A World Of The Almost
WE IMMORALISTS!
– This world as it concerns US,
in which we need to love and be afraid,
this almost invisible,
inaudible world of subtle command, subtle obedience,
a world of the “almost” in every respect,
twisted,
tricky,
barbed,
and loving:
yes, it is well defended
against clumsy spectators and friendly curiosity!
We have been woven
into a strong net and shirt of duties,
and CANNOT get out of it –,
in this sense we are “people of duty,”
even us!
It is true that
we sometimes dance quite well
in our “chains” and between our “swords”;
it is no less true that more often
we grind our teeth and feel impatient
at all the secret harshness of our fate.
But we can do as we please:
fools and appearances will speak up against us,
claiming “those are people WITHOUT duties”
– fools and appearances are always against us!
Beyond Good and Evil, By Friedrich Nietzsche, trans. by Judith Norman, aphorism 226
These lines encapsulate the “world” as Nietzsche perceived reality. The intellectual, philosopher and writer who writes that “God is dead and all are implicated in the murder” predictably is labeled immoralist, and he is not alone. All who read with understanding and affirmation his books, that entire community are regarded as outliers, at odds with the conventions of reason and morality. We Immoralists!
And yet, it is necessary that we live alongside everyone else, subject to the same social constraints, the expectations, the rituals of “morality” even if we grind our teeth often. I grind my teeth at the supply of weapons, and bombs to Israel knowing that my tax money is funding the slaughter of Palestinians. I am an American citizen, benefiting from the advantages of empire, and I shudder at the policies conceived to build, to support the myth of America.
Shall we dance together – in our chains?
I am torn, divided, and no matter what I do. No matter how conventional my day to day manner of life, together with a circle of amateur philosopher friends, often agnostic, several atheists, – the definition seems apt to those who hurl it.
Immoralist!
On yes, a concluding comment about the “world of the almost.” If I suppose that I am “free,” clearly I am no exception to the absolute reign of cause and effect. Every scintilla of behavior, every event of my changing thoughts, of my body is the result of prior, precursor states. Full stop. Yet, I can imagine a different outcome, had circumstances been just a bit different: altered by a minute or so either way, or what if I had not been “laid off” from that job, or had not fallen into clinical depression when I did…
World: twisted, tricky, barbed, and loving.
2 thoughts on “A World Of The Almost”
Strident and almost cynical thoughts for this 9th day of August. But not undeserved or out of line. Our lives are hardscrabble, not because we are destitute or in prison or being bombed but because we have a fairly clear view of the world around us (or at least that’s what I like to believe). And so because of that clarity we can “feel” the dystopian regression that pervades our species. We can see the wondrous side of human potential being eroded by the baser nature of greed and the unquenchable desire for power over others by many of our species. It’s as if some is sawing off their own leg for no apparent reason and when asked why, they say that it will benefit us all. It makes no sense and yet, as Pogo quipped, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
We, as individuals, can only do so much to mitigate the path mankind seems intent on taking, but ultimately, what a waste.
I imagine sometimes that the old Roman Stoics had similar reflections. Rome was a scene of luxury and violence. Marcus Aurelius had a front row seat and the intellectual and emotional acuity to comprehend the extent of the unfolding tragedy. From his journal it is clear that though emperor with absolute power, he was swept along with everyone else in the current of circumstances.