“I felt that the metal of my spirit, like a bar of iron that is softened and bent by a persistent flame, was being gradually softened and bent by the troubles that oppressed it. In spite of myself, I was conscious of a feeling of envy for those who did not suffer from such troubles, for the wealthy and the privileged; and this envy, I observed, was accompanied—still against my will—by a feeling of bitterness towards them, which, in turn, did not limit its aim to particular persons or situations, but, as if by an uncontrollable bias, tended to assume the general, abstract character of a whole conception of life. In fact, during those difficult days, I came very gradually to feel that my irritation and my intolerance of poverty were turning into a revolt against injustice, and not only against the injustice which struck at me personally but the injustice from which so many others like me suffered. I was quite aware of this almost imperceptible transformation of my subjective resentments into objective reflections and states of mind, owing to the bent of my thoughts which led always and irresistibly in the same direction: owing also to my conversation, which, without my intending it, alway harped upon the same subject. I also noticed in myself a growing sympathy for those political parties which proclaimed their struggle against the evils and infamies of the society to which, in the end I had attributed the troubles that beset me—a society which, as I thought, in reference to myself, allowed its best sons to languish and protected its worst ones. Usually, and in the simpler, less cultivated people, this process occurs without their knowing it, in the dark depths of consciousness where, by a kind of mysterious alchemy, egoism is transmuted into altruism, hatred into love, fear into courage; but to me, accustomed as I was to observing and studying myself, the whole thing was clear and visible, as though I were watching it happen in someone else; and yet I was aware the whole time that I was being swayed by material subjective factors, that I was transforming purely personal motives into universal reasons.” CharacterFree WillAlienationItalyObjectivitySubjectivityHegelCategorical ImperativeEssentialismPolitical AnimalUniversal Reasons Book:Contempt Source: Contempt
“Political Wildlife (The Sonnet) Easiest way to study animal behavior without going on safari, is to sit in front of a political debate. Political salesmen are ideal specimen of wildlife in their natural habitat. Listen to all the howling and screaming, Listen to all the brainless twatter. You shall learn a lot about the brutal wild, By watching the cannibals devour each other. In the world of political haftwits, Politics is just "left and right" affair. Where all left and right come to an end, There begins actual human welfare. Partisan world is a loveless world, where popular truth is but a lie. We don't need to lean left or right, it is time, human heart spreads human-wide.” DemocracyPoliticiansPolitical PhilosophyPolitical ScienceSocial WelfareNonpartisanismPolitical PoetryPolitics Freedom LibertyPolitical DebatePolitical Animal Book:Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo Source: Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo