egotism and greed. Lying and manipulating
One could say that Weil’s philosophy
these needs met or whether we have first an
or possibly even the name of an ice-cream
give an edge in the competitive game, but
makes possible a transformation in the
obligation to meet the other’s fundamental
in his native Uruguay. Interestingly, after
liars and manipulators should be respected
concept of respect. This stems directly from
needs. Having established the priority
defending Terry in the London high court,
because they increase the GDP. These are
her recognition of radical alterity. She was
of needs, she concludes that rather than
the black English defender Ashley Cole was
genuine examples of innovation and growth:
born in Paris to Jewish parents in 1909.
inalienable rights, humans have obligations
called ‘a choc ice’ by Anton Ferdinand’s
the more we distance ourselves from our own
Even in childhood she exhibited academic
towards one another.
more famous brother, Rio. Who knows,
principles, the more we generate wealth,
verve. After studying under the philosopher
Most importantly whereas rights are self-
maybe there’s a theme emerging here or
therefore we become worthy of respect.
Alain for two years, she qualified as a
interested, obligations are disinterested
even a new product line: frozen deserts
Why some criminologists like myself have
philosophy teacher at the Ecole Normale
and exist purely because all human
based on racial slurs.
arbitrary, resulting from personal, rather
stopped studying criminal behaviour and
Supériere in 1928. It is well known that
subjects have needs, regardless of the
But I digress. The really shocking issue
small red bean cakes are offered to take
than functional, role divisions. In comparing
moved on to study the official economy may
Weil found observing the world at a remove
arbitrary national apparatus that envelops
here is not that some footballers are racist
away the bitterness of the matcha. Bows
such authority with bureaucracies, Max
perhaps be understood as an attempt to
unsatisfactory. In 1933, she took a position
their legal status. Needs are not subject
(I mean ‘duh?’) but the following: why are
are exchanged. After the whisking of the
Weber attributed to the latter a high
follow the money - and the power. (VR)
on the assembly line at the Renault Factory.
to the changing vocabulary of dignity and
all our football players suddenly expected
tea, more bows are exchanged and the bowl
A desire to experience what others must
value that dictate the inspiration of respect.
to be Kantian. Why are they all obligated to
is presented to the most senior guest, who
experience - for this her critics are quick
Weil knew that a lexicon we assume to be
feel a priori respect for the universal law? If
rotates it three times while looking into the
timeless or binding is rarely so.
you don’t believe me, then read the following
frothy green brew. After taking a few sips he
yeuiwqyeuiwqyeuqyeuiwqyeuiwqyeuiw
B R I X TO N
MARKET
yeuiwqyeuiwqyeuqyeuiwqyeuiwqyeuiw
degree of predictability and rationality that transcend the individuals operating in
THERAPY
WWW.
Late last spring, I gave a class on Simone
to charge her with naivety, as if knowledge
irrational and unpredictable functioning.
Weil’s political writing to a group of adults
gained from experience rather than theory,
After the class I mentioned to an
version of the categorical imperative from the
passes it to the next guest with a bow, and
Hence his observations on charismatic
studying philosophy. These adults are
logic or history, could have little or no
acquaintance my surprise at how well Weil’s
website of the English Football Association,
so it goes on until the first bowl has been
authority, which does not stem from
brought together by a charity whose aim
philosophical value. T.S. Eliot is particularly
challenge to the human right had been
‘Respect is the collective responsibility of
drunk, when the process begins again.
transparent appointment procedures, and is
is to alleviate the isolation that aggravates
scathing. Sometimes when I read his preface
received. He replied that he found this
everyone involved in football to create a fair,
Historians claim that this soothing ritual
not independent of the person who holds it.
emotional or mental distress. I attend
to the Need for Roots I think of the young
surprising too, ‘this is a group of people
safe and enjoyable environment in which
helped to avert many battles. It’s difficult
Charisma knows only inner determination
these classes as a supervisor or facilitator.
Milosz, a great reader of Weil, lying flat
you might assume to be heavily invested in
the game can take place’. You see, pure
to imagine how: I have rarely encountered
and inner restraints and those holding it
I mention this only because the group’s
in the street, The Waste Land in his back
human rights’. He meant a group of people
Immanuel. Complete cant.
a less tranquil pastime; the interminable
demand obedience by virtue of their mission
pedagogical
appears
pocket, while German machine gun fire
that may be or may have been sectioned.
Why can’t our footballers be Aristotelian or
attention to detail, the queasy fear of
that supposedly benefits others.
arbitrary. Sometimes I watch a discussion
rattled across the cobblestones. Robert Hass
For weeks I agreed with him, not really
Benthamite or even Troskyite? Why couldn’t
breaching any one of a thousand points of
often
Charismatic authority and the respect
group curious as to why I’m on the one
notes that Milosz recalled thinking as ‘he lay
thinking about why, until I realised that
they have the word ‘prudence’, or ‘utility’ or
etiquette. Conversation, in hushed tones
demanded by it, however, vanish as soon
side of an invisible divide. Occasionally
there, cheek pressed to the stones… that
the students recognised the respect that
‘sport is petit-bourgeois deviation’ stitched
and kept to a minimum, revolves around
as the person holding them is no longer
participants articulate themselves why
the reality he was living in might require a
obligation afforded their agency. Respect
to their shoulders?
the placing of a scroll or the choice of
recognised as charismatic by those he
this is - philosophy’s overlap with the
different kind of poem from Eliot’s.’
that, I think, historically could not be
claims to represent, namely as soon as
experience of some mental illnesses is
In her taste for sharing experience,
the authority relationship on which it is
then made explicit. During a discussion
Weil responds to a task of apprehending
based is vehemently questioned. Thus
on moral intuition, a woman ventured that,
something that is incommunicable. It is a
some feminists contend that patriarchy is
as she is prone to psychosis, her therapist
step towards broaching subjective isolation,
over, because it no longer enjoys credibility
had cautioned her to question instinctive
in
among women. It is over because it has lost
responses. Whilst talking about Hume, a
formed by experience and a history of this
its meaning in women’s minds.
