diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'essays')
| -rw-r--r-- | essays/creep.tex | 218 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | essays/social_recognition.tex | 212 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | essays/three_levels_of_politics.tex | 214 |
3 files changed, 644 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/essays/creep.tex b/essays/creep.tex new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f2a491d --- /dev/null +++ b/essays/creep.tex @@ -0,0 +1,218 @@ +\chapter{Creep} + +When Helen Lefkowitz said I was "such a creep" at Interlochen in +1956, her remark epitomized the feeling that females have always had about +me. My attempts to understand why females rejected me and to decide what +to do about it resulted in years of confusion. In 1961-1962, I tried to +develop a theory of the creep problem. This theory took involuntary +celibacy as the defining characteristic of the creep. Every society has its +image of the ideal young adult, even though the symbols of growing up +change from generation to generation. The creep is an involuntary celibate +because he fails to develop the surface traits of adulthood--poise and +sophistication; and because he is shy, unassertive, and lacks self-confidence +in the presence of others. The creep is awkward and has an unstylish +appearance. He seems sexless and childish. He is regarded by the ideal adults +with condescending scorn, amusement, or pity. + +Because he seems weak and inferior in the company of others, and +cannot maintain his self-respect, the creep is pressed into isolation. There, +the creep doesn't have the pressure of other people's presence to make him +feel inferior, to make him feel that he must be like them in order not te be +inferior. The creep can develop the morale required to differ. The creep also +tends to expand his fantasy life, so that it takes the place of the +interpersonal life from which he has been excluded. The important +consequence is that the creep is led to discover a number of positive +personality values which cannot be achieved by the mature, married adult. +During the period when I developed the creep theory, I was spending almost +all of my time alone in my room, thinking and writing. This fact should +make the positive creep values more understandable. + +\begin{enumerate} +\item Because of his isolation, the creep has a qualitatively higher sense of +identity. He has a sense of the boundaries of his personality, and a control of +what goes on within those boundaries. In contrast, the mature adult, who +spends all his time with his marriage partner or in groups of people, is a mere +channel into which thoughts flow from outside; he lives in a state of +conformist anonymity. + +\item The creep is emotionally autonomous, independent, or +self-contained. He develops an elaborate world of feelings which remain +within himself, or which are directed toward inanimate objects. The creep +may cooperate with other people in work situations, but he does not develop +emotional attachments to other people. + +\item Although the creep's intellectual abilities develop with education, +the creep lives in a sexually neutral world and a child's world throughout his +life. He is thus able to play like a child. He retains the child's capacity for +make-believe. He retains the child's lyrical creativity in regard to +self-originated, self-justifying activities. + +\item There is enormous room in the creep's life for the development of +every aspect of the inner world or the inner life. The creep can devote +himself to thought, fantasy, imagination, imaging, variegated mental states, +dreams, internal emotions and feelings towards inanimate objects. The creep +develops his inner world on his own power. His inner life originates with +himself, and is controlled and intellectually consequential. The creep has no +use for meditations whose content is supplied by religious traditions. Nor has +he any use for those drug experiences which adolescents undertake to prove +how grown-up they are, and whose content is supplied by fashion. The +creep's development of his inner life is the summation of all the positive +creep values. +\end{enumerate} + +After describing these values, the creep theory returned to the problem +of the creep's involuntary celibacy. For physical reasons, the creep remains a +captive audience for the opposite sex, but his attempts to gain acceptance by +the opposite sex always end in failure. On the other hand, the creep may +well find the positive creep values so desirable that he will want to intensify +them. The solution is for the creep to seek a medical procedure which will +sexually neutralize him. He can then attain the full creep values, without the +disability of an unresolved physical desire. + +Actually, the existence of the positive creep values proves that the +creep is an authentic non-human who happens to be trapped in human social +biology. The positive creep values imply a specification of a whole +non-human: social biology which would be appropriate to those values. +Finally, the creep theory mentioned that creeps often make good grades in +school, and can thus do clerical work or other work useful to humans. This +fact would be the basis for human acceptance of