The Tendency
The purpose of this article is to describe in detail a method for the production of “happiness” at any given time, and under any set of circumstances. This method will be presented in the form of a series of “rules.” It is not necessary for anyone to agree that these rules are applicable or true. It is only necessary that they be followed and that the resulting “happiness” (whatever it may turn out to be) not be contested.
There are two basic methods for producing happiness. The first method consists in denying the fact that one is unhappy. The second method consists in making someone else unhappy so that one may enjoy the happiness of their unhappiness.
The first method is generally known as optimism.
The second method is generally known as cynicism.
As an example of the second method, I would like to discuss my opinions regarding those who are not in power. I have no respect for them. They are of a low level of intelligence, and I despise them. They are not worthy of my attention. I have no affection for them. I have only contempt for them.
I do not have much affection for the people who are in power, either. In fact, I feel no affection for anyone who is in power. I do not feel affection for those who are nothing in the world.
All of this is based on a complete lack of affection. It is a way of showing that I do not care.
The specific situation is this: my wife is the daughter of a man who, at one time, was in power. I have no affection for that man. My son is someone for whom I have affection. I have no affection for his father.
How can I feel affection for his father, who is in power when he does not care one whit about my son and seems intent only on bringing him great hardship? It would be like feeling affection for a man in prison who is not even paying attention to his own child when he has it upon him.
The world of the present is a complicated and difficult place to live in. At this moment, I do not feel affection for anyone. I have no respect for anyone. I have no affection for anyone. My attitude towards those who are in power is to deny their authority.
THE TENDENCY of our time is toward the total interpenetration of arts. It is no longer possible to draw any clear-cut lines between genres of artistic expression. Each new form of artistic expression comes to share in the characteristics that distinguished previous forms. There is, therefore, no point in trying to describe the nature of these new forms as something entirely novel or completely distinct from what has gone before.
An image of a train speeding up through some trees comes onto the screen. A track is drawn to mark where it was going. On the screen are two lines, one for our position and a second farther away from us to mark where it will be when the train is moving at its maximum speed. These are called the blue line, representing our position and red or moving one. It turns out that for a certain speed of the train there is no point at all between these two lines. If we keep speeding the train up then, in fact for a range of speeds at either side it is not possible to see any point inside the track.
THE TENDENCY of our time is to deny the possibility of any historical knowledge. At a certain moment, all history becomes contemporaneous.
This is why predictability is so often seen as a problem for the present. It is no longer possible for the present to be the hinge of history. Rather, the present is reduced to an impression that it makes. The past is so saturated with the present that it becomes almost indistinguishable. This is a terrifying prospect.
HISTORY IS UNAVAILABLE TO GUEST USERS.