>>> "Eddy Hall"
<voyger@intekom.co.za> 11/01/03 06:02PM >>>
You are welcome to distribute it in whatever
form you see fit
greetings
eddy
***************
A response to the primary reading for week
eight of Century of Light
10/31/03
A response to the primary reading for week
eight of Century of Light and how by chance i came across the writings of
Wyndham Lewis on philosophy, politics, society, art and literature and why they
blew me away .
My red pen paragraphs are 8.1,8.3, 8.8 (Summarized)
A lovely paragraph in which warfare, as we
knew it, evolved from a physical to a psychological plane. So while the
machinery of peace was being assembled, smoking barrels in one hand and pen in
the other, radio active fallout blighting the Hiroshima and Nagasaki landscape
and everyone was picking up the pieces, the "Cold War " began.
What was the Cold War"? It was "
the attempt by Marxism and liberal democracy to secure dominance between the
respective blocks they inspired." Advances in nuclear technology on both
sides of the "iron curtain" (an imaginary line dividing these two
blocks) lead to the awareness that a relatively minor incident could now spark
a conflagration that could eliminate a large percentage of the worlds
population and render much of the planet uninhabitable.
The effect of this power struggle was the
denial of subject peoples their right to self- determination leaving them no
other course to take to gain independence, except revolution. (Paragraph 8.3)
Full-blown materialism (a live today for
tomorrow we may die culture) emerged from the atomic fireballs feeding on the
anxiety generated by the cold war. Materialism," reduced religion to a
personal preference designed to satisfy the spiritual and emotional needs in
the individual. and leached out of human motivation and interest, the spiritual
impulses that distinguish the rational soul." So in the twinkling of an
eye the rampant "I " or as it is expressed in Century of light
"the cult of individualism" (P8.8) usurped the empty throne and
became the ruling cultural value.
What has Wyndham Lewis to do with all this?
Everything! He reckons that, (quotations from his work in italics.)
a..
"A World Government appears to me to be the only imaginable solution for
the chaos reigning at present.Such is, and always has been, the logical goal
for civilised mankind. "
Century of light expresses it, "Yet, the
unification of humankind under a system of governance that can release the full
potentialities latent in human nature.is clearly the next stage in the
evolution of civilization."
a..
" For a World Government when first formed to have a genuinely cosmic
society there already, practising - and preaching - all the collective virtues
appropriate in a world state would be of great value. The example of a kind of
universalised Everyman would prove infectious. And a new war-free, tolerant,
nationless world society. could do worse than take for its model American
citizenship (purged of its nationalism, of course)."
It seems to me that part of his desire for a
'cosmic society' practicing collective virtues is answered by the Baha'i
community and its achievements in electing a Supreme governing body outlined in
paragraphs 8.10 - 16 of Century of Light, summarized below.
After 6000 years of experimentation with
systems of collective decision, during humankind's most turbulent age yet, the
world wide Baha'i community succeeded in electing the first Universal House of
Justice in 1963. Compared with the recourses available to Napoleon or Caesar, this
community although small and widespread has continued to develop to such a
point that elections 'now incontestably represent the will of a cross- section
of the entire human race.'
" That yet greater suffering and
disillusionment will be required to impel humanity to this great leap forward
appears, alas, equally clear"
Wyndham Lewis concurs that a catastrophic
event is needed to push humanity into acceptance of its inherent oneness. He
was writing at the time of the cold war and therefore felt that it would be a
nuclear conflict.
" With a start of surprise (followed by
apathy) we find ourselves in the presence of the so called Atomic Bomb. Perhaps
that will do what the Sermon on the Mount failed to accomplish. That this will
come to pass before long - that the inhabitants of this planet have not only
the chance, but the certainty, of again enjoying one government instead of
plurality -may, I believe, with complete confidence be predicted."
To have found so rich a source of writings,
(originally published in 1948 under the title, AMERICA AND COSMIC MAN) so in
harmony with our studies is a blessing. One can only wonder at the creative
powers of his mind. His clear view so close to the catastrophic events of the
2nd WW and the Cold didn't come without great personal suffering. It would seem
that he isolated himself from society through his manners and attitude while
his unusual intellect finished off the job.
To sum up,
The way war was waged changed, from physical
to psychological. To a global consciousness still in shock from WW2, it
compounded the erosion of Faith, begun by scientific progress, carried forward
by dark, false and crooked doctrines and accelerated by the denial of right to
self - determination.
With the omnipresent possibility of some
lunatic pressing the button and one's world and indeed oneself evaporating in a
white flash, why not enjoy yourself? Who needed a rational soul? War propaganda
(Nationalistic) changed without missing a beat into Cold War (ideological)
propaganda, you got the news straight from the war horses nuclear mouth.
Materialism, aided and abetted by the most skilful and insidious form of
propaganda ever (as it is still deluding nearly everyone) advertising, gave
birth to Pop Culture.