Lawrence on American Masterpieces

Author: Lawrence
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Why did Benjamin Franklin establish this standard American citizen model? Of course, as far as he himself was concerned, he believed he was being quite sincere. He thought it was just a true ideal. But how do we see our own actions? They are not crucial at all. We never truly know what we are doing. We are either material tools like Benjamin, or we act according to the call of our unconscious self as guided by God. We are merely executors, never the masters of our own actions. That unknown master could come from the depths of our soul or from the outside. All we can do is try to align ourselves with the ocean deep within us. Otherwise, we will act on our own, go in the opposite direction, and ultimately hit our heads against the wall due to our arrogance. Benjamin finally secured money from the French court, and thus he took a step toward overthrowing the entire Europe, including France. Old things must be broken before new ones can be established. Europe is the old. If the people of America do not strongly oppose the divine within them, America will become the new. The birth of the new announces the death of the old. But you cannot simply cut off the era with one stroke. Therefore, you must spend several centuries stealing life from the old. Benjamin tried both directly and indirectly for this purpose. The direct approach was that he severely undermined Britain at the French court, nearly killing Europe through this act. The indirect approach was that he established the American ideal and model in Philadelphia, though this model was not very appealing and seemed insignificant. The America of this model—a cold, moralized, and utilitarian democracy—was more destructive to old Europe than any Russian nihilism. America did this slowly, like a son at home who obeys his parents but silently resents their authority, destroying not only their authority but also their very existence in his mind. You must know that America and Europe are one in spirit. The spiritual home of America has always been and still is Europe. Despite America’s piles of gold, this irritating chain cannot be shaken off. Your piles of gold, America, if you cannot become yourself, then your piles of gold will only be piles of dung. All Americanization and mechanization have been aimed at shedding the past. Now, look at America—she is entangled in her own thorny net, ruled by her own machines. She is trapped in a net of multiple "no's," locked in by the "production" machine, like thousands of squirrels running in a cage. This is purely a joke. Now, Europe, your opportunity has come. Let hell relax, so you can reclaim what once belonged to you, and row your canoe to the new sea—while the clever America lies on her dung-piled gold mountain, tightly entangled by the "no's" of consciousness and morality; while her people, like thousands of squirrels, are