| history as the slaughter-bench |
photograph taken at dunleavy stock yard.
"When we look at this display of passions, and the consequences of their violence; the
Unreason which is associated not only with them, but even (rather we might say especially)
with good designs and righteous aims; when we see the evil, the vice, the ruin that has
befallen the most flourishing kingdoms which the mind of man ever created, we can scarce
avoid being filled with sorrow at this universal taint of corruption: and, since this decay is not
the work of mere Nature, but of the Human Will — a moral embitterment — a revolt of the
Good Spirit (if it have a place within us) may well be the result of our reflections. Without
rhetorical exaggeration, a simply truthful combination of the miseries that have overwhelmed
the noblest of nations and polities, and the finest exemplars of private virtue, — forms a
picture of most fearful aspect, and excites emotions of the profoundest and most hopeless
sadness, counter-balanced by no consolatory result. We endure in beholding it a mental
torture, allowing no defence or escape but the consideration that what has happened could
not be otherwise; that it is a fatality which no intervention could alter. And at last we draw
back from the intolerable disgust with which these sorrowful reflections threaten us, into the
more agreeable environment of our individual life — the Present formed by our private aims
and interests. In short we retreat into the selfishness that stands on the quiet shore, and
thence enjoy in safety the distant spectacle of “wrecks confusedly hurled.” But even
regarding History as the slaughter-bench at which the happiness of
peoples, the wisdom of States, and the virtue of individuals have
been victimised — the question involuntarily arises — to what
principle, to what final aim these enormous sacrifices have been
offered."
- Hegel
Unreason which is associated not only with them, but even (rather we might say especially)
with good designs and righteous aims; when we see the evil, the vice, the ruin that has
befallen the most flourishing kingdoms which the mind of man ever created, we can scarce
avoid being filled with sorrow at this universal taint of corruption: and, since this decay is not
the work of mere Nature, but of the Human Will — a moral embitterment — a revolt of the
Good Spirit (if it have a place within us) may well be the result of our reflections. Without
rhetorical exaggeration, a simply truthful combination of the miseries that have overwhelmed
the noblest of nations and polities, and the finest exemplars of private virtue, — forms a
picture of most fearful aspect, and excites emotions of the profoundest and most hopeless
sadness, counter-balanced by no consolatory result. We endure in beholding it a mental
torture, allowing no defence or escape but the consideration that what has happened could
not be otherwise; that it is a fatality which no intervention could alter. And at last we draw
back from the intolerable disgust with which these sorrowful reflections threaten us, into the
more agreeable environment of our individual life — the Present formed by our private aims
and interests. In short we retreat into the selfishness that stands on the quiet shore, and
thence enjoy in safety the distant spectacle of “wrecks confusedly hurled.” But even
regarding History as the slaughter-bench at which the happiness of
peoples, the wisdom of States, and the virtue of individuals have
been victimised — the question involuntarily arises — to what
principle, to what final aim these enormous sacrifices have been
offered."
- Hegel
| all photos and unattributed text copyright © 2005-2007 by abandonedamerica.org and may not be used or reproduced without prior written consent. all rights reserved. |
