There was an old samurai who said, it is better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war. Jünger's advice to cultivate an inner landscape of preparation seems to parallel this orientation.
Jünger seems also to have appreciated an important facet of freedom: if one is not free internally, one is not free at all; conversely, if one is internally free, there are no chains that can really hold one. The tyrant always requires the collaboration of the tyrannized, as the latter must ultimately agree to bend to the tyrant's will. If one refuses to submit, no matter the consequences, nothing the tyrant can do can make one submit. Which is not to say that the tyrant cannot do terrible things; such an uncompromising commitment to liberty is therefore much more easily said than done. But then, this too is I think acknowledged in Jünger's stance towards life: it is no accident that he was as much warrior as poet, and emphasized so strongly the necessity of martial virtue, training the soul and body in hardship, and acknowledged directly that only a small fraction of mankind could ever walk the path he described.
What I find great with Jünger is that he can't really be pinned down. For example, although he was a decorated veteran and talks about "war as a transcendent experience", he wasn't really advancing a pure warrior ethic. He just looked at what drives things, and in fact didn't really recommend anything. It's more like, this it how it goes, make of it what you will. And yes, he was often criticized as being "elitist" and "aristocratic" because he pointed out that only about 1% of people can be expected to resist conformism, but again, he wasn't like "we need an elite of anarchs", but just "this is how it is". But people often prefer to project what they think reality *should* be like and are offended if someone says otherwise.
The man was a phenomenologist of the soul who didn't turn away from the ugliness, and if I understand correctly, even redeemed it such that it ceased being ugly.
That was a very good read, thank you for sharing. Jünger's use of mythology such as his concept of our titanic leanings has sometimes been ridiculed as backwards and stuck in the 19th century, it might be one of the reasons why his work is still so relevant. It's crazy to think that he was born in the 19th century, fought in WW1, and still lived to see the internet. He also had a distrust of physicians and believed in healing forces that one must actively summon individually as opposed to outsourcing health - well he lived 102 years and was lucid till the end, so whatever he did, sure worked for him!
The man sounds pretty much a one of a kind with polar opposites existing within him simultaneously. Extremely difficult to prepare oneself mentally for the unknown, I guess it will depend on each person to decide depending on how grim it gets to how long and what they can withstand.
Tucker Carlson was interviewed by a friend, Clayton Morris, shortly after his week of J6 shows. [Quoting Youtube's auto transcript with some light editing for clarity.]
"The most important experience in the life of a man is humiliation and failure. . . I realized how wrong I was [about the Iraq War] and I made the decision that I had to admit it and I did admit it in December of 2003 in a New York Times interview and I'll never forget it. . . I got a text or an email from one of my former editors . . . who was like 'this is disgraceful' and I remember thinking I'm making a permanent break with my old life now because people won't accept this. . .
"I do think the beginning of all wisdom is acknowledging just how screwed up you are. That's the basis of Christianity but it's also the basis again of temporal human wisdom. It's like 'I'm the problem. I screwed it up. I am not God.' If you start here, you're much more likely to wind up at the truth and so I just like made a decision and it's hardened over the years and now it's just that iron clad. I'm not lying like I'm just not gonna lie, you know. . .
"To just decide 'I'm not gonna lie, I'm not gonna go along with these lies' is the most liberating thing you can do, whether it leads to professional success or failure, it doesn't matter. It enhances you as a person that makes you stronger every time you tell the truth, you become stronger. You feel this power coming into you. By contrast, every time you lie, you get smaller and weaker and more afraid.
"It's been this amazing and beautiful experience for me to be in the face of these lies and feel like I don't have to go along with this at all, and like, 'are you gonna fire me? Okay, fine, go ahead. I'm still not lying.' 'Are you gonna arrest me? Go ahead and I'm not lying period.' And they'll try to keep foisting crap on you."
Great essay, Luc. I am glad that I got to share this bit from Carlson. Obviously, it is really true. But as Juenger says, very few people are willing to live this way.
Yes, I'm a German native speaker. IF your German is good, I highly recommend reading it in the original. His language is very lyrical at times, which makes it a bit harder to understand sometimes, but the splendid prose really gives you the full vibe.
There was an old samurai who said, it is better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war. Jünger's advice to cultivate an inner landscape of preparation seems to parallel this orientation.
