Ostrogoto [en]

The Real Division

Even though he was certainly not an enemy of every authority, George Orwell hit the mark when he put things in these terms: «the real division is not between conservatives and revolutionaries, but between authoritarians and libertarians». But who is willing to admit and recognized this division? Faced with the rampant power of ideology, which, through a dizzying constant hammering from birth until death, inculcates in all of us the certainty that authority alone is the source and guarantee of freedom, how many have the courage to face the loneliness that not merely remembering, but living such a thought involves? It is not easy, it is not comfortable, it is not reassuring, it is not popular. Said in another key – it is not functional, it is not productive, it is not effective, it is not convenient.
In our times, many revolutionaries seem conservative and many conservatives very much risk appearing revolutionary. And for many it is fine to dive into this noisy bazaar where everyone blends and intersects with everyone and there are no more annoying limits to doing business, right? But the «real division», this, remains. Unchanged. And it stands out mercilessly on the small human miseries of those who are ready to call on judges, flourish Constitutions, demand court sentences or cling to deputy officers to defend their freedom and dignity.

Let’s abandon the avenues, streets and squares of the polis, a territory hostile to us. Let’s go into the forest. Even alone, if necessary. May the deserters of this world differentiate themselves form dominant thought and continue on far away from the beaten path so that they may discover and invent their own paths. Only this idea of desertion does not content itself with just taking note of the real division, but makes it live, gives it flesh and blood. Because it is not only a question of refusal, but an invitation to reinvent our existence here and now, to pass with arms and baggage to the other side.

 
[trad. di W.L.]