![]() ![]() In a subsequent phone conversation, I suggested to Errol an Eighth Reason "why it makes sense to curse the darkness rather than light a candle": Every time one lights a candle, one succeeds only in illuminating all the truly unspeakable things the darkness covers up. A candle may provide all too much illumination. "Īnd it occurred to me that, in fact, illumination is precisely the problem. The candle could be one of those ghastly scented and you're stuck with the foul odor that can linger for days if not weeks."īut then there was one that got me thinking: "The candle provides only minimal illumination. Some of them were wry jibes: "You could burn yourself. We had recently been talking on the phone about the unexamined assumptions of optimism and such unquestioned cliches as "Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness," and it turned out Errol had already compiled a list of seven reasons "why it makes sense to curse the darkness rather than light a candle," which he faxed me. Errol may be even more profoundly pessimistic than I am, although many of our conversations revolve around who's really got the darker attitude. I had recently been in receipt of a fax from my friend Errol Morris (director, most recently, of The Fog of War, to my mind a classic of informed, foundational, epistemological pessimism). There's a reason I brought up that last platitude in particular. On the belief that things will turn out all right, that Man will prevail, that Reason will triumph over Unreason, that Progress is inexorable, that it's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. Our whole culture was founded on optimism, from the commercial to the theological. It's a delusion, but it's an optimistic delusion.īut to be a pessimist, to have a tragic sense of history, to doubt the Answers proffered by the various -isms (all variations of optim-ism) - that is impermissible. For all the "transgressiveness" the armchair warriors in the academy claim, they basically believe "unpacking" Jane Austen with addled jargon will somehow shake the foundations of oppressive "hegemony" to make a better world. Indeed, it may be the last heresy left in America, the last real transgression - to be a pessimist. I have taken heat before for pessimistic speculations about the nature of human nature, about the future fate of the Jews (is a "second Holocaust," this time in the Middle East, possible?), and I probably will take heat for what I'm about to say here in making the broader case for what I'd call informed, foundational pessimism. I take no satisfaction in having my bleak pessimism - well, I prefer to call it "tragic sense of history" - confirmed. (In a March 2003 issue of The Observer.) I still hope I'll be proven wrong in the long run. Who was the self-described "historical pessimist" who wrote last March - when it was still unclear whether the invasion of Iraq would proceed - "War or no war, things will get worse." ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |