Sometimes her ardent
imagination concealed things from her, but never did she have those deliberate
illusions which cowardice induces.
Stendhal - La Chartreuse de Parme (1839).
An extremely pointed quote. Have you ever explained your own
behaviour in a way which is far too lenient towards your motives? I have. It’s
one of those deliberate illusions which
cowardice induces.
It’s probably a factor in voting too. I vote ConLabLib
because... Perhaps we are just too cowardly to sustain a worthwhile democracy.
There are probably at least three reasons for doing anything - the deep reason, the reason you tell yourself and the reason as publicly stated. As for a worthwhile democracy - there's a question! Democracy seems to survive because it is such a flexible concept - all things to all persons. But in the end just a means of getting by.
ReplyDeleteI am tempted by our National Health Alliance for Action candidate. He is the only one with a coherent statement.
ReplyDeleteRoger - yes I think democracy was always more pragmatic than the ideal we supposed it to be. More like a way of conducting large scale opinion polls than a handle on the levers of power.
ReplyDeleteDemetrius - I am tempted to vote for the person an not the party.