The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
I'm glad you've met some really nice people...
The problem with nice people is that it is only half the story.
For a nice person has an authoritarian personality. And an authoritarian is divided against themselves. They are the classic divided self.
And they only show you the nice part.
The authoritarian personality is an improvement on the abusive personality. For the abusive personality is against you, while the authoritarian personality is against themselves.
But its worse, the authoritarian personality seeks positions of authority. And there is nothing worse than an authoritarian personality in charge. And whenever I see an authoritarian personality in charge, I feel sick.
But always remember that no matter how nice an authoritarian is, no matter how powerful they become, they have an inner weakness and they are inclined to break down under stress.
A good example is General Peter Cosgrove, Chancellor of the Australian Catholic University. Peter is not an academic. He is not a scientist. He is not an artist. He is not an intellectual. He is simply a military General.
The Australian Catholic University is under attack for covering up child rape and child torture, for operating a corrupt system of cronyism and for running rigged elections for students, and for suppressing dissent.
So they have appointed a General to the top job to defend the University. His appointment is to defend an authoritarian institution rightly under scrutiny.
But when you meet Peter, he is the nicest person in the world. It is a struggle not to call him Sir. But he radiates goodness. He is the archetypical good catholic boy.
In the military his men love him, for they do as they are told just as Peter has done all his life.
From the outside they look impregnable, but from the inside we know they will crumble under stress. So it is up to us, not to attack them from the outside, but to attack them from the inside, their weakest point.
Their niceness is simply part of their external defence. And of course we fall for it because we long to have someone powerful be nice to us.
This is the discreet charm of the bourgeoisie.
So do dine with us at -
YouTube - 1/10 The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
RSVP.