Originally
appeared in Drakabygget 2/3 1962 in a editted version and published with the title 'Gog and Magog'. The editting and retitling were done by Jorn, Nash etc. without the consent of Jacqueline de Jong. De Jong published her own version with the original title, Luxery and Martyrdom, in Situationist Times No.3 with a note pointing to the deed done by Drakabygget.
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LUXURY OR MARTYDOM
Jacqueline de Jong
Nature's decisions are based upon a fact resulting out of a preliminary
necessity.
Man's impulse does not result out of a necessity but he can create one.
As it is impulse in mankind which decides this preliminary necessity,
he cannot always recognize nature's way of acting. That is why man as
a creator is Luxury.
The naturist ethic is as contradictory to creative mankind as is the
platonic ethic, because neither of them result from the impulse to create,
but rather by ignoring this impulse, they emanate either from the necessities
of nature of Socio-scientology, which a priori are anti-luxurious.
The puritanism in Judaism as well as in Christianity denied any acceptance
of either impulse of luxury and therefore became iconoclastic etc. As
this meant destruction of an essential aspect in mankind, the human being
had created a martyr. On this base christian and democratic society developed
into what it is now. The field of creation became more and more overwhelmed
by the industrialisation of anti-luxurious fields and by the luxury-industry
which has become the pure surrogation of impulses.
Nevertheless man creates and is pursued by the anti-luxurious as well
as by the surrogate luxurety side of society.
Only by trying to separate creative man from society or by declaring
him to martyrdom con puritanism deny the existence of unorganised impulses.
The Catholic church has been able to absorb a part of creation by concentrating
on the necessity of its existence, while never accepting the factor of
impulse without having to turn it into the a priori necessities of its
own focus. The same applies to Byzantinism.
The so called "luxury" of these institurions is none other than the
"poverty" of Judaism and the Protestant puritanism: these are absolutely
unimpulsive.
Only by escaping from these fake symbolic organizations has creation
been able to develop its independence.
The suffering of the human being for his neighbour is a false luxury
which has never been accepted by luxury man, as his suffering permits
it only to be for himself. Luxury does not permit martyrs.
Therefore the Judaic - Christian ethic cannot accept this refusal of
martyrdom as this entirely destroys their concepts. Neither can the socio-democratic
societies as they are based on these concepts.
That is why only in the socalled naivity of "popular" creation has the
escape been possible without being cut off completely from society.
The separation of creative worlds such as science and the arts from
vulgarisation has only engraved their situation inside the socio-democratic
world.
NOTE
The Scandinavian revue Drakabygget has (2-3) published an article which
they called Gog and Magog, signed with my name. This is an obvious detournement
of an article called Luxor or Martyr which I wrote indeed and send to
them to get published.
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