student once removed his shoes so as to
If we move this analysis into the political realm, we can see a pervasive legitimacy
guaranteed by rights alone. (OF)
SPORT Ethical Football
Of course, the problem here is properly
colours in the tearoom. Then there is the
dialectical. The Kantian imperative to
physical pain: at my first tea ceremony,
respect is transformed into the irresistible
trussed in a pale pink kimono like an angry
desire to disrespect. This is the reason
salami, my ankles collapsed when I was at
why Lacan paired Kant and the Marquis
last allowed to stand up.
de Sade as the Janus face of universalistic,
It’s a bumpy, clumsy learning curve, but
Respect, says Kant, is the a priori feeling
Enlightenment morality. If you wear your
eventually, the mores of deference will start to
experience. Weil found factory life to be
for the moral law. Now, one might think it
respect on your shoulder, you’ll inevitably
become intuitive to even the most untutored
throw them at me and thereby demonstrate
‘a refinement of torture’. The effect of the
odd to have an a priori feeling. What exactly
end up behaving like a cunt. Remove the
gaijin. When I arrived in Japan, I smiled so
the invariance of natural law.
work on the soul was numb obedience and
would that feel like? Kant insists that respect
cause and you will eliminate the effect.
much my jaws ached for weeks, stood up too
the
recognition
that
subjectivities
crisis - respect for established authority
For the students, if this class is about both
humiliation. Andrea Nye reads in Weil a
is a unique subjective feeling that does not
Through dialectical inversion, John Terry
late at office meetings and started drinking
is over, as its ability to provide for the
philosophy and mental illness, then this is
latent suspicion of the abstract, suggesting
arise from anything empirical, but solely
and Luis Suarez have exposed the perverse
far too early at office parties. More than
routinised necessities of everyday life is
acknowledged rarely but publicly. Amongst
that for Weil it was ‘intellectually dishonest’
from the thought that my will is shaped the
core at the heart of respect. They deserve
once, a glass was removed from my hand, to
increasingly inadequate, while its leadership
facilitators, the correlation is discussed
to avoid manifest contradiction in the
duty I have to the categorical imperative. In
our thanks and admiration. (SC)
be withheld until the most senior director
is by now less ‘natural’ than artificial and
privately, for the aims for the class are
name of establishing logical consistency.
respect, I feel myself.
phantasmatic.
privilege
in line with those of the charity. If we
As such, Weil positions herself against that
But what is even odder is why it is that
becomes the only variable that can attract
communicate these aims to the group, the
preference for consistency above all else in
this questionable Kantian concept should
respect, in which many dream of acquiring
message is badly disguised: a class on the
the Western philosophical cannon.
turn up on the left shoulder of John
social distinction if they imitate those who
Socratic method, for example. We wouldn’t
When war broke out across Europe for the
Terry’s Chelsea football shirt and indeed
The bells start to ring. Thirty intent
sake under the hot sun; as we left, slightly
are already have it, by wearing designer
use the word respect but, I imagine, this
second time, Weil moved first to Marseilles
on shoulder of other worthy footballing
buyers form a circle around the rows of tuna
tipsy, I thought I’d been quite a success. But
clothes or sporting the right logo. But the
is a behaviour we hope we are fostering.
and then to New York with her family.
moralists, like Luis Suarez of Liverpool, and
laid out like seals as the salesmen shout out
Shuhei was furious - I’d accorded everyone
distinction they crave is a chimera, failing to
Small talks about Plato, Aristophanes,
However she returned to Europe alone to
indeed every other footballer in England
the qualities of their wares. The voices and
the same salutation, regardless of their
command true respect.
Foucault. Regular, organised attempts to
work for the Gaullist operation in London.
and across Europe. Whence this madness?
ringing get louder and louder, the crowd
positions. A couple of years on, working for
alleviate loneliness.
There she was asked to write a memorandum
Both Terry and Suarez were charged with
presses in, until the youngest vendors doff
a Japanese bank in London, I was bowing correctly, even on the phone. (AW)
Socio-economic
It is not surprising that, having failed to
present had made the first toast. A year
NOTES
into my stay, my salaryman boyfriend took me to his company barbecue. His seniors
Bowing
were jovial and welcoming as we drank plum
secure itself in the official world, respect
More often than not a lexicon of respect
on the post-war reconstruction of France.
allegations of racism last season. Terry, in a
their baseball caps and drop into a series
migrates into the underworld, where it
pervades the culture of community building,
The Need for Roots, published in English
moment of rare lyricism, called QPR’s Anton
of ever-deeper bows, heads nearly touching
can be galvanised before, perhaps, moving
often with a view to softening rifts in
in 1949, was the result. For Weil, it was
Ferdinand a ‘black cunt’, but insists he was
their knees. Then the bidding begins.
back to the legitimate political and
intergenerational, intercultural relations.
obvious that human rights, the governing
misunderstood. He was self-consciously
Anyone who has seen Jiro Dreams of Sushi
economic spheres.
In many ways, this class is an object lesson
ideology of the French Republic, were
using the phrase parodically, ironically,
will remember this scene at the Tsukuji Fish
Within the underworld, there are several
in how to build something of a community
derived from human needs. Humans need
sous rature if you will, in the proper
Market. In a film riddled with the nuances of
forms of respect, ranging from the very
where, previously, you imagine, old streets
nourishment, shelter, freedom from violence
Derridian manner. It would appear that
obeisance, from the abbreviated nod between
traditional to the crassly materialist. What
felt full of sadness. We assume that respect
and medical assistance when required. The
Terry is destined for a successful career as a
almost equals to the ninety-degree angles
is interesting in criminal groups is their
is intuitive although we are always keen
soul has basic requirements too. These are
performance artist after he finishes playing.
afforded to valued customers, it stands out
emphasis on ‘honour’, which is closely
to instil it in those we presume may lack
comparable to hunger. Human needs are
By contrast, Suarez – and, to be clear, I
for its apparent humour. To the European
linked with respect, and perhaps for this
appropriate systems of value. We imagine
real. Human rights are relational. A human
write as a lifelong Liverpool fan – merely
eye, the gesture is so exaggerated that the
reason makes them authoritative entities
that objects must inspire respect in the
in isolation would still have needs but
called Manchester United’s Patrice Evra
salesmen seem to be taking the piss: for
from which politicians themselves may
subject or else that a subject will conjure a
they would not have rights. Weil questions
un negrito, which, he insisted, does not
us the scraping of medieval courtiers, the
be tempted to take inspiration. To be
specular value worthy of respect in an object.
