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Drops in scary waters. By Detlef.Lately I’m pondering the individual and its relation to society. I am reading Ernst Jünger’s “Paris Diary”. Under 02.23.1943 there is a conversation Jünger has with the Russian Doctor Salmanoff.
Salmanoff maintains that if you are living in troubled, unhealthy times it is as impossible for you to remain healthy as it’s impossible for a drop of water in a stormy ocean to be motionless (Ernst Jünger, Sämtliche Werke, Stuttgart 1979).
Ernst Jünger seems to be the living counterexample: he was part of the Nazi occupation-army in Paris (although not a Nazi himself) and lived healthy enough to die 103 years old. Be that as it may: I think Dr. Salmanoff makes a point here. What does it mean for us and the troubled times we live in presently?
This article in Reuters is scaring me. There is an interesting discussion going on in Louis Gray’s FriendFeed, showing how emotionally charged this theme is. If it’s true that we are currently living inside a system that is on life support: How about our individual lives? This is a very black thought for a Sunday, anyway: Are we like cancer cells that die with the organism they attack?
I have the awkward feeling that not even the economists do understand the economic foundations of our societies any more. Nobody is in charge, everybody is patching this or that. I feel so powerless about it and that makes the 160.000 year old Homo Sapiens in me very, very uneasy: I want to fight or to take flight – not alone, but with my horde.
What can be done?
Jeb Dickerson 2:57 pm on February 22, 2009 Permalink |
I dont buy it DC. I know exactly what you’re saying…I have those same feelings/thoughts often. But in between, when I stop to ponder the picture, I see what I believe to be the truth. There are always those that thrive in a down market. Whether that market is financial, societal or otherwise, there is a way my friend.
These discussions are so important Detlef, and I dont at all mean to suggest the fears are baseless or shouldn’t be considered. But I truly believe that we get to choose our own outcomes. Dont get me wrong, it’s not easy. The mental focus/discipline that is required to see the truth, despite appearances to the contrary, is immense.
Together, though, me, you, our horde, together we can see it through. We can find our way along this treacherous path. May turn out the path is not as treacherous as it seems.
Jay 3:38 pm on February 22, 2009 Permalink |
I am with Jeb on this one. I think when you research history many cultures thought they would be the last. While I think the economic/climate conditions are certainty something to be concerned with, I believe we will come out the other end scathed for sure, but alive and better for going through it.
Detlef 11:02 pm on February 22, 2009 Permalink |
Thank you, Jeb and Jay (hey, that sounds nice, maybe there is a song in that), I had the suspicion that perhaps some investors are talking the market down because their investments might go into that direction. This is Monday morning, so with your comments my week is off for a good start.