IDEALOGUES

EXCERPT FROM NOTEBOOK FOUR — ALBERT CAMUS, SEPTEMBER 1944

...abstraction is evil.  It causes wars, tortures, violence, etc.  Problem:  How does the abstract view continue in the face of physical evil, ideology in the face of the torture inflicted in the name of that ideology?

THIS NOTE COULD BE APPLIED WITH JUSTIFICATION IN THE PRESENT TIME IN AMERICA TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, WHICH IS INFLICTING MUCH PAIN AND SUFFERING ON THE GREAT BULK OF CITIZENS WHO ARE NOT AMONG THE ONE PERCENT.  THAT THE PAIN IS REAL AND THE PEOPLE INJURED MORE COMPELLING THAN AN ABSTRACTION WILL SHORTLY BE WIDELY REALIZED.  THE REPUBLICAN LEADERS AND THEIR SUPPORTERS IN THE FINANCIAL AND ENERGY SECTORS WHO HAVE SYSTEMATICALLY DENIED THE GREAT MASS OF PEOPLE RELIEF FROM THEIR INCREASINGLY PAINFUL INDEBTEDNESS ARE GUILTY, PLAIN AND SIMPLE, OF INHUMANITY.  THEY DESERVE TO BE CONSIGNED TO OBLIVION AND THE HISTORY BOOKS, WHERE THE LESSONS LEARNED WILL BE TAUGHT TO FUTURE GENERATIONS OF POLITICAL ACTIVISTS.  THE REPUBLICAN PARTY — AND THOSE IT REPRESENTS — IS VICIOUSLY OBSOLETE.