Luca Bagiella
Word Count 2’887/ E10001 PIN-10532.
Call for a global reconsideration.vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv Luca Bagiella Mister President, First of all, I would like to congratulate you on your election. I will introduce myself briefly : I am a Swiss citizen, a citizen of the world, of 25 years old in my last year studying at the University of Visual Arts of Geneva. I focus my work on reflections destined to think the political and sociological context and its causal impact, in the development of “being in progress”. In parallel to this work I have already started the writing of my first book entitled: “Critic Narcissism, essay of reconsideration” dealing in particular with a critic realization in relation with the pre-established and standardized life a pattern that is implicated by its nature, a unique system of value and nomination. This study begins with a self-critic rapidly leading me to a reconsideration of what makes me what I am in a context, in a society. Structured society leads individuals to choose “a box”, a predefined role in a closed objectal hierarchy. This “chosen” role will become for the normal narcissistic subject their new identity. Knowing not distance between “role identity” and “singular individuality” anymore, the subject influenced and judged by “the context-other” will become the simple definition of their limited image. Becoming completely and profoundly dependent on their “identityother”. The aim of this book is awareness and a detachment from this societal duality by the individual. As well as an opening through a reconsideration of all concepts, theories and closed rationalities. By giving back to all these judgments; values of external objects therefore relative and subjective values. The reconsideration of the bases of the educative system will be a priority of my book. For the kid must, according to me, develop in priority their critical vision and their conscience more than the leveling of their “intelligence” to normative criteria’s. The human must re-appropriate their reality of being particular and recognize their own capacities to make their life, by the individual apprenticeship of their mistakes, the reason of their presence on earth. Before getting to the point I insist that this letter is by choice, by refusal of a leveling to conventions and by conviction to the personal signature: Not-corrected. It is the French version of this letter that is authentic. Their translation is the unique cause of a desire of comprehension. So it is important to consider my non-membership to any group or other organizations of any sort. This is really a discourse from human to human, an independent claim appealing to your human sense, your consciousness and your intuition. Convinced by the importance and the influence of your country, I send you today this letter to share with you my strong perplexity at the hands of the confidence and the absolute power that humans give, despite themselves, to the established social system, in seeing in it their only possibility of life. This letter does not concern the reconsideration of your choices or your political position, but the system that lead you to make this choice.
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Luca Bagiella
This system of worldwide basis is too simplistic and does not correspond to the complexity of the new being. Whom by the progress of knowledge, their experience of the object and their historical heritage is more or less conscious to get involved against, despite themselves, in the euphoria of image, in a system role, in a lie. Therefore the fact that this system is established by so much rationality stops the natural evolution of the human. Indeed, the omnipresence of such a system does not enable them to be autonomous and to evolve to a “High Consciousness”. What I mean with this term is a waking of individual consciousness enabling the being to live in harmony with what they are, recognizing their value of independence, their singular complex value, their life in progress… The term "system", as I use it, is the evolution of a way of thinking led to extreme consideration of all things living and dead according to an evaluation of higher values in order to streamline into one unit all the complexities of reality. This system brings the individual to think in terms of conventions and norms. My disagreement lies in the fact that this system rationalizes, manages, standardizes, and conditions the development of ideas using deterrence in diverted human values. This diversion is translated by the use of human emotions and is destined to lead the human to self-identification. This phenomenon is omnipresent in the mass-medias. This situation is very serious because the human being is progressing towards their own objectification, leading them, as a model for the other to have to simulate their "pseudo-life". The human being is in perpetual construction, research. I do not think we could define the human with a general term. They are in themselves multiple, complex, it is a unity, values, capacities, possibilities; it is a living in perpetual contradiction… I stop here and ask: Can a “rational system” take all that in consideration? Can we accept, if this system is to reduce the human being to a unique rationality? Rationality is used mainly to define its components in order to hold mass in a defined context. This rationality based on evidences of image blocks to the human the possibility to become conscious of other realities. But, what does the system respond to the different human, to the human refusing to play, to the nonaligned human conscious of their values? Which way does it offer to him? For me, the greatest value of the human lies in their non-conventional, financially unmotivated and independent acts. Mister President, it is not difficult to see that today the values upon which we build our lives are values of substitution. This values being artificial, they perpetually need that we renew them, just like these artificial lakes that without renewal of the water: rot. Humans and above all the young generation have a minimum of consciousness and not yet ease of their vanities and of their object richness, realize the absurd situation on which they have to base their own myths. They resign themselves very often to see their realities as the only possibility to their lives. The present situation is destined to die for the human not finding new things to recycle the cycle of euphoria anymore and seeing that all their value finds itself in objects will lead them to lose any sense of life and to participate, by abdication, to their own death. This self destruction or resignation is very prevalent among the young generation who does not find values in work or in life anymore.
