ex cathedra: No good deed

Wednesday, September 04, 2013

No good deed

goes unpunished.

B recommended a short story by Heinrich von Kleist, The Foundling. It's an anti-Enlightenment narrative whereby a man's act of pity becomes the source of his whole life's destruction. Deadpan tragedy. Reminded me of Anthony Burgess' Earthly Powers, where a similar kindness matures into disaster. Talk about the Law of Unintended Outcomes.

Earthly Powers also has one of the most memorable opening lines in any English novel.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...: Yes, a brilliant opening to Earthly Powers - I read it 30 years ago and still remember it word for word!

Surely equalled only by Rose Macaulay's Towers of Trebizond:

"Take my camel, dear", said my Aunt Dot, as she climbed down from this animal on her return from High Mass.; 12:59 AM, September 05, 2013

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Toward Our Future

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Liberalism's Basic Flaw

Liberals believe that the chief role of the State is to force everyone to be equal, (ie, take vengeance on the successful). So when they are confronted with any group that they deem less well off than themselves, they are morally disarmed, completely and utterly. Any group that can achieve Victim Status is on their way to power and the (White) liberal's only job is to give them what they want, no matter how much that damages him. And nothing may ever be expected, much less demanded, of them in return. It's a recipe for suicide: no other outcome is possible.