“What a piece of work is man!” So wrote William Shakespeare. It’s a sentiment very few people would utter these days. Why? From Paul Rosenberg at freemansperspective.com:
The dominating systems of our world require us to feel weak, afraid, and insufficient. They couldn’t continue if most of us didn’t feel that way. And so the friends and operators of these systems must oppose the opposite assumption: That we are not inadequate.
I’ve watched popular culture for a lot of years, and I can tell you that since the 1970s, one concept, above all, has been forbidden in intellectual circles: Man as a glorious creature.
If you’d like to prove that to yourself, say a few things like these at a cocktail party:
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- Western civilization has accomplished so many good things that it’s mind-blowing.
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- Most people are basically decent and don’t need to be controlled.
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- I see so much goodness in humanity.
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- Humanity is ascending toward the gods (or heaven, or whatever).
Then, if you’d really like to see a reaction:
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- The human race is magnificent.