the creep. + +In the years after I presented the creep theory, a number of +inadequacies became apparent in it. The principal one was that I managed to +cast off the surface traits of the creep, but that when I did my problem +became even more intractable. An entirely different analysis of the problem +was required. + +My problem actually has to do with the enormous discrepancy between +the ways I can relate to males and the ways I can relate to females. The +essence of the problem has to do with the social values of females, which are +completely different from my own. The principal occupation of my life has +been certain self-originated activities which are embodied in "writings." Now +most males have the same social values that I find in all females. But there +have always been a few males with exceptional values; and my activities have +developed through exchanges of ideas with these males. These exchanges +have come about spontaneously and naturally. In contrast, I have never had +such an exchange of ideas with females, for the following reasons. Females +have nothing to say that applies to my activities. They cannot understand +that such activities are possible. Or they are a part of the "masses" who +oppose and have tried to discourage my activities. + +The great divergence between myself and females comes in the area +where each individual is responsible for what he or she is; the area in which +one must choose oneself and the principles with which one will be identified. +This area is certainly not a matter of intelligence or academic degrees. +Further, the fact that society has denied many opportunities to females at +one time or another is not involved here. (My occupation has no formal +prerequisites, no institutional barriers to entry. One enters it by defining +oneself as being in it. Yet no female has chosen to enter it. Or consider such +figures as Galileo and Galois. By the standards of their contemporaries, these +individuals were engaged in utterly ridiculous, antisocial pursuits. Society +does not give anybody the "opportunity" to engage in such pursuits. Society +tries to prevent everybody from being a Galileo or Galois. To be a Galileo is +really a matter of choosing sides, of choosing to take a certain stand.) + +Let me be specific about my own experiences. When I distributed the +prospectus for \journaltitle{The Journal of Indeterminate Mathematical Investigations} to +graduate students at the Courant Institute in the fall of 1967, the most +negative reactions came from the females. The mere fact that I wanted to +invent a mathematics outside of academic mathematics was in and of itself +offensive and revolting to them. Since the academic status of these females +was considerably higher than my own, the disagreement could only be +considered one of values. + +The field of art provides an even better example, because there are +many females in this field. In the summer of 1969 I attended a meeting of +the women's group of the Art Workers Coalition in New York. Many of the +women there had seen my Down With Art pamphlet. Ail the females who +have seen this pamphlet have reacted negatively, and it is quite clear what +their attitude is. They believe that they are courageously defending modern +art against a philistine. They consider me to be a crank who needs a "modern +museum art appreciation course." The more they are pressed, the more +proudiy do they defend "Great Art." Now the objective validity of my +opposition to art is absolutely beyond question. To defend modern art is +precisely what a hopeless mediocrity would consider courageous. Again, it is +clear that the opposition between myself and females is in the area where +one must choose one's values. + +I have found that what I really have to do to make a favorable +impression on females is to conceal or suspend my activities----the most +important part of my life; and to adopt a facade of conformity. Thus, I +perceive females as persons who cannot function in my occupation. I +perceive them as being like an employment agency, like an institution to +which you have to present a conformist facade. Females can he counted on to +represent the most "social, human" point of view, a point of view which, as I +have explained, is distant from my own. (In March 1970, at the Institute for +Advanced Study, the mathematician Dennis Johnson said to me that he +would murder his own mother, and murder all his friends, if by doing so he +could get the aliens to take him to another star and show him a higher +civilization. My own position is the same as Johnson's.) + +It follows that my perception of sex is totally different from that of +others. The depictions of sex in the mass media are completely at variance +with my own experience. I object to pornography in particular because it is +like deceptive advertising for sex; it creates the impression that the physical +aspect of sex can be separated from human personalities and social +interaction. Actually, if most people can separate sex from personality, it is +because they are so average that their values are the same as everybody else's. +In my case, although I am a captive audience for females for physical +reasons, the disparity between my values and theirs overrides the physical +attraction I feel