'Disgrace'

One must always keep in mind that every loss is a win for somebody; that every failure opens a door to a fresh opportunity; that every defeat is celebrated somewhere as a victory. When we say that things do not look good, we say so strictly from the viewpoint of our own perspective. Because we are blinded by vanity, we assume that everyone else sees everything the same way we do. But how can this be?

The 9/11 skyjackers targeted the twin towers. You might say they had a brief moment of celebration when they were about to hit their mark. Indeed, the whole of the Middle East celebrated along with them. They became martyrs, heroes to millions. If there is such a thing as 72 virgins, these are with them now. They are not in hell, eternally suffering. They have redeemed themselves; they have found salvation in achieving their purpose.

In fact, they have achieved even more than they had hoped for. Primarily because of 9/11, America today stands divided and bankrupt. It has become a political ruin. All her geo-political alignments are poised to collapse as well: UK, Israel, Western and Eastern Europe…

We know how these things happen. We hear them carefully delineated endlessly: the milestones that mark the fall of great powers. Yet, we can no longer defend ourselves against the onslaught; we cannot stop our plunge into the abyss. History is against us. Islamists and communists, by the sheer weight and momentum of history, are slated to win the next round.

I just finished reading the novel, ‘Disgrace’ by J.M. Coetzee. The author won the Nobel Prize in Literature for same. Given the Nobel committee’s proclivity to use its considerable platform to promote ideology, we can therefore assume that this slim volume can also be read as a political statement. Coetzee is South African. He writes about his country; his experience. He evaluates the changes that loom large in his part of the world: the end of apartheid; the chaos that ensues in the vacuum created by the forced departure of the old order. The protagonist is an academic – a teacher of traditions that have become irrelevant.

In an earlier thread I spoke of alternatives. J. M. Coetzee, the author of ‘Disgrace’ has left South Africa and moved to Australia.