Listen, Little Man!
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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| - | :“It is the fate of great achievements, born from a way of life that sets truth before security, to be gobbled up by you and excreted in the form of [[shit]]. For centuries great, brave, lonely men have been telling you what to do. Time and again you have corrupted, diminished and demolished their teachings; time and again you have been captivated by their weakest points, taken not the great truth, but some trifling error as your guiding principal. This, [[little man]], is what you have done with [[Christianity]], with the doctrine of sovereign people, with [[socialism]], with everything you touch. Why, you ask, do you do this? I don't believe you really want an answer. When you hear the truth you'll cry bloody murder, or commit it. … You had your choice between soaring to [[superhuman]] heights with [[Nietzsche]] and sinking into [[subhuman]] depths with [[Hitler]]. You shouted Heil! Heil! and chose the subhuman. You had the choice between [[Lenin]]'s truly democratic constitution and [[Stalin]]'s dictatorship. You chose Stalin's dictatorship. You had your choice between [[Freud]]'s elucidation of the sexual core of your psychic disorders and his theory of cultural adaptation. You dropped the theory of sexuality and chose his theory of cultural adaptation, which left you hanging in mid-air. You had your choice between [[Jesus]] and his majestic simplicity and [[Paul]] with his celibacy for priests and life-long compulsory marriage for yourself. You chose the celibacy and compulsory marriage and forgot the simplicity of Jesus' mother, who bore her child for love and love alone. You had your choice between [[Marx]]'s insight into the productivity of your living labor power, which alone creates the value of commodities and the idea of the state. You forgot the living energy of your labor and chose the idea of the state. In the [[French Revolution]], you had your choice between the cruel [[Robespierre]] and the great [[Danton]]. You chose cruelty and sent greatness and goodness to the guillotine. In Germany you had your choice between [[Goring]] and [[Himmler]] on the one hand and [[Liebknecht]], [[Landau]], and [[Muhsam]] on the other. You made Himmler your police chief and murdered your great friends. You had your choice between [[Julius Streicher]] and [[Walter Rathenau]]. You murdered Rathenau. You had your choice between [[Lodge]] and [[Wilson]]. You murdered Wilson. You had your choice between the cruel [[Inquisition]] and [[Galileo]]'s truth. You tortured and humiliated the great Galileo, from whose inventions you are still benefiting, and now, in the twentieth century, you have brought the methods of the Inquisition to a new flowering. … Every one of your acts of smallness and meanness throws light on the boundless wretchedness of the human animal. 'Why so tragic?' you ask. 'Do you feel responsible for all evil?' With remarks like that you condemn yourself. If, little man among millions, you were to shoulder the barest fraction of your responsibility, the world would be a very different place. Your great friends wouldn't perish, struck down by your smallness.” | + | :“It is the fate of great achievements, born from a way of life that sets truth before security, to be gobbled up by you and excreted in the form of [[shit]]. For centuries great, brave, lonely men have been telling you what to do. Time and again you have corrupted, diminished and demolished their teachings; time and again you have been captivated by their weakest points, taken not the great truth, but some trifling error as your guiding principal. This, [[little man]], is what you have done with [[Christianity]], with the doctrine of sovereign people, with [[socialism]], with everything you touch. Why, you ask, do you do this? I don't believe you really want an answer. When you hear the truth you'll cry bloody murder, or commit it. … You had your choice between soaring to [[superhuman]] heights with [[Nietzsche]] and sinking into [[subhuman]] depths with [[Hitler]]. You shouted Heil! Heil! and chose the subhuman. You had the choice between [[Lenin]]'s truly democratic constitution and [[Stalin]]'s dictatorship. You chose Stalin's dictatorship. You had your choice between [[Freud]]'s elucidation of the sexual core of your psychic disorders and his theory of cultural adaptation. You dropped the theory of sexuality and chose his theory of cultural adaptation, which left you hanging in mid-air. You had your choice between [[Jesus]] and his majestic simplicity and [[Paul]] with his celibacy for priests and life-long compulsory marriage for yourself. You chose the celibacy and compulsory marriage and forgot the simplicity of Jesus' mother, who bore her child for love and love alone. You had your choice between [[Marx]]'s insight into the productivity of your living labor power, which alone creates the value of commodities and the idea of the state. You forgot the living energy of your labor and chose the idea of the state. In the [[French Revolution]], you had your choice between the cruel [[Robespierre]] and the great [[Danton]]. You chose cruelty and sent greatness and goodness to the guillotine. In Germany you had your choice between [[Goring]] and [[Himmler]] on the one hand and [[Liebknecht]], [[Landau]], and [[Muhsam]] on the other. You made Himmler your police chief and murdered your great friends. You had your choice between [[Julius Streicher]] and [[Walter Rathenau]]. You murdered Rathenau. You had your choice between [[Henry Cabot Lodge|Lodge]] and [[Wilson]]. You murdered Wilson. You had your choice between the cruel [[Inquisition]] and [[Galileo]]'s truth. You tortured and humiliated the great Galileo, from whose inventions you are still benefiting, and now, in the twentieth century, you have brought the methods of the Inquisition to a new flowering. … Every one of your acts of smallness and meanness throws light on the boundless wretchedness of the human animal. 'Why so tragic?' you ask. 'Do you feel responsible for all evil?' With remarks like that you condemn yourself. If, little man among millions, you were to shoulder the barest fraction of your responsibility, the world would be a very different place. Your great friends wouldn't perish, struck down by your smallness.” |
| ;German original | ;German original | ||
Revision as of 11:09, 26 August 2019
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Listen, Little Man! (German: Rede an den kleinen Mann) is a 1945 essay by Austro-Hungarian-American psychologist Wilhelm Reich outlining his libertarian socialist political philosophy, in particular its views on direct action as the only means for the working class to achieve liberation. It was translated into English in 1948 by Theodore Peter Wolfe.