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Global Initiatives Symposium in Taiwan 2009
This leads them to live in a universal dream folding on themselves in a “pseudoindividuality”. The euphoria related to the student’s status quo still guards and makes them imagine their place in a society already over-saturated and without meaning. Today, I put forward you, Mister President: the creation within the U.S government of a “mirror unit” composed of a “reflection committee” aimed for giving progressively back to the human: the possibility of their choices. My proposal of committee or unit will not represent the image of a new political measure destined to promote a certain party but to give to the human being the possibility to think about new overtures. They will be overtures of consciousness facing the system of manipulation rationalized especially by bad interpretations of psychoanalysis: the relationship human/object, human/human. This system is leading the human to replace “Being” to “having”, also replacing “necessity” with “desire”. This transforms them in “automat of happiness” docile and blind in an apathy of consent. The first reflections of this committee will aim for the understanding of the complexity of the functioning of their context: the government. Thus I have to answer, since now, to the naivety that would make you imagine such a proposal of novelty in view of the vanity of the human who having integrated the capitalist system, is hungry for power, money and popularity. And who would see in these proposals a concurrent idea, of pride or adversary, that my letter has not the objective to bring. Also, the committee will not admit, indeed, any situation of rank or tension of values. The people who will take part to this group will be remunerated a minimum and their involvement will be completely punctual and of conviction. This absence of pyramidal remuneration and of capitalist tension will make this committee: a platform of experimentation. The outgoing proposals will be authentic and above all non-alienated to norms of systems. These proposals will be presented as a study not bringing solutions, but reconsiderations aiming for “de-systemizations”. This committee will aim for “a voluntary simplicity” in which the human will think freely about these proposals. I am convinced that these outgoing proposals will have a great impact, by their truths on the humans of this world. It will be the experiment of a new sort of relation brought by the non-alienation of hierarchical societal roles that influence currently very much in the simplest relations. The roles are indeed too scored. I am sure that the popularity of such an idea of “free act” will lead, among humble and conscious people of the “post-Spectacular Society of Simulation”, a real challenge. But what does this empire of simulation answer, to the reality of the oldness and the death of theses objects? Indeed, Mister President, I let you think about this question mostly disturbing. Yes, what does retirement mean? Why have we decided that the human had to stop working? What is the place and the value of the person who does not work in the present society? How will your children react when, their euphoria’s past, they will see that all they have amounts to nothing? Because, in fact what is an object except a value reproducible to the infinite? It is certitude that the question of death is more taboo than any other. It is a big problem in a society based on a “dead value”: the economy.
