilling to make. Hence the passionate, the desperate, the unreasonable demands they impose on the governments, on the medical profession, on the pharmaceutical industry, the demands to do something, to do anything to find the magic cure for this terrible disease, the cure which would allow them to go on living as they did before it struck the devastating blow to the care free, uninhibited, gay life they used to enjoy in the good old days. |
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