The more I think about it, the more existentialism seems like an outgrowth of psychoanalysis—which is to say giving up the imaginary and learning to embrace the reality principle.
A more confident society aspires to great or greater art. I think there's a connection between the rise of poptimism in the 2010s and the reversal of cultural priorities, so that good taste became pretentious and burdensome, and generic taste became laudable and chic.1
Repression dominates civilizational cycles. Shakespeare and Montaigne could speak more frankly and freely of sex than Thackeray or Dickens or Goethe. Un-repression is always a brief summer—a summer of love, literally.
In 1910, Western civilization could look toward prosperity and tolerance, moderation, skepticism, just as the French could in 1600 under Henry of Navarre or America could before Kennedy was assassinated2 or even in 1999 before 9/11 incepted a bad new century (and secondarily I should add Columbine).
We don't seem to be able to tolerate tolerance. Peace, humanism— Humanistic relativism is always destroyed in the great cyclical tragedy of modernity by absolutist scientific rationalism.
I have to admit that I miss some of the energy of '21, '22. Lately, I've noticed that many of the people around me are paralyzed, half-asleep, unable to keep jobs, leaving New York or staying in New York but suffering. The energy with which people returned to society after Covid—pissed off, irreverent, even confident—has largely dissipated.
There's almost a sense that people are waiting for AI to come around and just transform everything because they can't transform themselves.3
So much depends on what word society uses for subjective, voluptuous intimacy.
Most people prefer to play a role, not write one.4
Unconscious cannot erase conscious. Consciousness cannot erase unconsciousness. The two can only hope to be joined… like two capitals of two small nations close in proximity, but at a relative distance in terms of culture. Copenhagen and Malmö.
Intention is at the root of spontaneity and free play.
This transition seems linked to a decline, if not in the quality of life, then in the quality of aspiration and American hope.
It was Rathenau who was assassinated, not Hitler; Jean Jaurès, not the Kaiser; Lincoln not Robert E. Lee.
There's so much fear and surveillance of self and surveillance of others. How many collective days are wasted each day deep in the platonic cave of Instagram or TikTok?
I’m not talking about theater.
poptimism being the transfer of clout from the independent to the megacorporate
So many gems again! Thank yew 🌳 “ Most people prefer to play a role, not write one.⁴” 😮💨