for them. It is hard enough to present a facade of +conformity in order to deal with an employment agency, but the thought of +having to maintain such a facade in a more intimate relationship is +completely demoralizing. + +What conclusions can be drawn by comparing the creep theory with my +later experience? First, some individuals who are unquestionably creeps as +far as the surface traits are concerned simply may not be led to the deeper +values I described. They may not have the talent to get anything positive out +of their involuntary situation; or their aspirations may be so conformist that +they do not see their involuntary situation as a positive opportunity. Many +creeps are female, but all the evidence indicates that they have the same +values I have attributed to other females---values which are hard to reconcile +with the deeper creep values. + +As for the positive creep values, I may have had them even before I +began to care about whether females accepted me. For me, these values may +have been the cause, not the effect, of surface creepiness. They are closely +related to the values that underlie my activities. It is not necessary to appear +strangely dressed, childish, unassertive, awkward, and lacking in confidence +in order to achieve the positive creep values. (I probably emphasized surface +creep traits during my youth in order to dissociate myself from conformist +opinion at a time when I hadn't yet had the chance to make a full +substantive critique of it.) Even sex, in and of itself, might not be +incompatible with the creep inner life; what makes it incompatible is the +female personality and female social values, which in real life cannot be +separated from sex and are the predominant aspect of it. + +Having cast off the surface traits of the creep, I can now see that +whether I make a favorable impression on females really depends on whether +I conceal my occupation. Celibacy is an effect of my occupation; it does not +have the role of a primary cause that the creep theory attributed to it. +However, it does have consequences of its own. In the context of the entire +situation I have described, it constitutes an absolute dividing line between +myself and humanity. It does seem to be closely related to the deeper creep +values, especially the one of living in a child's world. + +As for the sexual neutralization advocated in the creep theory, to find a +procedure which actually achieves the stated objective without having all +sorts of unacceptable side effects would be an enormous undertaking. It is +not feasible as a minor operation developed for a single person. Further, as +the human species comes to have vast technological capabilities, many +special interest groups will want to tinker with human social biology, each in +a different way, for political reasons. I am no longer interested in petty +tinkering with human biology. As I make it clear in other writings, I am in +favor of building entities which are actially superior to humans, and which +avoid the whole fabric of human biosocial defects, not just one or two of +them. + +\clearpage +{ + + +2/22/1963 +Henry Flynt and Jack Smith demonstrate against Lincoln Center, February 22, 1963 +(photo by Tony Conrad) +} +\clearpage + + diff --git a/essays/social_recognition.tex b/essays/social_recognition.tex new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b3daa70 --- /dev/null +++ b/essays/social_recognition.tex @@ -0,0 +1,212 @@ +\chapter{On Social Recognition} + +The most important tasks which the individual can undertake arise not +from personal considerations but from the general conditions of society. The +standards of accomplishment for these tasks are implicit in the tasks, and are +objective in the sense that they can be applied without reference to public +opinion. For example, given that humans express themselves in statements +which are supposedly true or false, there arises a fundamental philosophical +"problem of knowledge." Then, the fact that societies are organized in +different ways at different times and places poses fundamental problems of +"political" thought and action. Sometimes the most important task posed by +the conditions of society is to invent a whole new activity. The origination +of experimental science in Europe in the seventeenth century is an example. +For lack of a better term, these tasks will be referred to as "fundamental +tasks." + +The fact that a fundamental task is posed by the general conditions of +society does not mean that public opinion will be aware of the task, or that +the ruling class will commission someone to undertake it. It may well be that +the first person to perceive the problem is the person who solves it; and +public opinion may not catch up with him for decades or centuries. + +The person who devotes himself to a fundamental task is, more often +than not, persecuted or ignored by society. Society puts up an immense +resistance to solutions of fundamental problems, even when, as in the cases +of Galois and Mendel, those solutions are politically innocuous. There is no +evidence that this state of affairs is limited to some particular organization of +society. Further, there are cases in which an objectively valid result is +known, and yet apparently society can never adopt the result institutionally. +Art is objectively inferior to brend, as I have shown, and yet all indications +are that art will always be a major institution. The persecution of individuals +who undertake fundamental tasks is an instance of a general human social +irrationality which runs throughout history, from human sacrifice in ancient +times to present-day war between communist countries. The conclusion is +that for an individual to commit himself to a fundamental task tends to +preclude social approval for his activities. + +Quite apart from the fundamental tasks which are posed by general +social conditions, the ruling class needs a continual supply of new talent at +all levels of society. At the lower levels, this supply is assured by the +necessity of selling one's labor power in order to eat. At the higher levels of +accomplishment, the ruling class assures itself of a continual supply of new +talent by offering publicity or fame---social recognition---as a reward for +accomplishing the tasks specified by the ruling class. Famous men such as +Einstein are held up to children as examples of the proper relationship +between the talented individual and society; and an international institution, +the Nobel Prize, exists to implement this system of supplying talent. +According to the doctrine, the individual has a duty to benefit society, to +choose a task posed by the ruling class as his occupation. (His publicly +known occupation is supposed to correspond to his real goals.) If he +performs successfully, he will receive publicity as an indication that he is +indeed benefiting society. + +Our analysis of fame is the opposite of that of Ben Vautier. Vautier +asserts that the desire for personal publicity is an instinctive drive of human +beings, and that the accumulation of publicity is a genuinely selfish act like +the accumulation of food. In fact, Vautier goes so far as to make no +distinction between what Gypsy Rose Lee and Lenin, for example, did to +gain fame; and he assumes that a pacifist, for example, would welcome +military honors equally as much as he would a peace award. We assert, on +the contrary, that the desire for publicity is not instinctive; it is inculcated in +the young so that the ruling class may have a continual supply of new talent +to serve its purposes. The desire for publicity, far more than the desire for +money, is establishment-serving more than self-serving. (We suggest that the +principal reason why Vautier seeks publicity is not instinct, but economics. +Vautier has no inherited source of income, and has never been trained for a +profession. For him, the alternative to the art\slash publicity racket would be +common labor. If he had the opportunity for a life of leisure, he might feel +differently about publicity.) + +The issues which are raised here are extremely important for the person +who perceives a fundamental task, because his sanity may depend on +whether he understands the rationality of his motives for undertaking the +task. He will already have been inculcated with the establishment's concepts +of service and recognition, concepts which are epitomized in the image of +Einstein's career. What we suggest is that it is vital to disabuse oneself of +these concepts. To repeat, fundamental tasks are posed by the general +conditions of society. Yet the individual who undertakes such a task will +probably be persecuted or ignored. Given these circumstances, the doctrine +that the individual has a duty to benefit society is a hypocritical fraud, an +obscenity. For the individual to commit himself to a fundamental task tends +to preclude social recognition for his activities; or, to reverse the remark, +social recognition is not a reward to accomplishment of a fundamental task +(just as military honors are not a reward to pacifism). Thus, it is not rational +for the individual to undertake a fundamental task in order to gain fame. + +The motive for undertaking a fundamental task should be genuine +selfishness. (We will continue our argument that the striving for fame is not +genuinely selfish below.) The individual who perceives a fundamental task +should undertake it for his private gratification. The task is of primary +importance to society. By accomplishing it, the individual gains the privilege +of knowing something which is socially important, but which society cannot +deal with honestly. The individual should undertake the task in order to +utilize his real abilities, to develop his potentiality for its own sake. The +undertaking of a significant task which utilizes one's real abilities is the true +source of happiness. To perceive a fundamental task and not to undertake it +is to be stunted: one loses one's self-respect and becomes progressively +demoralized. (Another rational motive for undertaking a fundamental task is +to transform the social environment by methods which do not depend on +society's approval or comprehension.) + +We do not mean to suggest that the individual who undertakes a +fundamental task should conceal his results. Even though such tasks may +seem individualistic, they require cooperative, social activity for their +accomplishment. A proposed solution to a fundamental problem can hardly +develop without being scrutinized from a variety of perspectives. It is +essential to have qualified critics, and it is unfortunate that they are so rare. +Solutions to fundamental problems are social consumption goods (their +consumption is not exclusionary), so that critics or collaborators have as +much opportunity to benefit from them as their originators do. As an +example, most of my writings are really collaborations with Tony Conrad. I +often find that I do not understand my own position until I know how it +appears to him. When communication of results is essentially a form of +collaboration, it is very different from the attempt to gain publicity or fame. + +It is precisely in the context of the generalized social irrationality which +runs throughout history that the attempt to gain fame must be seen as +foolishly un-selfish. What difference can it possibly make whether the masses +venerate one's name a hundred years after one's death? The adulation of the +masses after one is dead is of no conceivable value to oneself. It is society +which indoctrinates one to worry about one's reputation after one is dead, in +order to condition one to serve the interests of the ruling class. + +Then, what does it mean to the individual who solves a fundamental +problem to have his name publicized in the mass media, to be a celebrity +among people who cannot possibly understand what he has done? Even +more important, we must recognize that publicity carries a definte risk for +the individual committed to a fundamental task. The solution of such a +problem must usually be expressed in categories which are incommensurate +and incompatible with the categories of thought which are common coin at +the time. In order for the solution of a fundamental problem to be exposed +in the mass media, it has to be translated into media categories and this +usually results in irreparable distortion. In fact, the solution is distorted in +precisely such a manner that it begins to serve the interests of the ruling +class. One encounters an immense pressure which tends to harness one to +goals which have nothing to do with objective value. More precisely, when an +individual who has solved a fundamental problem is publicized in the mass +media, a process of mutual subversion takes place as between the +establishment\slash media and the individual. In the process, the establishment is +likely to come out far ahead. + +There are two other reasons why it is actually advantageous to the +individual who undertakes a fundamental task to avoid publicity. Since one's +activity is likely to be treated as a threat by society, one can minimize the +energy required to defend it, and can carry the activity further, if one +receives no publicity. Then, there will unavoidably be false starts made in +developing the solution to a fundamental problem. If one is not operating in +the glare of publicity, it is far easier to abandon these false starts. + +It used to be that when I saw publicity being given to an inferior way of +doing a thing, and I knew a better way, then I reacted with a sense of duty. I +had to appoint myself as a missionary, to enter the public arena and start a +campaign to replace the inferior approach with the better approach. But this +sense of duty must now be called into question. Is it really in my interest to. +thrust myself on the media as a missionary? The truth is that in the context +of generalized social irrationality, it is un-selfish and self-sacrificing to believe +that I must either agree with current fads or else contest them publicly. The +genuinely selfish attitude is *hat it is sufficient for me to know what the +superior approach is. I can ignore the false issues which fill the mass media; I +do not have to participate in public opinion at all. The genuinely selfish +attitude is that "it does not concern me." Genuine selfishness is living one's +life on a level which does not communicate with the level of the mass media +and public opinion. + +If we recognize that it is irrational to undertake a fundamental task in +order to benefit society and gain social approval, then our very choice of +fundamental tasks shouid be affected. The most visible fundamental tasks +are those which the establishment is to some extent aware of, and which if +accomplished would immediately be rewarded with social approval. (In the +natural sciences, there literally may be a race to solve a well-known problem). +But if our motives are genuinely self-serving, and have to do with the +development of our potentiality for its own sake, then there is no reason to +limit ourselves to widely understood problems. We can undertake to discover +timeless results---permanent answers to questions which will be important +indefinitely---without concerning ourselves with whether society can adopt +the results institutionally. We can pose problems of which neither the +establishment, the media, nor public opinion are aware. We can undertake +tasks which draw on our unique abilities, so that our personal contribution is +indispensable. + +There is a difficulty which we have postponed mentioning. The +individual is always compelled to engage in some socially approved activity +in order to obtain the means of subsistence. We cannot assume that the +individual will have an inherited source of income. In order to pursue a +fundamental task, he will have to pursue a legitimate occupation at the same +time. It may be extremely difficult to lead such a double life, because to do +so requires precisely the self-assurance. that comes from accomplishing the +fundamental task. Leading a double life is not a game for the person who is +unsure about his real abilities or his vocation. If the individual is capable of +leading a double life, our suggestion is to obtain the means of subsistence by +the most efficient swindle available. Do not hesitate to practice outward +conformity in order to exploit the establishment for your own purposes. + +There remains the case of the individual who, like Galois, is not +prepared to lead a double life. His problem is one of destitution. However, +he is different from an ordinary pauper. By assumption, he is more talented +than the members of the establishment; he does not belong to the +establishment because he is overqualified for it. Given that he is more +talented than members of the establishment, and that his survival is +threatened, a collateral fundamental task emerges, the task of immediately +transmuting his talent into power to handle the establishment on his own +terms. To perceive this task is a major resuit of this essay. The task cannot be +defined accurately without a perfect understanding of the difference +between fundamental tasks and the serve-society-and-get-famous fraud. We +contend that Galois should have regarded the task of immediately +transmuting his talent into power over the establishment as an inseparable +collateral problem to his mathematical researches. From a common sense +point of view, this collateral task will seem utterly impossible. However, we +are talking about individuals whose vocation is to do the seemingly +impossible. Thus, we conclude by leaving this unsolved fundamental problem +for the reader to ponder. + diff --git a/essays/three_levels_of_politics.tex b/essays/three_levels_of_politics.tex new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d629be6 --- /dev/null +++ b/essays/three_levels_of_politics.tex @@ -0,0 +1,214 @@ +\chapter{The Three Levels of Politics} + + +Political activity and its results can occur on three levels. The first level +is the personal one. An individual may vote to re-elect a local politician +because of patronage he has received, for example. On this level the +individual's motivation is narrow, immediate self-interest. Often the action +has a defensive character; the individual is trying to hold on to something he +already possesses. + +The second level may be called the historical level. It is exemplified by +the Civil War in the United States. Certain political movements result in +largescale, irreversible social change. The Civil War set in motion the +industrialization of the United States, as well as abolishing slavery. In 1860, +slavery was viewed by large numbers of Americans as a legitimate institution. +One hundred years later, even American conservatives did not often defend +it. To re-establish a plantation economy in the South today would be out of +the question. These observations prove that on the second level, society +really does change. On this level, political action does make a difference. + +However, there is a further aspect to the Civil War which indicates that +politics does not make the difference people think it makes. According to +the ideology of the abolitionists, the accomplishment of the Civil War would +be to raise the slaves to a position of equality with whites. In fact, nothing of +the sort happened. The real accomplishment of the Civil War was to +transform the United States into an industrial capitalist society (and to +abolish an institution which was incompatible with the capitalists' need for a +free labor market). By the time the Northern businessmen brought +Reconstruction to an end, it was clear that the position of blacks in +American society was where it had always been: at the bottom. The Civil +War changed American society, but is did not make the society any more +utopian. On the contrary, it brought into prominence still another violent +social conflict---the conflict between labor and capital. + +The third level of politics has to do with the utopian aspect of modern +political ideologies, the aspect which calls not only for society to change, but +to change for the better. Typical third-level political goals are the abolition +of war, the abolition of the oligarchic structure of society, and the abolition +of economic institutions which value human lives in terms of money. in all +of human history, society has never changed on this third level. + +The successful Communist revolutionists of the twentieth century (in +the underdeveloped countries) have repeatedly claimed to have accomplished +third-level change in their societies. However, these claims of third-level +change have always turned out to be illusions which cover a recapitulation of +capitalist development. Communist revolutions are typical examples of real +second-level change which is accomplished under the cover of claims of +third-level change, claims which are pure and simple frauds. + +By introducing the concept of levels of politics, we can resolve the +apparent paradox that society certainly changes, but that it