Morality

RWMorality

#essay, #shortstory, #electricityorenergy, #machinesorappliances, #acceleration

“The libertine, the romantic, and the rocker are three models of the same humanity, one that demands more than lighting, heating, electrical appliances, and the other material benefits brought home by electricity. This kind of humanity lets electricity- course through and exalt the whole of its being. The impact of this project on the youth of the twentieth century was extensive. This democratisation had real effects and, for the majority of people, intensity now had to do with the normal way of arranging one’s life, not a moral ideal fit only for certain exceptional people. No longer rooted in a singular morality, intensity started to be understood in a much more general, ethical sense.” Tristan Garcia

I am no island in what I think I should do, my morals come from outside in. I can diverge, pick my own path by how I do what I think I should do, my ethics, a little more personal. At some point I should listen to what I would want to think I should do. Inside-outwards, I will change my morals. I will swim against the current, or in a lake with no current at all.

It is 11 o’clock at night but inside it is bright like sunshine. The woman is sitting in the glowing lamplight of her living room. She is devoid of internal electricity. She turned the lamplight on at 5. The brightness in the room didn’t change. It was the same as the leftover rays from the lowering sun which pierced through the window. As the earth spun, the woman turned away from the sun and now slowly her artificial light had taken over the room.

No longer rooted in a singular morality, intensity started to be understood in a much more general, ethical sense. We all look at each other and the speeds we go at, asking ourselves if we progress too slow. Since there always is someone in our vicinity who lives their life at the speed of the Duracell battery rabbit, the conclusion always will be: yes, I am slow. Garcia tells me, acceleration is how people want to live their lives, but I say that people are forced to accelerate to be able to survive!

This morning, when the woman was fully charged, she started her chores by washing the dishes. She placed all her cups, plates, pots, pans, and cutlery in the machine. She plugged herself into the machine and transferred her energy. She then took the vacuum from the cupboard and cleaned the whole floor on an endless inhale.

Nobody wants to allow their senses to go numb, to barely experience what happens during the day but in the race of maintaining several part-time jobs to pay all the bills, you are not able to stand still.

Next came the washing of clothes. First a batch of whites, then some wool, and lastly her towels. Three times she turned on her cycle of watering, turning, soaping, centrifuging, and turning again. While her current made all these machines working full tilt, her levels were slowly dropping. She then boiled some water in the cooker, hoping to recharge by drinking tea.

Garcia also tells me that the three models of the same humanity: the libertine, the romantic, and the rocker want their senses heightened by all kinds of artificial products. That they need change and therefore need this acceleration. He does not tell me or these people that there is constant change all around us all the time. That no situation, concept, natural phenomena, or encounter, is ever exactly the same. It seems that the heightening of the senses, since it is something one should take from the outside in, is temporary. It does not satisfy and does not increase my sensitivity. Garcia tells me that these three models of the same humanity don’t know that if you really pay attention you don’t need to search for amusement. Instead, you can be amazed all the time by your surroundings.

The whole day her house vibrated. Waves of sound roared whilst the currents flowed from her to her appliances. No wonder she is devoid of internal electricity at the end of the day. To cook, she controls three currents at the same time, the stove, the blender, and the oven. Exhausted, she eats.

I have put my memories, communication, security, and health in electrical machines. The myth of progress tells me that only if we keep on growing, going faster, getting bigger and stronger will we humans conquer the world and redirect the natural disasters that are coming our way. Technocrats promise a better life with every new gadget, but do these electronics really make me happier?

Her last bit of energy goes into feeding three lights at the same time to stretch the day. She pushes the night away to be able to finish the chores on her list. Of all the spinning things in the universe, she spins the fastest.

How I do what I think I should do, what I think I should do, and what I would want to think I should do.

The woman has a neighbour; the other woman. She doesn’t keep a list of chores. She has no electrical appliances and does not even own a clock. The other woman walks barefoot, preferably on sand and grass. The other woman touches nothing. The other woman sleeps when it is dark. She wakes when the light arrives. She gazes into the sun every morning and lives off the light. She keeps her energy inside.

I am no island in what I think I should do, my morals come from outside in. I can diverge, pick my own path by how I do what I think I should do, my ethics, a little more personal. At some point I should listen to what I would want to think I should do. Inside-outwards, I will change my morals. I will swim against the current, or in a lake with no current at all.

The Life Intense. [1] Garcia, Tristan.