whether or not we are first entitled to have
mean ‘nigger’, but is a term of endearment
ironical bow of the Regency buck, died out
sure, ‘honour’ is a fuzzy concept, but the
decades ago, to be resurrected only when
cloudier its contours, the more attractive it
honoured plebs come awkwardly face to face
can become to those who pursue success.
with the Queen. In this instance, however, it
Crucially, success is determined by the
may well be genuine.
capacity to disown one’s principles and,
For the Japanese the mastery of bowing
NUTS & BOLTS CHIEF OF SECURITY, STANDARDS, FOOD & DRINK Giuseppe Mascoli giuseppe@thespanner.net ECONOMICS George Hornby george@thespanner.net
in a flexible fashion, to evolve so that new
is essential to social success. For centuries
principles are affirmed. ‘Honour’ allegedly
the traditional form of greeting, it was
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
diverted organised crime from the illicit
officially codified around 1190 by Minamoto
Robin Blackburn
drug trade, but this business allowed
no Yoritomo, the first Shogun, who decreed
some groups to reach prominence in the
that the Ogawasara-ryu Reiho (Samurai
Giuseppe Mascoli John Mitchinson William Skidelsky Alice Waugh
underworld. ‘Men of honour’ proclaim that
Way) be taught to all warriors. Ogawasara-
women should not be killed, but they kill
ryu Reiho is founded in Confucianism and
SUBMISSIONS, WORDS & SPELLINGS
them nevertheless. Honour imposes respect
based on showing deference and humility
Margrit Fauland-Blackburn margrit@thespanner.net
for other organisations and consultation
to elders; rei, bowing, is the physical
NEWS & BOILER ROOM
with them before dramatic decisions are
manifestation of modesty. Yet its goal is ‘to
Robin Blackburn robin@thespanner.net
made operative, but successful criminal
so cultivate your mind that even when you
groups are those who disrespect this
are quietly seated, not even the roughest
honourable principle. Finally, honour
ruffian can dare make onset upon your
prohibits grassing on colleagues, but
person.’ Politeness brings steely strength.
grassing is an important resource in the competition among criminal groups.
The
samurai
are
long
gone
now,
disbanded by a modernising emperor in
KEEPING UP APPEARANCES Andrew Catlin andrew@thespanner.net ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE Enzo Apicella Paul Davis William Hogarth
©2013 Spannerworks, published at 67 Dean Street, London W1D 4QH International Edition
THE TOOLBOX
decide), it has become something to which
In such circumstances, there is something
As I tried to regroup she smiled and grew
survive her fifth birthday. Tina lacked for
everyone thinks they are entitled. And as the
to be said for the establishment of a certain
coy, as if sensing that history had already
nothing: ornately dressed each morning
Editor
demand for respect has increased, so has
baseline notion of respect based on the
intervened, as if sniffing the vast extent
and mercilessly cuddled by her father until
Mrs G was the only person in the Court
Margrit Fauland-Blackburn
the outrage that erupts when it is withheld.
recognition that we are all humans, and so
to which Latin art would insult her supple
he left for work in the giant greenhouses,
dissatisfied with the judgment awarding her
Nowadays, failing to show respect is a crime
should try to treat each other well. But that is
form and twinkling eyes, and spoil literature
which supply London from the Bedfordshire
sole custody of Tina and placing the child
that, while not on a par with paedophilia, is
a different thing from the respect of the past,
on her account for a thousand years.
still pretty despicable. Andrew Mitchell, the
and rhetorically melding the two together,
ex-Chief Whip, recently found this out when
as politicians are wont to do, isn’t helpful
he failed to cooperate with the policemen
to anybody. One way to set out on the path
outside Downing Street (whether or not he
towards ensuring respect’s return, it seems
called them ‘plebs’ is almost besides the
to me, is to talk about it a good deal less. (WS)
Contributors
Enzo Apicella Nicholas Courtman Pamela Cox Simon Critchely Paul Davis Olivia Fairweather Marina Forti Pierre Hodgson William Hogarth Simonetta Agnello-Hornby Bill Knott Satish Kumar Nicholas Lezard Jane O’Grady Thomas Meany DBC Pierre Vincenzo Ruggiero William Skidelsky Alice Waugh
EDITORIAL The concept of respect has undergone a remarkable transformation. Once upon a time it chiefly referred to the proper attitude of inferiors to superiors, as several of our contributors remind us. Wives, were expected to ‘love, honour and obey’ their husbands, lower castes to defer to higher castes, servants to their masters, plebs to patricians. But modernity was meant to challenge all that, and inaugurate the century of the common man (later amended to man or woman). Where religion once recommended us to honour the stranger, a secular ethic now commands us to show respect to all our fellow humans. It’s not altogether clear where this came from, though one plausible source is African Americans, a community which had good cause to insist on it as the basis for sociability. However some, as one contributor observes, detect a whiff of incense, with respect for human dignity being central to the new social doctrine of the Catholic Church. Whatever its origins respect can still furnish the inspiration for a democratic etiquette, if detached from hierarchy and so long as various other pitfalls noted by our writers are avoided. Anything of value can be undone by excess. Some enjoin us to respect ‘nature’. However this is not just an ethical imperative but also a matter of survival since nature will wipe us out if, as one of our contributors observes, we are lacking in respect for the fragile envelope we inhabit. (MFB)
CURRENT AFFAIRS
both, equally. Honour was intact. Later on,
in suitably respectful terms is the equivalent
Social Services discovered that Mr G had
of an 18th-century peasant who fails to doff
never left the family home and indeed his
his cap to the lord of the manor.
wife was pregnant. They started proceeding
Politicians (successful ones, anyway) are
again to remove Tina from the family.
hyper-attuned to the importance of respect,
Mercifully little Tina died before the
and avail themselves of every opportunity
final hearing. (SAH)
to talk about it. Increasingly, they borrow
LIFESTYLE
from the courtroom the custom of prefacing sentences in which they intend to express
We live, as the Chinese curse has it, in
disagreement with the words ‘with respect’.
interesting times. For instance, I am typing
(I think it was ex-barrister Tony Blair who
this piece not on my beloved - if somewhat
did most to popularise this annoying habit,
ancient and temperamental - Olivetti Lettera
which is particularly rampant on the Today
32 typewriter, which now languishes in the
programme.)