really does not +change. It is important to understand that empirical evidence on the +question of the levels of politics can only be drawn from the past, the +present, and the immediate future (five to ten years). Recent technological +developments have brought into question the very existence of the human +species. In addition, technology is developing much faster than society is. It +is meaningless to discuss the issue of second versus third-level social change +with reference to the more distant future, because there may not be any +human society in the more distant future. + +This essay is concerned with the politics of the third level. The first and +second levels are certainly real enough, but we are not the least interested in +them. As we have just said, we make the restriction that any empirical +analysis of the third level must refer to the past, the present, or the +immediate future. Our purpose is to present a substitute for the politics of +the third level. + +There are a number of present-day political tendencies which hold out +the promise of third-level social change. These tendencies are all descended +from the leftist working-class movements of nineteenth century Europe, +most of them by way of the early Soviet regime. The promises of third-level +change held out by these tendencies are nothing but cheap illusions. What is +more, a careful examination of leftist ideologies in relation to the historical +record will show that the promises of third-level change are extremely vague +and without substance. Beneath the surface of vague promises, leftist +ideologies do not even favor third-level change; they are opposed to it. + +One example will serve to demonstrate this contention. In my capacity +as a professional economist, I have become familiar with the official +economic policies---the doctrines of the professional economists---of the +various socialist governments and leftist movements throughout the world. It +should be mentioned that most of the followers of leftism are not familiar +with these technical economic policies; they are aware only of vague, +meaningless promises of future bliss coming from leftist political +speechmakers. When we turn to technical economic realities, we find that +virtually every leftist tendency in the world today accepts economic +principles which in the parlance of the layman are referred to as +"capitalism." The most important principle is stated by Ernest Mandel: "the +economy continues to be fundamentally a money economy, with the +satisfaction of the bulk of people's needs depending on the number of +currency tokens a person possesses." When it comes to the realities of +technical economics, virtually every leftist in the world accepts this +principle. So far as the third level is concerned, there is no such thing as a +non-capitalist polical tendency, and there is no point in hoping for one. A +similar conclusion holds for virtually every aspect of third-level politics. +Leftists claim that Communism eliminates the causes of war; while at the +same time war breaks out beween China and the Soviet Union. + +We propose to draw a far-reaching conclusion from these +considerations. Returning to the example of first-level politics, it is rational +for the patronage-seeker to be in favor of the election of one focal politican +and against the election of his opponent. This is a matter which is within the +scope of human responsibility, and with respect to which individual action +can make a difference. But it is not rational to be either for against +"capitalism," to be either for or against war. As we have seen, "capitalism" +and war are permanent aspects of human society, and no political tendency +genuinely opposes them. It is meaningless to treat them as if they were +within the scope of human responsibility in the sense that the election of a +local politician is. in other words, the third-level aspects of society are not +partial, limited aspects which can be eliminated by conscious human action +while the bulk of human life is retained. The only way you can meaningfully +be against the third-level aspects of human society is by adopting a different +attitude to the human species as such. + +This attitude is the one you would adopt if you were suddenly thrown +into a society of apes---apes which perpetually preyed within their own +ecological niche. It is clear that if you proposed to be "against" such a +situation, and to do something about it, then politics as it is normally +conceived would be out of the question. To anticipate our later discussion, +the first thing you must do is to protect yourself against society. The way to +do this is to create an invisible enclave for yourself within the Establishment. +Having such an enclave certainly does not imply loyalty to the +Establishment. On the contrary, there is no reason why you should be toyal +to any faction among the apes. You only pretend to be loyal to one faction +or another when it is necessary for self-defense. If there is a change of regime +in the country where you are living, you either leave or join the winning side. +Transfer your invisible enclave to whatever Establishment is available. But all +this is an external, defensive tactic which has nothing to do with the primary +goals of our strategy. + +We will finish our critique of third-level politics, and then continue the +description of the substitute which we propose. In addition to making vague +promises of third-level change, leftism encourages indignation at social +conditions which are beyond anyone's power to affect. Leftism attributes +great ethical merit to such indignation and morally condemns anyone who +does not share it. But this attitude is totally irrational and dishonest. In +philosophy and mathematics, it is possible for a proposition to be valid even +though it has no chance of institutional acceptance. But in social, economic, +and political matters, attitudes which have policy implications are nonsense +unless the policies are actually implemented. Institutional acceptance is the +only arena of validation of a social doctrine. It is absurd to attribute ethical +merit to a longing for the impossible. Indignation at a social condition which +is beyond anyone's power to affect is meaningless. (Indeed, to the extent +that such indignation diverts social energy into a dead end, it is +"counter-revolutionary.") To be more radical in social matters than society +can possibly be is not virtuous; it is idiotic. + +Although third-level politics is a fraud, it is the contention of this essay +that there exists a rational substitute for it. Once you perceive that you exist +in a society of apes who attack their own ecological niche, there are rational +goals which you can adopt for your life that correspond to third-level change +even though they have nothing to do with leftism. The preliminary step, as +we have said, is to create an invisible enclave for yourself within. the +Establishment. The remainder of the strategy is in two parts which are in +fact closely related. + +The first part is based on a consideration of the effects which such +figures as Galileo, Galois, Abel, Lobachevski, and Mendel have had on +society. These men devoted themselves to researches which seemed to be +purely abstract, without any relevance to the practical world. Yet, through +long, tortuous chains of events, their researches have had disruptive effects +on society which go far beyond the effects of most political movements. The +reason has to do with the peculiar role which technology has in human +society. Society's attitude in relation to technology is like that of a child +who cannot refrain from playing with matches. We find that +the abstract researches of the men being considered accomplished a dual +result. On the one hand, they represented inner escape, the achievement of a +private utopia now. Of course, the general public will not understand this; +only the few who are capable of participating in such activities will +appreciate the extent to which they can constitute inner escape. On the +other hand, they have had profoundly disruptive effects on society, effects +which still have not run their course. + +Thus, the first part of our strategy is to follow the example of these +individuals. Of course, we do not stay within the bounds of present-day +academic research, any more than Galileo or Mendel did in their time. What +we have in mind is activities in the intellectual modality represented by the +rest of this book. + +It should be clear that such activities do represent a private utopia, and are at +the same time the seeds of disruptive future technologies which lead directly +to the second part of our strategy. + +It is important to realize that by speaking of inner escape we do not +mean fashionable drug use, or Eastern religions, or occultism. These +threadbare superstitions are embraced by the cosmopolitan middle +classes---intellectually spineless fools who are always grasping for spiritual +comfort. Superstitious fads are escapism in the worst sense, as they only +serve to further muddle the heads of the fools who embrace them. In +contrast, the inner escape which we propose is original and consequential, +leading to an increase in man's manipulative power over the world. It has +nothing to do with irrationality or superstition. + +The second part of our strategy is predicated on the following states of +affairs. First, it is the human species as such which is the obstacle to +third-level political change. Secondly, technology is developing far more +rapidly than society is, and no feature of the natural world need any longer +be taken for granted. Society cannot help but foster technology in the +pursuit of military and economic supremacy, and this includes technology +which can contribute to the making of artificial superhuman beings. Every +fundamental advance in logic, physics, neurophysiology, and +neurocybernetics obviously leads in this direction. Thus, the second part of +the strategy is to participate in the making of artificial superhumans, +possibly by infiltrating the military-scientific establishment and diverting +research in the appropriate direction. + +{ \itshape +Note: This essay provides a specific, practical strategy for the present +environment. It also shows that certain types of opposition to the status quo +are meaningless. Subversion Theory, on the other hand, was a general theory +which was not limited to any one environment, but also which failed to +provide a specific strategy for the present environment. \par } + + |