ASSAULT US
IN THIS AGE OF ANGER;
THE THRESHOLD OF ATROCITY
HAS BEEN STEADILY LOWERED SINCE THE FIRST TELEVISED BEHEADING
(in 2004, just as broadband Internet began to arrive in middle-class homes)
in Iraq of a Western hostage dressed in Guantanamo's oranje jumpsuit.
But the racism and misogyny routinely on display in social media, and demagoguery in political discourse,
now reveals what Nietzsche, speaking of the 'men of ressentiment', called 'a whole tremulous realm
of subterranean revenge, inexhaustible and insatiable in outbursts'.
There is a pervasive panic, which doesn't resemble the centralized fear emanating from despotic power.
Rather, it is the sentiment, generated by the news media and amplified by social media, that anything can happen anywhere
to anybody any time! The sense of a world spinning out of control is aggravated by the reality of climate change,
which makes the planet itself seem under siege from ourselves.
Toen we 'n paar miljoen jaar geleden vanuit Afrika de rest van de wereld begonnen te veroveren,
met o.a. ons vallen & opstaan, horten & stoten, uppers & downers, mannen & vrouwen, helden & slaven,
kwamen we steeds meer onszelf tegen achter onze ogen & tussen onze oren, met handen & voeten:
vandaar verboden vruchten, moord & doodslag, verslavingen & ontsnappingen úit
elk anders en onze eigen klauwen
& beklemmingen.