‘respect
hall cupboard with a set of hickory-shafted
agendas’ (Blair again) and even name
They
formulate
golf clubs and my old bakelite gramophone,
their parties after the concept. Business is
but on a computer.
getting in on the act too: companies now not
This was at the behest of Adam, my
only ‘value’ their customers but ‘respect’ them as well, and often request that those same customers respect their employees ‘in return’. People are enjoined to respect not just their fellow human beings but also
forceful nephew, a very modern young man
SHORT STORY Mary Magdalene
physiotherapist and her parents failed to
‘Not to worry,’ said Adam, brightly. ‘I’ve
register for the nursery place suggested by
booked us an appointment at the Apple
the utmost respect for broccoli.
cornerstone of all Christianity. It was the
the best. If you said to Her Majesty, ‘Not
social services. The explanation was simple:
Store.’ This turned out not to be a fruiterer
Church’s banker across millennia, an
bad’. ‘Bit salty.’ – it would be the same as
she did not like physiotherapy and cried a
at all, but a glaringly modern emporium
unplayed trump card. I was intrigued.
saying ‘This is shit’ in the Holiday Inn. So
lot when subjected to it, and did not need to
in a ghastly shopping centre, full of young
what could it mean to say ‘You are lovely’ to
go to the nursery, since there were enough
people in jeans and blue T-shirts, all
the possible mother of God?
Does all this talk reflect the fact that people are being more respectful than in the past?
smelled of must, and from a cabinet of large,
cousins around, she was never alone. Her
sporting rather odd rectangular, metallic
square drawers, he pulled out relics in the
A nightmare. The bagatelle of respect:
condition was progressive and made her too
necklaces. Davidoff of St James’s it was
it’s heading for the door. One thing to bear in
form of yellowing, tightly rolled bundles.
total crapshoot due to fluctuating value. I
weak to stand or crawl. Tina spent her days in
most certainly not.
mind about respect is that it operates most
Then he stacked them end on end, and lo –
tried to reverse-engineer the question, in
the arms of her mother, father and extended
‘Hi!’ said one of the benecklaced people,
smoothly within societies whose members
the Virgin Mary emerged from them.
my first waking moments, and define the
family. Her clothes were hand made by her
proffering a puppy-like paw. ‘My name’s
I admit I was taken aback.
material difference between the Queen,
grandmothers, aunts and mother and all the
Brad. What’s your name?’
is therefore broad agreement over which
I met her, and we strolled together in
Holiday Inn, and the possible mother of
baby jewellery the family had was hers. A
objects are respect-worthy. At the start of
sunlight and shade. She was sweet, and
God. Not easy, because although the words
social worker was assigned to check on her
The Godfather, when Don Corleone accuses
we didn’t so much chat as connect through
were harsher at Holiday Inn, they’d still have
welfare: that included physiotherapy and the
the undertaker of behaving disrespectfully
random words that made us smile and look
you back for dinner. So there’s a spectrum
supposed stimulation of a council nursery.
on his daughter’s wedding day, he doesn’t
at each other. Most memorable was that she
in operation, with floating thresholds. In the
Mr G spoke only the dialect of Sancalo’
need to spell out precisely why this is the
wasn’t a historical figure at all, she wasn’t
United States the line falls just below Sir
del’Cozzo and the area around it. This was not
This seemed unnecessarily personal, not
case, because it’s clear, within the hierarchy
holy, or pious, or even robed. She was just
and Ma’am, but we don’t go for that. If we
at all uncommon amongst the nurserymen
to say wholly inaccurate, but I let it pass.
of the mafia, exactly what respect is. (If
a girl. Unafraid and quick to smile. We
hear Sir or Madam it means we’re going to
of Bedfordshire. His wife spoke the same
We were ushered to something called the
nothing else, it means not pissing off the
understood each other. She walked, and
be eighty quid lighter within two minutes, or
dialect, no Italian and accented English,
‘Genius Bar’, although I fail to see any
boss.) Respect permeates the world of The
her lower back had a fine, lean curve to it,
told to cease and desist. Our threshold floats
learnt at school in England, at home and in
genius in a bar where you can’t get a gin
Godfather to such an extent that it scarcely
and she was pretty, and quite modern. Her
just above abuse, in the neighbourhood of
her Bedfordshire village community. Once
and tonic. Anyway, young Brad tinkered
needs to be mentioned. Indeed, the fact that
feet were dusty in their sandals because
cursing under the breath.
proceedings were commenced to obtain a
with my new-fangled typewriter for a little
its operation is overwhelmingly tacit is what
she had a playful gait, dragging a little, or
The day was starting badly.
Care Order in favour of the County Council,
while, got the blasted thing to work again,
guarantees its power. No self-respecting
toeing the ground when she was still. As we
I didn’t even get her number.
it was necessary to find interpreters to
and we made our escape, past the steely gaze
mafia boss would seek to implement a
walked I marvelled that she was the Virgin
O sweet Mary mother of God. (DBCP)
translate from English to Sicilian. None
of the Supervisor who - given his striking
‘respect agenda’.
Mary, the very mother of Jesus, though from
could be found. So one interpreter was
resemblance to the late ‘Reverend’ Jim
hired to translate from English to Italian
Jones - had probably been sequestered from
and a second, a Sicilian truck driver to
Guyana for a ‘team building’ project.
share similar outlooks, and where there
Modern Britain, by contrast, is an
a younger day of course. Still, what a coup for the Church. I remember reading Roman
is little agreement about what is and isn’t
literature from a time before Christ, and it
That everyone is entitled to respect is
respect-worthy. The old forces through
was modern, and fun - so I knew she could
one of the cardinal assumptions of our age.
which respect was inculcated - social
be modern too. And fun. What a coup.
be shown courtesy, and so forth. ‘Respect’
society, has become something qualitatively
would never wear. Then social discomfort
is a convenient shorthand under which to
different from the densely embedded respect
set in. Because in line with custom at the
bracket these expectations.
of the past. It is a thinner, more abstract
time, the Virgin Mary could only have
In recent times, however, something odd
notion that usually amounts to little more
been thirteen when Jesus was born. And
has happened. Respect has gone from being
than a hope that people will behave civilly
this moment must have been before His
a polite (and mostly unvoiced) expectation
towards one another, or tolerate differences
birth. For all we know she was twelve.
for greater grace.) The degree of respect ranges from obtuse to acute angles, exactly
London W1D 4QH 020 7233 7374
the wretched thing went wrong within days.
respect precisely because people sense that
their ordinary dealings with others they will
efficient business people, on the other hand,
pediatric
is the case: that a fuss is being made over
I knew it, I was wearing that green coat I
actually put them in practice. Criminals as
the
He took me to a kind of reliquary that
disappointment – it could only be a dream.
