The True Slave Defends the Master, Doesn't Fight Him.
The writer and poet offer a ruthless critique of modern lifestyles and those who choose to endure them. According to Agosti, throughout our lives, we engage in the "typical discourse of a slave," convincing ourselves that we are satisfied, that it's right, and that there is no other way out. He cautions us not to put flowers in our cells' windows, as we will end up loving them and losing the most important desire: the freedom to live! He eloquently describes this freedom in one of his most famous books: "Letters from Kyrgyzstan."
"The true slave, the true slave defends the master, doesn't fight him."
Because a slave is not defined by the chain on his foot but by the inability to imagine freedom.
Silvano Agosti: "One of the most devastating aspects of today's culture is making people believe that it is the only culture. Instead, it is simply the worst. Well, the examples are within everyone's hearts. For example, the fact that people go to work six days a week is the most despicable thing one can imagine.
How can they steal the lives of human beings in exchange for food, a bed, and a small wage?!
Until yesterday, I believed that they were doing me a favour by giving me a job. But now I think, 'Look at these bastards who are stealing the only life I have because I won't have another one. I only have this one, and they make me work five times, six days a week, leaving me with a miserable day. For what? How can you build a life in just one day?!'
So, one should never put flowers in the window of the cell in which they are imprisoned because if the door is eventually opened, they won't want to leave.
One must always think, with perfect consciousness:
'They are stealing my life from me, in exchange for a meagre monthly sum (in lire, note: pre-Euro Italian currency), while I am a masterpiece with an indescribable value.'
I don't understand why a Van Gogh painting should be worth 77 billion while a human being is worth a mere meagre monthly sum, at best.
In my opinion, considering that profits have increased at least 100 times with new technologies, the working hours should have decreased at least tenfold! But no! The working hours have remained the same. Today, I know they are stealing the most precious gift given to me by nature. Think about the most beautiful thing that nature offers, let's say making love, right?!
Imagine living in a political, economic, and social system where people are compelled, under surveillance, to make love for eight hours a day. It would be torture. So, why shouldn't the same be true for work, which is certainly no more pleasant than making love, right?!
For example, the fact that people work six days a week, sure, I don't have a gun to my head, I do it because I have this thought: 'Is it better to lick the floor or die?'
'Better to lick the floor,' but what is horrifying in this culture is that 'licking the floor' has become an aspiration, you understand?
But it is monstrous that someone has to work eight hours a day and be grateful to those who make them lick the floor, you know?
All of this is objectively monstrous, but where consciousness generates consciousness, all of this is effectively monstrous.
- Interviewer: "Yes, well, the situation is irreversible now!"
Silvano Agosti: "Yes, you are rightfully making a defence of those who oppress you because that is typical of a slave, isn't it?
The true slave defends the master and doesn't fight him. Because a slave is not so much the one with a chain on his foot, but the one who is no longer capable of imagining freedom.
But with respect to what you just told me, when Galileo stated that it was the Earth that revolved around the Sun, there must have been someone like you who said:
'Yeah, for 22 centuries, everyone has been saying that the Sun revolves around, and now you come and say this nonsense. How will you explain it to all human beings?' and he replied: 'That's not my problem, gentlemen!'
'Then look, for now, we'll lower you into a well and make you say it's not true, so everything returns to normal.' Do you understand why the entire West enjoys benefits? Because it is stealing 8/10 of the world's resources.
So, we are not living in a political regime capable of giving us television, cars, no!
It is a political system that knows how to steal 8/10 from three-quarters of the world and provide some well-being to 1/4 of the world, which is us. So, my dear sirs, either wake up or pretend to sleep or realize that you are all dead!"
#TrueSlave #DefendTheMaster #NoMoreChains #ImagineFreedom #BreakingTheChains
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