The Penguin edition is illustrated by William Steig.
Excerpt
- “It is the fate of great achievements, born from a way of life that sets truth before security, to be gobbled up by you and excreted in the form of shit. For centuries great, brave, lonely men have been telling you what to do. Time and again you have corrupted, diminished and demolished their teachings; time and again you have been captivated by their weakest points, taken not the great truth, but some trifling error as your guiding principal. This, little man, is what you have done with Christianity, with the doctrine of sovereign people, with socialism, with everything you touch. Why, you ask, do you do this? I don't believe you really want an answer. When you hear the truth you'll cry bloody murder, or commit it. … You had your choice between soaring to superhuman heights with Nietzsche and sinking into subhuman depths with Hitler. You shouted Heil! Heil! and chose the subhuman. You had the choice between Lenin's truly democratic constitution and Stalin's dictatorship. You chose Stalin's dictatorship. You had your choice between Freud's elucidation of the sexual core of your psychic disorders and his theory of cultural adaptation. You dropped the theory of sexuality and chose his theory of cultural adaptation, which left you hanging in mid-air. You had your choice between Jesus and his majestic simplicity and Paul with his celibacy for priests and life-long compulsory marriage for yourself. You chose the celibacy and compulsory marriage and forgot the simplicity of Jesus' mother, who bore her child for love and love alone. You had your choice between Marx's insight into the productivity of your living labor power, which alone creates the value of commodities and the idea of the state. You forgot the living energy of your labor and chose the idea of the state. In the French Revolution, you had your choice between the cruel Robespierre and the great Danton. You chose cruelty and sent greatness and goodness to the guillotine. In Germany you had your choice between Goring and Himmler on the one hand and Liebknecht, Landau, and Muhsam on the other. You made Himmler your police chief and murdered your great friends. You had your choice between Julius Streicher and Walter Rathenau. You murdered Rathenau. You had your choice between Lodge and Wilson. You murdered Wilson. You had your choice between the cruel Inquisition and Galileo's truth. You tortured and humiliated the great Galileo, from whose inventions you are still benefiting, and now, in the twentieth century, you have brought the methods of the Inquisition to a new flowering. … Every one of your acts of smallness and meanness throws light on the boundless wretchedness of the human animal. 'Why so tragic?' you ask. 'Do you feel responsible for all evil?' With remarks like that you condemn yourself. If, little man among millions, you were to shoulder the barest fraction of your responsibility, the world would be a very different place. Your great friends wouldn't perish, struck down by your smallness.”
- German original
"Du hattest die Wahl zwischen Nietzsches Aufschwung zum Übermenschen und Hitlers Erniedrigung zum Untermenschen. Du schriest Ejaja und wähltest den Untermenschen. Du hattest die Wahl zwischen der echt demokratischen Konstitution Lenins und Stalins Diktatur. Du wähltest Stalins Diktatur. Du hattest die Wahl zwischen Freuds Erhellung des sexuellen Kerns deiner seelischen Krankheit und seiner Kulturanpassungstheorie. Du wähltest die Anpassung an die Kultur, die dir unter deinen Beinen verging, und vergaßest die Sexualtheorie.
Du hattest die Wahl zwischen Jesus´ majestätischer Einfachheit und Paulos´ Zölibat für deine Prister und lebenslänglicher Zwangsehe für Dich. Du wähltest das Zölibat und die Zwangsehe, und du vergaßest Jesus´ einfache Mutter, die das Jesuskind nur aus Liebe gebar.
Du hattest die Wahl zwischen Marxens Erkenntnis der Produktivität deiner lebendigen Arbeitskraft, die allein die Werte und Güter schafft, und dem Staatsgedanken. Du vergaßest das Lebendige in Deiner Arbeit, und du wähltest den Staatsgedanken.
In der französischen Revolution hattest du die Wahl zwischen dem grausamen Robespierre und dem großen Danton. Du wähltest die Grausamkeit und schicktest die Größe und Güte auf die Guillotine.
Du hattest die Wahl zwischen Göring, Himmler und Liebknecht, Landau, Mühsam in Deutschland. Du machtest Himmler zu deinem Polizeichef und du ermordest deine großen Freunde.
Du hattest die Wahl zwischen Julius Streicher und Walter Rathenau. Du ermordest Rathenau.
Du hattest die Wahl zwischen Lodge und Wilson. Du ermordest Wilson.
Du hattest die Wahl zwischen der grausamen Inquisition und der Galileischen Wahrheit. Du quältest den großen Galilei, von dessen Entdeckungen du heute profitierst, am Ende seines Lebens durch Erniedrigung zu Tode, und du hast die Inquisitionsmethoden im zwnzigsten Jahrhundert wieder zur Blüte gebracht.
Du hattest die Wahl zwischen Verstehen der Geisteskranken und elektrischer Schockbehandlung. Du wähltest den Schock, um das Riesenausmaß deines eigenen Elends nicht wahrnehmen zu müssen, um weiter blind zu bleiben, wo nur offene, helle Augen zu retten vermögen."