Jünger seems also to have appreciated an important facet of freedom: if one is not free internally, one is not free at all; conversely, if one is internally free, there are no chains that can really hold one. The tyrant always requires the collaboration of the tyrannized, as the latter must ultimately agree to bend to the tyrant's will. If one refuses to submit, no matter the consequences, nothing the tyrant can do can make one submit. Which is not to say that the tyrant cannot do terrible things; such an uncompromising commitment to liberty is therefore much more easily said than done. But then, this too is I think acknowledged in Jünger's stance towards life: it is no accident that he was as much warrior as poet, and emphasized so strongly the necessity of martial virtue, training the soul and body in hardship, and acknowledged directly that only a small fraction of mankind could ever walk the path he described.
What I find great with Jünger is that he can't really be pinned down. For example, although he was a decorated veteran and talks about "war as a transcendent experience", he wasn't really advancing a pure warrior ethic. He just looked at what drives things, and in fact didn't really recommend anything. It's more like, this it how it goes, make of it what you will. And yes, he was often criticized as being "elitist" and "aristocratic" because he pointed out that only about 1% of people can be expected to resist conformism, but again, he wasn't like "we need an elite of anarchs", but just "this is how it is". But people often prefer to project what they think reality *should* be like and are offended if someone says otherwise.
The man was a phenomenologist of the soul who didn't turn away from the ugliness, and if I understand correctly, even redeemed it such that it ceased being ugly.
According to Friedrich-Georg Jünger, modern man’s veneration of technology reveals his distant kinship to the Titans of myth. This ‘titanic’ impulse to dominate and consume expresses itself through our technology-driven industrial economy, which now determines every aspect of life from the air we breathe to the food we eat. https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2021/06/friedrich-georg-junger-technology-prometheanism-matthew-pheneger.html?mc_cid=73d6122766&mc_eid=764ac32c63
That was a very good read, thank you for sharing. Jünger's use of mythology such as his concept of our titanic leanings has sometimes been ridiculed as backwards and stuck in the 19th century, it might be one of the reasons why his work is still so relevant. It's crazy to think that he was born in the 19th century, fought in WW1, and still lived to see the internet. He also had a distrust of physicians and believed in healing forces that one must actively summon individually as opposed to outsourcing health - well he lived 102 years and was lucid till the end, so whatever he did, sure worked for him!
Interesting
The man sounds pretty much a one of a kind with polar opposites existing within him simultaneously. Extremely difficult to prepare oneself mentally for the unknown, I guess it will depend on each person to decide depending on how grim it gets to how long and what they can withstand.
Tucker Carlson was interviewed by a friend, Clayton Morris, shortly after his week of J6 shows. [Quoting Youtube's auto transcript with some light editing for clarity.]
"The most important experience in the life of a man is humiliation and failure. . . I realized how wrong I was [about the Iraq War] and I made the decision that I had to admit it and I did admit it in December of 2003 in a New York Times interview and I'll never forget it. . . I got a text or an email from one of my former editors . . . who was like 'this is disgraceful' and I remember thinking I'm making a permanent break with my old life now because people won't accept this. . .
"I do think the beginning of all wisdom is acknowledging just how screwed up you are. That's the basis of Christianity but it's also the basis again of temporal human wisdom. It's like 'I'm the problem. I screwed it up. I am not God.' If you start here, you're much more likely to wind up at the truth and so I just like made a decision and it's hardened over the years and now it's just that iron clad. I'm not lying like I'm just not gonna lie, you know. . .
"To just decide 'I'm not gonna lie, I'm not gonna go along with these lies' is the most liberating thing you can do, whether it leads to professional success or failure, it doesn't matter. It enhances you as a person that makes you stronger every time you tell the truth, you become stronger. You feel this power coming into you. By contrast, every time you lie, you get smaller and weaker and more afraid.
"It's been this amazing and beautiful experience for me to be in the face of these lies and feel like I don't have to go along with this at all, and like, 'are you gonna fire me? Okay, fine, go ahead. I'm still not lying.' 'Are you gonna arrest me? Go ahead and I'm not lying period.' And they'll try to keep foisting crap on you."
Great essay, Luc. I am glad that I got to share this bit from Carlson. Obviously, it is really true. But as Juenger says, very few people are willing to live this way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI9OdnyvQew
Brilliant piece. Exactly how we must live.
Yes, I'm a German native speaker. IF your German is good, I highly recommend reading it in the original. His language is very lyrical at times, which makes it a bit harder to understand sometimes, but the splendid prose really gives you the full vibe.
I'd also recommend reading Eumeswil directly afterwards - it complements it beautifully.