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Bliss or Misery? Contemplating the Engagement of Cultural Forms and Economic Progress
Luca Bagiella
I do not want to be pessimistic and this letter is a call to a common reflection, because it is not difficult to see that the present society is inert and goes around in circles, not knowing how to free itself from the inherited myths. And maybe also from its historical guilt. Conscious that I am not the first one to raise the problems of the system, I remind you, that since the beginning of the consumerist era: artists, intellectuals, personalities as well as movements and groups have denounced several of these failures. They have succeeded in bringing revolutions, but often their ideas have been engulfed by the cogwheel of the system. Have they satisfied themselves too fast with negligible temporary solutions? Have they not found the right words or the right people to transmit their messages? Have they not been heard or considered? Has there been an objectification of their ideas? Have they been imprisoned and sentenced to silence? Or have they been killed before being able to build up their big projects?! At the School of Visual-Arts (SVA) of New York until January 2009 as international exchange student. I have chosen this destination for I think being here in one of the headquarters of the international thought. Your country is one of the most influential countries above all, since the issue of the Second World War. Your “one-dimensional” thought has brought rationality to Europe in crisis of ideas. You were the model of success, of modernity, a dreamy place in a new capitalist system. You have made the object, of the idol and of capitalism your culture and a national identity. Your war against communism and, at the present time, the different actions of the politics of your predecessor shows to what extent your nation has imposed their ideas. These actions prove thus the great power of conviction and of intimidation of your imperialist strategy. These actions show the example and the image that you want to show to the other countries. That sums up why I think it is to your country to lead to evolution. It is to your country to tell the world that you are ready to rethink society. The world is waiting for your awareness! I hope that you have understood that my words are not so much against but rather a call for progress from a young generation of the 80’s. This evolution that I am talking about will represent a change that would not have been possible before, because we needed this previous experience of the object to pass to the next level of consciousness. The 20th century has been very rich in evolution in all the categories and capitalism was born out of a necessary evolution. Now the 21 st century calls officially with this letter and its proposal for a measure of exchanges, of communication and of truth. Measures that will be undertaken by the human for the human. The new being will understand their singularity and will integrate their duty when the cards turned towards them, will signify them that they are the substance of their life and that everything depends upon them. Life will then become a search for identity; it will take a personal sense for every one of us, according to their own ideals and without any categorization. Let us put the Question of “the Being” and of “Freedom” back in the center of the dialogue and into the center of “the Existence”. Hoping that your human consciousness is stronger than your love of objects and your vanity. And that you will be the President of this real progress. I hope that you will recognize here more than a simple letter, but a deep conviction. 4
Global Initiatives Symposium in Taiwan 2009
At the dawn of this new millennium I let you imagine, Mister President, a future that I hope near, where the “complete-human” will see their past stunned to see that we could have reduced, so long the human to a system of common denomination. He will also try to understand how entire generations have found a meaning to their lives with being the pawn, the puppets of a game in which they only had to go forward on the predefined squares happy to get their participations and their respect of the game’s rules small sheets of paper. These are papers that have the faces of men who define their own conditioning. The aim of the game being to have the biggest number of small papers to buy the work of another pawn concentrated to imagine which ephemeral object they will be able to buy. They will be surprised to see how these small pawns are excited by their participations in the game looked with intention the small animated box called “Television” that explained them the meaning of democracy!... At this point of the letter, I would like to get back to your election for it is a real and lived situation that represents, to the point, a big spectacular, artificial, and an absurd masquerade has been able to impregnate itself as leading institution on reality. Indeed, honestly: What do you think about this people who answering to your election accepts and caution their own manipulation as well as yours? You are conscious of that and like me you are surprised to see that such games could reach such a real result. Mister President, with the respect that I have for you and the American culture, let me tell you that you are as much manipulated as the people that vote for you ! Can you accept that, can you as a free human being accept such an objectification and utilization of your humanity?! Don’t you think that your choice of a camp (republicans/democrats) is the proof of a simplistic system in which we have classified ideas of human beings as opposed when we know pertinently that the human is by nature contradictory and in perpetual evolution? I am as conscious as you and I understand that you do not represent the absolute power so I ask you to share the words of this letter with your vice-president and with every representative of the executive departments. I assume my letter and announce you from now, that I am ready to present this project to the government. I strongly support communication and “the round table”. One man alone can do nothing and it is with all humans he will work, by declaring its "no knowledge" about the current reality that the change will take form. This letter does not have the illusory objective for the moment to change the world but to give it the possibilities to think the change, the evolution! In these words and wishing to have brought you a concrete reflection, I thank you for the time and for your consideration that you have accepted to give to the letter of a young citizen of the world. I would have so much left to tell you but I stop here and hope that you recognize in these writings an importance of first rank as well as a declaration of honesty and a humble act. Waiting for a response from you, I remain at your disposal and declare sincerely, Mister New President of the United States, my Human greetings. Change, we can believe in. Yes we can !
Luca V.Bagiella 5
Bliss or Misery? Contemplating the Engagement of Cultural Forms and Economic Progress
Luca Bagiella
Global Initiatives Symposium in Taiwan 2009