captivating illusion Any philosophy, or practical way of thinking about life, that I attempt to create will be twisted by the excesses and deficiencies of the culture into which I was born, because it has taught me and shaped me, and I am inevitably a mirror of its sickness. This is unavoidable. I must recognize that any attempt I make now to come to terms with my world is tentative, a substitute for the thoughts I would have if I were healthier and more complete. At best, such a philosophy will help me to see what is lacking in myself and my culture, and hint at the changes I need to make if I am to escape my faults. By acting in and changing the world around me, eventually I will learn to see without distortion. I cannot judge what is right, because my vision itself is flawed, but perhaps I can judge well enough to attempt to cure myself. Sometime later, I may be whole and healthy, and at that point I will be ready to recognize the good, for myself at least. The key to self-empowerment in this culture is to do whatever one does with so much dexterity and enthusiasm and obvious self-confidence that it psychs the opposition into supporting it uncritically. Our society never judges the nature of a thing by its content, but by its ability to project a front which is uniformly free of self-doubt. It is necessary to seem to act impulsively, but with a knack for being right, when in fact one has anticipated everything with admirable forethought, and is acting with admirable discipline. Forethought and discipline are admirable when they are effective, but it is the appearance of spontaneity our culture craves. The critics are so awed by the captivating illusion that they fail to see the careful planning that lies beneath, and they don't think to be critical until one is already beyond their reach. Of course, if anyone were to reveal that the cloak is a mere cloak, one's intentions would be exposed in an instant and the whole illusion would collapse, painfully both for oneself and for those who were taken in by it. But no one ever thinks to ask. What matters is not competence or even self-confidence, but the illusion of absolute self-confidence, the ability to convey to others that you have a plan that cannot fail. They will be so impressed by someone "with a plan," feeling acutely their own inability to define their direction, that they will stand aside from your path and shower you with gifts and praise, accelerating your progress. The problem with illusions is that they eventually collapse under their own weight. The trick is to move so quickly that by the time the illusion collapses and the opposition realizes they have been used, you are already beyond their reach. Otherwise, they will strike back with a vengeance that is surprising in such weak, irresolute souls. How can a person of integrity act in a culture in which, like this one, duplicity has penetrated to the very soul, including one's own? The only way, short of total withdrawal or suicide, is to immerse oneself in the society's values, using those values to eat away from within and bring about the destruction of the evil, like cancer consuming a body. It takes an especially strong, resilient and innocent soul to be able to do this without destroying itself.
	location: Santa Fe, New Mexico date: September 21, 1984 average rating: [not rated] your rating (0-10):