Page 69 - Liberating Liberals V2

Liberating Liberals
meaninglessness. There are no good names for it, and those that are are very negative. I’m not satisfied, but with compassionate detachment we at least remain
a friendly witness to the experiment of human consciousness, while still attaining a distance from it when needed.
So I’ll still retain meaninglessness when
needed for clarity, but otherwise use compassionate detachment for the remainder. And just because
the word “compassionate” is in the phrase doesn’t mean we shouldn’t cast an objective eye on romantic love with detachment, as well as morality, family, seriousness, patriotism, existence itself, capitalism, socialism, anarchism, etc.
In fact, to counter the somewhat giddy feeling that compassionate detachment can impart, let us
use a horrible Nietzsche quote to bring us down
to uncompassionate Earth. It is possible that our existence could lead us to Auschwitz, to Super Max prison, or to dangerous and dirty poverty while struggling endlessly at a job that would bore a baboon, break a brontosaurus or humiliate a hyena.
Says Nietzsche: “Ephemeral wretch, begotten by accident and toil. Why do you force me to tell you what it would be your greatest boon not to hear? What would be best for you is quite beyond your reach: Not to have been born, to be nothing. But second best is to die soon.”55
Or perhaps our lot in life is joyous, healthy and
54