67 Dean Street
to
I suspect something close to the opposite
Respect, in so far as it exists in contemporary
to place her fingers together on her thighs,
visits
‘hooked up’ to the Interweb; needless to say,
it does that she could have served less than
or accuse others of being ‘disrespectful’.
although they possess no strength to
In her third year, Tina had missed
at her place shows disrespect, suggesting as
the polling booth if nowhere else), that in
WWW.THESPANNER.NET
ending badly. It woke me as I recalled that
According to him it was the unheard-of
that their opinions will be listened to (at
as you bend forward. (A woman may choose
writer would be vastly improved were I to be
something secret. Something astounding.
remember where the reliquary was. Then,
in making their violent threats credible,
at ping-pong. He insisted that my life as a
it back.
the US chef Thomas Keller claims to have
I’ll remember her always. I wish I could
John Mitchinson & Justin Pollard
remittances and the few retirees who made
now I couldn’t compliment her; the date was
respecting ‘the planet’ and ‘nature’, while
to when people today call for ‘more respect’,
perfectly straight, wrists facing the haunches
mother of God? First I couldn’t address her,
numerous
asking, then, what exactly is being referred
PUBLISHERS
with many talents, although utterly hopeless
even complementing the Queen on a meal
at least feel that they will be treated fairly,
rei begins and ends at the waist, back held
the successive generation nurtured by
The man was going to show me
to function, democracies require people to
deploy firepower. Some gangs may succeed
is lovely too poor a word for the possible
inanimate entities: environmentalists talk of
I was glad to meet her. She must know
others capitalising on their alleged ability to
could she cope in a nursery?
person who fails to address an ‘ordinary’ one
No halo, no aura.
Moira Orfei
would take her to the physiotherapist? How
age population, to be slowly restocked by
Both sets of relatives congratulated them
the fabric of social relations. It is worth
Usually performed standing, the formal
villages had been emptied of the working-
only a despicable coward would go further.
retreated. Respect is no longer woven into
their own skills as market operators and
Our hands touched in parting, and I wanted to tell her how lovely she was. But
status. In contemporary society, a ‘high-up’
indeed probably useful principle. In order
GUIDING SPIRIT
sleep when she woke before dawn? Who
downwards, at people of (relatively) lowly
Xander Cansell
in all its bewildering forms.
up in the night to rock their daughter to
the UK from the 1920s onwards. Entire
using anything other than his own hands;
the rigours of the Second World War, but
The attendees of periodic Spanner Lunches
of Sicilians who had emigrated en masse to
People might think he was weak. As for
acquired through techniques of simulation
most noticeably, the addiction to courtesy
Worse for me, it’d be awkward if we met again and I didn’t know her name.
course, was that the disrespect was directed
In many ways, it’s an unobjectionable and
use them more deftly. Reputation building
husband would be furious. Who would get
What made both cases so terrible, of
DIGITAL MAGUS
ARTICLES & GUTTER DEBATE
under the supervision of the Council. Her
and vegetation built and tilled by generations
Mr G was confused. He hadn’t hit his wife,
the nineteenth century and finished off by many aspects of their strict code remain;
countryside. Huge warehouses of glass, soil
It was all too much.
ever. But he couldn’t say that he wouldn’t.
Respect in illicit markets, therefore, is that add to the symbolic capital of those who
day was unnecessary.
he was recorded bad-mouthing a pensioner.
increasingly diverse society in which there
Respectful Dilemmas
The Judge had heard enough. A fourth
point), as did Gordon Brown in 2010 when
solidarity, class, deference - have largely
is essential, with some groups promoting
.NET
• Issue 0007 • £2.50 •
them, whereas he ascribed to the former an
structure
THE SPANNER
LAW REPORT The Universal Right of Respect “Question from the Bench – ‘Mr Giufa, did ever you hit your wife?’ Italian translator. - Signor Giufa, ha mai colpito sua moglie? Sicilian translator. – Vossia. a cafudda’ su’muggieri? (‘Do you slap the missus’?) Answer of Mr G – Certu, si sa’ meritasse.
‘Good day,’ I replied. ‘You may call me Sir, or Mr Knott. Either will suffice.’ Adam shot me a withering glance. ‘His name’s Bill,’ he explained. ‘He’s got a dodgy hard drive.’
manage the final leg back to the dialect.
Returning chez Knott, I was greeted by
The truck driver was married to the
Brygida, my morose but usually level-headed
receptionist of the local police station and
housekeeper, who curtseyed and called me
accredited as official police interpreter of
‘My Lord’. I was dumbfounded. This is a
the county constabulary from Sicilian into
woman who, in her native Poland, had such
Italian. For this reason, and the numerous
an egalitarian disdain for hierarchy that she
witnesses called, the hearing was into
would berate her priest if the wine at Holy
its third, unscheduled, day. Hence, the
Mass was corked.
Judge’s willingness to intervene directly. So he continued:
(‘Course, if she needs it.)
