modified: 24 november, 1,2 december 2003
online: 1 december 2003

17 september/2 december 2003 as people of leisure


12:16 what is the main theme of this writing?

I consult a (randomly-chosen) page (75) of the internet and everyone:

...in craftwork everything is integrated, in mechanisation everything is split up, and in automation everything can be put back together, but only if the mechanistic culture is changed into something other (which is of course a main theme of this work).



so let this be the basis... (as well as the renewal of my lifework and the social perceptions it presumes and requires)

isolation, neglect, etc. come of lack of non-mechanical social forms and beliefs (is it a new Buddenbrooks in reverse* that is needed?)

so: the cause is not so much in us as between us (therefore 'no blame')



*Thomas Mann, Buddenbrooks: the decline of a family, Everyman's Library, London 1994. First published in 1901 - for which Thomas Mann was awarded the Nobel prize for literature in 1929.

The story of the decline of a mercantile family (dedicated to work) as the culture changes from 19th century confidence to 20th century doubt... What did I mean by 'Buddenbrooks in reverse'? The still-opposed change to social forms appropriate to post-mechanical technology. The recovery of confidence in the whole (whether describable or not)!



24 november 2003:
...but we begin from uncertainty, in the apparent absence of the new, and in the presence of old forms that seem as pervasive as ever...

...the wars against terrorism, against begging, against asylum seekers, against unemployment, against pollution, against underdevelopement are not what they seem - they are the resistance of the old against the new, which is named as something negative, as chaos seen as disorder (to me it is the order of reality when not imposed upon ) ...

...some more positive names for these things are freedom fighters, mendicants, pioneers, people of leisure, clean air, healthy surroundings, balanced economy, self-sufficiency, and mutual respect.........

and behind these words from the past is the birth of all newness, the washing away of old forms as the new begins formless, unrecognised - but we are alive and free to change our minds

(and goodbye to work!)

is this then softopia?


what's new

homepage

digital diary archive

© 2002, 2003 john chris jones

You may transmit this text to anyone for any non-commercial purpose if you include the copyright line and this notice and if you respect the copyright of quotations.

If you wish to reproduce any of this text commercially please send a copyright permission request to jcj at publicwriting.net