Thursday, August 14, 2014

Laughing Our Way to the Brink

"With good humor and pessimism it is possible to be neither wrong nor bored" (Dávila). Which explains why the earnest do-gooders of the left are not just wrong but tedious.

Even to God, who "tried to survive in the Newtonian universe as a bloodless specter cornered in a remote heaven," but "died of boredom."

In reality, "God is the term with which we notify the universe that it is not everything."

Indeed, God is the term without which the universe is nothing, precisely. Is that too nebulous for you? Well, "Any straight line leads straight to hell," so thank God for the crookward paths without which existence would be a machine instead of an adventure.

Ever notice how the scientistic worker bee combines "the most refined ideas about pieces of the universe" with "the most abject cliches about the universe itself"?

Which speaks to a kind of nearsightedness at one end and systematic blindness -- or cardiomyopia -- at the other. All trees and no forest means no happy or funny campers, just a bunch of sober, tree-counting arborists. Such an expert "believes he is a superior being because he knows what, by definition, anyone can learn."

But you know, "There is evidence that disappears along with those who deserve to perceive it." My Great Dane likes to play a fighting game in which he spins around and thinks he has disappeared. But I see him just the same -- just as God sees the atheist.

And wisdom? Forget about it. "The wisdom of this age comes down to observing the world through the bitter and dirty eyes of a depraved adolescent." Or maybe you've never looked into Obama's eyes.

I tell ya', reactionaries get no respect. Turning our backs on progressive hope? As if we aren't turning our face toward the light!

I don't blame them for thinking of us as terrorists, for "The imagination quietly piles up its dynamite under the dogmas that naturalisms rest upon."

Imagine actually being stuck in the progressive prison of the left, or if they could successfully seal up the windows and block the exits! Of course they want to, but nothing short of totalitarianism can accomplish this, which is why leftism is inherently pulled in that soul-killing direction.

Thus it is no surprise that "Contemporary literature seems like a cacophony of eunuchs in heat," or that "The modern citizens' libertarian demands are limited to claiming the right to copulate freely in the slave prison in which they are held." Leftism is a dungeon with conjugal rights. But "mystery is the only infinity that does not seem like a prison."

For the left, it takes real courage to break through doors that are wide open or to defy a norm they are not equipped to understand. But "The fool imagines that the delight in breaking rules grows indefinitely after having abolished rules altogether." Or in other words, without us, the reactionaries of the left would have no fun at all, for where's the sport in overrunning "fortresses without defenders"?

DON'T TEAR DOWN THIS WALL, MR. CONSERVATIVE, BECAUSE THE ADOLESCENTS WILL HAVE NOTHING TO REBEL AGAINST, AND NONE OF US KNOWS NOW HOW TO BUILD ANYTHING!

As we have said before, argument is fruitless with these ideological zombies. They cannot be convinced, only converted -- or un-converted rather, since the descent into leftism is the consequence of a prior conversion.

All minimally alert humans know that "man has in the back of his soul a crouching animal" and that "a just society needs to be protected from human perversity." The leftist brings this crouching animal to the forefront of the soul and shields it from justice -- from what it both needs and deserves.

And justice? "[L]abeling a sealed package 'Justice' has made it easy to introduce any contraband." Like in St. Louis: no justice no peace, or in other words, give the crouching and snarling animal what it wants!

Imagine trying to convince such an animal! At best you can enunciate clearly that there is neither peace nor justice without order, perhaps with some added emphasis from the business end of a billy club. But that wouldn't be progressive, which "finally comes down to stealing from man what ennobles him, in order to sell to him at a cheap price what debases him."

Well, not quite. With dependence on the state at an all time high, the debasement is free. As if there is no cost, neither material nor moral.

(All aphorisms by Nicolás Gómez Dávila)

15 comments:

julie said...

Imagine actually being stuck in the progressive prison of the left, or if they could successfully seal up the windows and block the doors! Of course they want to, but nothing short of totalitarianism can accomplish this, which is why leftism is inherently pulled in that soul-killing direction.

And literal killing, as often as not. How many, in the past century of communist regimes, have been killed for the crime of even just potentially noticing that there are doors and windows?

julie said...

"The modern citizens' libertarian demands are limited to claiming the right to copulate freely in the slave prison in which they are held."

That, and the freedom to partake of as many drugs as they like; in either case, pursuing a false transcendence which is actually just the same fall, faster.

mushroom said...

Leftism is a dungeon with conjugal rights.

That's the truth. They want to take away my property, my right to defend myself, my right to worship God as I see fit and even to believe in God, to eat what I want and drive what I want, to say what I want, to think what I want, and to offend them in any way. But, by Gaia, if I want to bang a low-carbon sheep, they got my back.

julie said...

Huh. Maybe that's one of the reasons they side with Muslims; in the Middle East, loving a sheep is only wrong if you plan on having it for dinner the next day.

mushroom said...

I heard they are working on a new Saudi version of Dallas -- all about the Ewe-ings.

John Lien said...

Alright! As a small-scale, dysfunctional sheep rancher I am experiencing much fake outrage at these comments.

Oh, reminds me of this joke.

An American city slicker is visiting Australia. He rents a car and drives into the outback. As he is driving he notices a rancher performing the above mentioned unspeakable acts to a sheep. Somewhat confused, the American asks "Are you shearing?" to which the Aussie replies. "Git yer own, mate."

julie said...

Which of course reminds of this...

Gene Wilder said...

I am a ba-a-a-ad man.

mushroom said...

John, does that mean are you a dysfunctional rancher or do you raise dysfunctional sheep? I'm thinking you could probably get a premium for dysfunctional sheep -- in certain markets.

ted said...

I just caught this amazing documentary on Bowie. Rare footage of his creative process, mostly the early years.

Gagdad Bob said...

I was proud to have discovered the album Ziggy Stardust before it was even released in the US, and before anyone knew who Bowie was. I then evangelized and converted all my high school friends. Pretty much my most notable achievement for many years.

Gagdad Bob said...

Was listening to this Poco Anthology last night -- very enjoyable. They're the band the Eagles copied, and raided when they needed a bass player and high harmony singer (Randy Meisner, Timothy Schmidt).

But the most interesting factoid about them was that their founding member, Richie Furay, was still under contract to Atlantic because of Buffalo Springfield. Meanwhile, Graham Nash was under contract to Columbia because of the Hollies. Therefore -- very much like a baseball trade -- Columbia traded Nash for Furay, which allowed both Poco and Crosby, Stills & Nash.

Interesting little bit of music trivia...

ted said...

Interesting tidbits about the music industry. As you allude too, bands like the Eagles were very calculating. The Bowie documentary brings this up also, however, Bowie did not aim for any tangible goals but just borrowed from many influences and changed it up when he got bored. It was only in the 80s when he made the Let's Dance album that he became focused on getting hits. Interestingly enough, his creative peaks became less frequent after that.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

"DON'T TEAR DOWN THIS WALL, MR. CONSERVATIVE, BECAUSE THE ADOLESCENTS WILL HAVE NOTHING TO REBEL AGAINST, AND NONE OF US KNOWS NOW HOW TO BUILD ANYTHING!"

Idiocracy redux.

John Lien said...

Was at a steam and gas event a few years back and was walking along the rows of tractors and equipment and what did I see? A Buffalo Springfield steam powered steam roller. I'll be darned.

Similarly, I've learned there was at one time a Grand Trunk Railroad up north.

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