‘Have been thinking, my Lord. Is not right how you dress yourself.’ Alarmed, I checked the fly of my Huntsman corduroys, but all
Sicilian trans. – Certamente, quando se
“Question from the Bench - Mr Giufa, what did you hit your wife with?
lo merita. Reply to the Bench via Italian translator – ‘Certainly, when she deserves it.’ ”
Italian trans. - Signore Giufa, con che strumento ha colpito sua moglie? Sicilian trans. – Vossia, che pigghia’ pi
seemed quiet on the southern front. She frowned. ‘You need proper valet. Like in Downton Abbey.’ Brygida
proceeded
to
describe
the
household of this seemingly Elysian estate
may be deemed more reliable than criminals
calculated to match the receiver’s rank. The
as infallible killers. It should be obvious,
shallowest nods are for shopkeepers, the
to being a vociferous demand. Rather than
of ethnicity or religion. Often, it shades into
Things grew uncomfortable, although she
at this stage, why the variable ‘respect’
very deepest bows for the Imperial Family
being something one might deserve (though
the crude demand that someone’s wishes
seemed unconcerned. Perhaps Mary was
decided
Respondent
Answer of Mr G – Un omo di panza
I said that, should she wish to leave my
can now migrate back to the official arena,
- although government officials and valued
best, all things considered, to let others
should be met. An academic friend tells
too familiar a name to call her, I thought.
directly. The hearing was to decide if Mr G’s
un’’avia bisogno d’autru. (A real man don’t
employ, I would of course be sad to see her
where myriad political and entrepreneurial
clients are not far behind. How and when all
me that, when she awards her students low
Then I had to kill an impulse to simply
daughter, Tina, a girl aged three with a very
need nuffin’.)
go but that I would provide her with an
individuals and groups can finally claim
this is learned remains a mystery, but even
it as their distinctive trait. The career of
nursery school children seem able to judge
Silvio Berlusconi illustrates several of these
status and mete out respect precisely.
variants, but so too does technocracy that
Another essential aspect of the Samurai
wields threats and demands respect in ways
Way is the tea ceremony, originally designed
appropriate for a financialised society.
to help warriors find harmony in a war-torn
Violating the philosophy of the free market
land. You enter the room on your knees
is a guarantee of economic success for those
and stay kneeling throughout. Bows are
who profess a belief in market freedom.
exchanged, the coals are lit, water is heated,
Following personal interest while claiming
a piece of silk is folded and refolded before
that self-love will bring benefits for all is a
being wrapped ceremoniously around a
technique of neutralisation that absolves
glazed earthenware bowl. Sugar flowers and
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PATRONS
After the second day, the Judge had to
question
the
cafuddarla? (What do you use to hit her?)
in some detail to me. Rather taken aback,
marks, they often complain by accusing her
call her Virgin. Suddenly she was so alive,
short life expectancy should be removed
Blacks Club, Soho The Academy Club, Soho The Author’s Club, Soho
of ‘disrespecting’ them. What the students
so here, and I was on eggshells. I tried
into the care of Social Services given their
are demanding, in such a case, is actually
to recall her surname but couldn’t, maybe
allegations of neglect against both parents
BENEFACTORS
the opposite of true respect, because to give
she didn’t even have one.
and of domestic violence against the father.
someone something they don’t deserve just
Then I hit on Magdalene.
Pernod Ricard Aubert & Mascoli The Catlin & Blackburn Trusts The Directors of Blacks
because they want it is a form of special
Mary Magdalene, that was it. Relief. And
earlier from Sicily to marry a girl whose
I was about to say ‘Ms Magdalene’ – but I
family came from the same village; Sancalo’
A number of relatives were among
remembered that Mary Magdalene and the
del Cozzo. Although arranged, the marriage
the restricted public. That included
Virgin Mary are different girls.
was a success and Tina was born by the first
everyone Mr G had respect for in this
The Spanner acknowledges and welcomes all cash inducements, advertising, gifts, donations, favours and/or benefits in kind. Please contact george@thespanner.net
the question of how people should get on
I looked at her.
anniversary. Both parents were devoted to
country (and some for whom he had
‘I live in a mansion flat, Brygida.’ I further
when they don’t have much in common, or
It must be Mary Magdalene. Could it be?
her, the more so because of a congenital
none) and a few more from Sicily who
pointed out that, were I to install a servants’
see themselves as ‘being in this together’.
I wanted so badly to keep our connection.
disease, which meant she was unlikely to
had come to show support.
hall downstairs, it might upset the elderly
treatment that borders on contempt. Naturally, there are real problems raised by the effects of respect’s erosion, above all
Mr G had come to England four years
Sicilian trans. – Sono una persona di rispetto, non ho bisogno d’altro.” Reply to the Bench via Italian trans. – ‘I am a man of honour, I need no more than my hands.’ ”
excellent reference. It transpired, however, that she had no wish to join the staff of Downton Abbey, it being the fictional setting, apparently, for an Edwardian soap opera. ‘Brygida,’ I explained, patiently, ‘Downton Abbey is clearly a mansion, with ample room for flocks of servants.’ ‘But you live in mansion, my Lord!’ she protested. ‘You need proper staff!’
judge who has the temerity to live there.
manservants. They were, she said, becoming
to 12 hours) and, significantly, for servants
grammar. Respect is something that we
feels, and it is this natural sympathy that
old brother tried to kill him. Ten years ago,
hospital. The graduate student who insists
Out of symbolic respect for the passed life?
placards saying ‘rape is a shame to society’,
unaccustomed to think of them beyond the
less than pleasing standard of food to be
nature as our slave and our precarious niche
It also emerged that her sole candidate
flunkies with ideas above their station yet,
to be able to be called by their own names
can give without costing us anything.
morality is based on. Reason will never make
in the suburbs of Athens, it was my turn: a
on splitting the cheque with his banker
Out of some kind of concern for ourselves?
‘my body needs respect’, ‘the battle will not
traditional, idealised figure of the caring
had at the local hotel, or whether the same
within nature as impregnable. This human
for the position of valet was none other
she concluded wearily, there was ‘little to be
rather than their employers’ preferred
Sometimes not to give it can be dangerous.
us good. ‘Reason is and only ought to be the
near-fatal car-crash. Now I am fifty and he
friend. The toddler who demands release
I do not know the answer. But our work
stop’. One poster I saw said, simply: ‘Women
mother-devote wife-innocent sister’. This
hotel really deserves the world-class rating
arrogance is suicidal and has to stop.
than her son Krzysztof, a window cleaner
done’ because they were just ‘so much a part
names. Model employers, like the fictional
It is what the gangster sees as his due:
slave of the passions’.
seventy-five. Old men need respect like they
from the safety harness in her highchair
in the world seems clear enough. On the
want respect’.
