Image linguistics
Writing with blood
Double moral standards are accepted insofar as they betray a necessity for accepting conformity as a necessary evil in society. That is, as Peter Sloterdijk has elaborated in Critique of Cynical Reason, at the foundation of the logic of contemporary capitalist society lies the innate belief that humanistic values apply only to the degree that they are ultimately trumped by the instrumental logic of power.
What is the net effect of this situation? Survival remains a powerful motivating factor both in psychic and physical reality: one accepts the rules of the society, acknowledges obedience (what Freud called the reality principle), and in doing so forgets that the only certain thing is death.
Things have got mixed up, and although the difference between apples and oranges is obvious, our concern for the distinction is linked up with ethical considerations, or as is often the case, a lack thereof. Appreciation of the need to conform to behavioral norms falls away as soon things fall apart. Then it is easiest to have no expectations. Conditions where survival becomes an immediate concern reintroduce power, caprice, and cunning as acceptable forms of behavior. The present era of globalization is characterized by usage of all the contemporary means of power, exploitation, manipulation, etc. available more than ever. Even so, some ancient paradigms remain, indicating the archaic turn of exceptional situations, and are equally archaic responses.
Revenge is also a thing of the past; at least we are tempted to think so. Alternative, more sublimated alternatives to an eye for an eye may appear less violent, but the principle is the same—distinctions and gradations make little difference in the psychic result, and the perpetuation of animosity persists as hard social fact. If one is hit with a stone, the response of hitting the perpetrator with bread only makes sense when the wheat harvest is good. The devil will take his due, no matter what.
Identity is created through symbols, but in a polyvocal world, absence of understanding and yearning for a transparent access to communicability are two sides of the same coin.
Of all that is written, I love only what a person hath written with his blood. Write with blood, and thou wilt find that blood is spirit. Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None; VII Writing and reading — HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche”Friedrich Nietzsche
The spirit doesn’t answer the phone much these days. Perhaps he/she is on vacation. The language of stubbornness, nostalgia, shock and self-destruction might produce spirit, if one knew could only write legibly. My handwriting has always been bad.
