Monday, April 12, 2010

Karl Marx and Australia

Karl Marx seems to mention Australia in his works quite a bit (ie The German Ideology, Capital, he also wrote articles ie in the Neue-Oder Zeitung, March 7, 1855, and elsewhere).
I'm going to make this claim and not fully back it up, because: one, I'm lazy, and two, it's something I want to explore further at a later time / really it's rather insignificant, and is mostly due to commentaries on colonization, the newness at the time, labor movements, and so on. This is a note to self, that will never be fulfilled.

I may just notice it more than the others because of my sentimental attachments to Australia. It's sorta like the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon, a form of synchronicity.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Love and Stupidity

Love and Stupidity: The pleasure the animal trainer takes in the affection of a lion may sometimes be attenuated by the realization that the stupidity of the beast has a good deal to do with it. Because a heightened consciousness of its power would destroy the tie, the animal's present tenderness isn't worth much. The more reason the trainer has to think highly of his art, the less he need feel flattered by the affection of the lion. We don't like it when we are loved from a lack of intelligence. The pride many fine ladies and gentlemen take in the loyalty of their servants, or the Junker in their workers, caricatures the confidence we feel because we know we are genuinely loved.
Max Horkheimer. Dawn and Decline. p 72.