lumpen-intelligentsia
You have been very reassuring.
I’ve been a bit catatonic lately, not quite knowing how to deal with the horrific nature of world events. I am told that in America, many intellectuals are no longer talking about the war. This is deeply troubling. This is what my parents told me happened in Germany during the ascent of Hitler. The bourgeoisie and intelligensia are often the first to pull in their horns. It is up to the ‘lumpen’ intelligensia to pick up the psychic slack. Aboard the ferry this morning, I watched a pod of Orcas playing in the boiling, gun metal gray sea off Marina Island. Their purposeful recreations cheered me up despite the fact that this population is threatened with extinction. In Japan, the carp always is said to strive mightily to achieve its goal. The orca, being a mammal, revels in distraction. Maybe it’s the consequence of a ‘big brain” and a ‘short life’, (cf. Vonnegut) That’s our problem in a nutshell.
