Merkavah - Drive the Lord's SUV!

I just got home not long ago from The Baader Meinhof Complex showing at the Library and Archives for the EU Film Fest. Still thinking about it.

I'd like to say first of all that it's a good film. I'm not sure how it would ring with your average audience, but being familiar with the subject matter it was... for the most part, quite excellent.

I'm not sure what it says about me that I am so equipped to penetrate the mindset of these terrorists. For years in my... perhaps stupider... youth, I'd almost count myself amongst those willing to fight to the death for the cause. Nietzsche was not wrong to place his hope against the inevitability of the Last Man in Youth.

And perhaps that's the best way, and certainly the way in which my mind has for the last few years characterized the struggle of not just the RAF, but Terrorism in general. It's something I'm still building on since my (wholly inadequate) essay of last semester.

Without spoiling too much, as the film almost treats it as a minor event (focusing more on the lives of the RAF itself)... perhaps in a way Mogadishu didn't only spell the beginning of the end for European continental terrorism but the end of the hope of Youth. Perhaps... okay, not an end, but as an indicator that perhaps force of will alone will not change the inevitable.

I remain confident in my belief that terrorism is the inevitable counteraction that is necessary to diminish (and replenish) the Standing Reserve. Perhaps therein lies the problem inherent in terrorism itself. It is nothing more than another cog in the machine, the other face of the same coin. Violence and brutality does nothing to extricate one from the bind of the modern project.

I'll have to mull it over some more. I have a ton of homework to do (most of it for German class)...

One other thing: I'm impressed they managed to get talented actors who looked like the members of the RAF. Even the actor who played Rudi Dutschke, who plays a bit part in the whole movie... looked like Rudi Dutschke.

Posted by Johann Kwan at 11:35 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

I find myself flipping through Hegel and Nietzsche again. It is difficult when listening in on a discussion of the faults of Berlusconi and Sarkozy to think of them as anything but prototypical masters, exercizing authority without responsibility.

It's probably indicative of the fact that I studied Hegel through the lens of Kojeve that I view such characters as inevitable products of society.

That is not to say that there isn't a tinge of disgust and a taste of bile when thinking about it. The axiom that "absolute power corrupts absolutely" is a vile fallacy that has almost become an excuse to simply avoid having to explain the faults of others. It is a historical fact that many power elites knew full well the responsibility that lay upon their shoulders. The lesson to be drawn from Hegel and Nietzsche, even if Nietzsche seems at times to prefer the Master to the Slave, is that with authority there must exist an equal share of responsibility. (Yes, I'm aware that this sounds a lot like Spider-Man)

Yet the idea that power itself imbues actions with moral rightness is something that has always been prevalent amongst elites. A way for them to justify to themselves their darkest thoughts, perhaps. Yet I cannot imagine that their lives could be anything but an existential nightmare straight out of the pages of Brett Easton Ellis, anesthetized with Zoloft and a healthy helping of Ketel One.

There's a thought... if we took the emotional crutches away from the rich and powerful, would they finally wake up to their own nightmares?

I am not saying that wealth and power are in themselves evil. (In fact, Nietzsche would build a time machine to kick me in the face if I claimed so) It has been quite a long time since I have been that ardent a socialist. But they must be coupled with responsibility.

And now I'm also beginning to sound like Heinlein. I think that's my cue to stop dicking about in my head whilst doing chores and buckle down on an essay. Time for a return to Plato and Aristotle.

Posted by Johann Kwan at 04:59 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

I will have a more substantial update soon... now that I'm sick I have a lot more time on my hands than usual.

Until then, enjoy this photo. I took it last month over Thanksgiving.

Posted by Johann Kwan at 02:16 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)