reminded me of a feminist slogan popular
it has often been given. It is this unwavering
We need to recognise our dependence on
by profession, laid low by a protracted
of our climate, like our Christmas fogs and
and farcical Crawley’s of Downton Abbey,
to diss – whose etymology I do not need
And yet passion (the 18th century term
need water and air and an old man that has
so she can eat her dinner a bit more
one hand, to forge together different
Of course rape is nothing new in India,
in Italy in the 70s: ‘neither whores nor
disagreement and disdain for pretty much
nature. She has sustained us for thousands
bout of vertigo and urgently in need of
roast beef and our cricket.’ In a surprise and
may have been happy to accommodate these
to belabour here – is to invite physical
for emotion) is unreliable. As Kant pointed
not earned the respect of his children is like
freely. I have always found the father of
conceptions of dignity among cultures
or indeed anywhere else. Perhaps the
madonnas, just women’. In India women
everything that has both attracted and
of years. She gives us wellbeing. We are
other employment. I told Brygida that I
stinging reply, Mr Robinson castigated his
requests. But many others were not and,
violence. At which point we can begin
out, it’s a matter of luck whether or not
a beached whale, dying in ugliness.
the Karamozovs one of the most terrifying
while remaining constantly vigilant of
perception of it is starting to change. Indian
started asking for respect; a traditional
repelled readers in equal measure. While he
all connected and wellbeing can only be
would try to find Krzysztof some suitable
employer for her outmoded attitude and her
as a result, experienced the sharp end of a
to suspect that the notion of respect has
you feel sympathy, and many people are by
At night, through the double-doors
figures in literature for just this reason:
covert interests and violence. On the other,
media reported that in 2010 as many as 414
patriarchal mindset does not recognise them.
launched his attack on Austria’s narrative
achieved if the personal, social and economic
job on terra firma, as long as she stopped
own moral failings. Lady Greville was wrong.
lasting servant shortage.
treating me like some aristocratic derelict.
Something was happening. The old ideal of
Any more of this, I thought, I’ll be inviting
service was starting to break down.
become poisoned, far removed now from
temperament cold-hearted. He may have
of Mary Brown’s house, I hear my
he seems capable of living a satisfactory
to ensure that calls for human dignity
cases of rape were registered in Delhi, the
Says Sharma: ‘It is almost a clash of cultures,
of victimhood with a ferociousness and
spheres exist as an integrated part of nature.
Why was it so hard to afford domestic
the idea of good manners or propriety, and
been thinking of himself, but is surely
stepmother, who has lost her mind, talking
life without dignity.
don’t end up distracting from deeper, more
highest rate among Indian cities, and the
and women are paying the price of it’. Also
intelligence matched by few others, the
We are happy only when we respect the
servants respect, recognition and dignity
now nothing more than a matter of eliciting
sensible in avoiding optimism; whereas
in her sleep. He whispers kindnesses. By
It turns out the word ‘dignity’ has an
material forms of inequality that, after all,
number of cases has risen around 10% the
when dalit and other lower caste women
total denial of the possibility of redemption,
rights of nature and all people – it is a
subservience. Respect is no longer a two-
Hume, who may have been generalising
day, he is a monster, a Minotaur. If you
unusual history. The Latin term dignitas
are the most common source of indignity
following year. One can only wonder whether
demand respect, their violation serves to put
improvement or positive change within
seamless process. If the forests are cut
way street. It is now a matter of kowtowing,
from
generous-
say, ‘I lost my job’, the Minotaur will
referred to behaviours and privileges
in the world. In an age when the Kantian
it is the incidents of sexual aggressions that
them back ‘in their place’, and to reassert
his literary universe appears to some as
down, if biodiversity is diminished, if the
of knowing your place in the hierarchy.
spiritedness, has, as an empiricist, no right
roar, ‘I lost my job once’. If you lament, ‘I
accorded to social rank. The dignity of a
revival in philosophy is in full swing, we
actually rose, or the number of women that
both gender and caste hierarchy. (MF)
nihilistic defeatism.
rivers and oceans are poisoned, if animals
CRITICISM
His stance is not dissimilar to Elfriede
are cruelly oppressed, then humanity
Jelinek - another author often criticised for
is impoverished too. And if human
what is perceived as her failure to suggest
communities are damaged, because of
an alternative to the depressing world she
poverty and deprivation, then they will
depicts. However Bernhard’s savage humour
lose respect for nature and be forced to
lends a special sting not found in Jelinek.
encroach more upon natural resources.
his
own
well-known
As I write this, the New Year’s Honours list
to such a profligate induction. Perhaps he
didn’t sleep’, the Minotaur will cheer ‘Well
king was not the same as that of a marquis
should remember that regardless of how
dared to report it: because it takes a great
has just been announced. The idea behind
is correct, certainly about his readers, that
I slept fine.’ If you admit, ‘My train was
whose dignity was not the same as that of a
much dignity inheres in the human person,
deal of courage for a woman to denounce
this is that the State is conferring its respect
each of us feels sympathy towards our own
late,’ the Minotaur will counter ‘I was on a
duke. Fine degrees of dignity ensured that
it cannot bear much meaning without
a rape, both because the social stigma
upon those whom it deems its people should
family and friends; but this limited, biased
train that was late once.’ And if he cannot
aristocrats could not, like commoners, be
access to our wealth and parity with our life
that will remain with her and she knows
respect. Well, that’s a nice idea as far as it
sympathy is exactly what leads to feuds,
trump, a piggy red meanness invades.
bodily seized or jailed for debt. Today we still
chances. The reader will perhaps agree that
in advance that the police will be reluctant
There are few authors who have made
goes. The idea in practice is far murkier.
favouritism, injustice and oppression. How
Funny if it weren’t so raw.
speak of certain political offices as having
the term ‘respect’ shares all or most of the
to register the case, or may ask for lurid
disrespect into an art form - both in and
For example: the thought that should I, on
can Hume explain the moral requirement
Rain in sheets. Goat bells in the
‘dignity’ separate from the person who holds
problems that I have alluded to. (TM)
details, perhaps insult her, or insist she
outside of their writings - as did Thomas
meeting Bruce Forsyth, feel like observing
that our whimsical flickers of compassion
wuthering storms. Day after day, the sheet-
them. In the 20th century a great levelling
accept some compensation and withdraw
Bernhard. The first major act of disrespect
representation, and its implications for
protocol, I would have to address him as ‘Sir
be extended more impartially, and that pity,
lead swell of the Aegean at equinox. The
of dignity took place. What Melville called
the case – police and even judges are often
may be traced back to 1968 as he was awarded
both political and personal well-being, is
It is impossible for an individual to have
Bruce Forsyth’, makes me feel the stirrings
if not felt, be at least practiced? Perhaps
clash comes on the first bright morning.
‘democratic dignity’ took hold — and we
reported to suggest the victim marry the
the Kleinen Österreichischen Staatspreis;
at the centre of his late novel Old Masters.
self-respect when others are suffering from
of profound nausea. That, when he was alive,
he relies on his idea of ‘natural virtues’
The Minotaur is in a grump. His tender
all fairly suddenly started enjoying certain
aggressor as a ‘reparation’. No wonder rape
his
the
The central figure, the aging musicologist
starvation, social injustice and wars. Also,
Jimmy Savile had to be similarly honoured
being elevated into ‘artificial virtues’. Yet
wife, of cloud stuff made, ventures:
privileges once reserved to a small slivers of
It was an unusual New Year’s Eve in India.
is under-reported.
minister for education to leave the room and
Reger, sits every other day in Vienna’s
how can an individual be healthy or happy
(also, for good measure, he revelled in the
surely the elevating can only be achieved
‘I listen to the World Service at night.’
royals. Legally speaking, all of us in theory
Or at least in Urban India, and certainly in
The harsh truth is that ‘rape is almost
a Viennese newspaper declared Bernhard
Kunsthistorisches Museum in front of
on a frazzled planet? The very elements are
KCSG, or the Pontifical Equestrian Order of
through Kantian-type reasoning. That is
And like an idiot, I mutter:
have joined the ranks of a higher caste.
New Delhi. Most celebrations in public places
culturally sanctioned in India’, wrote
a ‘bug that must be exterminated’. This
Tintoretto’s ‘The White-Bearded Man’. He
punishing us with tornadoes, inundations
St. Gregory the Great, but then the Catholic
what enables us to judge that others and
Church has a good deal of well-documented
their loved ones, even if we can’t palpably
form in ... well, you know) is now making a
feel for them, have as much of a claim to our
lot of people very uneasy, but only because
theoretical sympathy as those with whom we
they are now wondering whether it can be
automatically sympathise. This theoretical
possible for these baubles to be taken away
sympathy is respect.
‘I wouldn’t listen to those Foreign Office goons, crowding out private thought.’ ‘French people always say that’, he spits. His pupils shrink to angry black dots.
REPORT India’s Daughter
well-known
journalist,
The Value of Disrespect
acceptance
speech
provoked
This
approach
to
art
and
overall
Respect for people and respect for nature are inter-linked.
This great historical achievement in the
such as clubs and hotels were cancelled in
another
Shoma
all too public act of disrespect against the
is not there to glory in the accomplishments
and drought. As we withhold respect from
West has now been enshrined in all our
a sort of common mourning for a young
Chaudhury. She pointed to the common
prize bestowed upon him by the state, was
of the masters, but rather uses his visits to
the earth that sustains us we bring new
legal and human rights covenants — to a
woman whose name and face was unknown
attitude of looking at it ‘through the
followed by a wave of hostility against him
find the imperfections visible in every piece
disasters upon ourselves. Without respect for
point of promiscuity. But several problems
to the public, but whose fate outraged the
prism of women’s responsibility: were they
that came not just from the government but
of art ‘when we have studied them really
nature, the future of our planet and people
I have left England to live in France.
remain for those enthusiastic intellectuals
nation. In December a twenty-three years
adequately dressed, were they accompanied
also the Austrian public, branding Bernhard
and truly, and that means as thoroughly
is bleak. Social justice and environmental
‘French people’ to him, is code. It means:
who now want to hang every last ideal on
old paramedical student was gang-raped on
by a male protector, were they of sterling
a ‘Nestbeschmutzer’. But it wasn’t only his
as possible for as long as possible’, upon
justice have to be built on respect for the very source of life, the mother earth.
posthumously – not whether they should
Kant was a fervent democrat, and was
‘that part of you which has rejected me’. It
the hook of human dignity. First, how
a moving bus she had boarded with a male
‘character’, were they cautious enough’
public appearances that earned Bernhard
which ‘they dissolve, they crumble for us,
be sprayed around thoughtlessly. Cherie
terribly excited at the outbreak of the French
also means: everything I hold in contempt.
easily can an essentially aristocratic
friend on the way back home from a movie
(’Why did it need such a brutal incident
this moniker; in his novel Old Masters,
leaving only a flat taste, in fact most of the
We need more self-respect and more
Blair gets her CBE for services to charity
Revolution (which, Hume, had he lived to
We know each other well.
concept be transvalued into a democratic
theatre in South Delhi. Raped and savagely
to trigger our outrage’, Tehelka). It’s the
Austria is described as ‘Catholic National
time a very bad taste, in our mouths.’ This
respect for others. Self-respect is a
(that’s a good way of getting a gong – which
see it, would have found appalling). He was
I stand. I say, ‘You had better apologise’
one?
centuries
beaten with a metal rod, then dumped on
eternal game of blaming the victim: did
Socialist state’, her politicians as ‘state
discovery of imperfection is the result of
first step to social and environmental
involves a conspicuous infringement of the
a democrat in morality too. In saying that
and step outside. A carpet of dropped
seems to have come always at someone
the road (her friend too was nearly killed),
she ‘invite’ the aggression? Not that India
murderers’, her judiciary as a ‘political and
total, critical engagement with a work of art,
respect, but without respecting social and
Christian suggestion that charity should be
the wish to lie is self-contradictory, he is
figs ferments acidly on new-laid paths.
else’s expense. Now it’s very universality
she did not survive the violence and she
is different from most places of the world
public danger’, her art as ‘so cheap it does
to which the only alternative is the practice
environmental integrity self-respect is
private and discreet), but how long will it be
concerned not with the liar’s inconsistency
Half-a-mile below, a classical tower, big
threatens to flatten out its definition and
later died in a Singapore hospital.
before yet another example comes up of her
but with her failure to see herself as an
ironstone rocks cut neat and piled dry
leave us with little more than a banality.
greed and venality? One need not, of course,
equal member of a moral community. It is
into a cone, guards. My heart is cold: an
single Mrs Blair out here; and indeed, by the
because I treat myself as if I had special
achievement, I reckon.
standards of the times, she is a small player
privileges (‘because I am rich’, ‘because I
when it comes to fondness for cash, or the
am poor’, ‘because I belong to that family’,
blandishments of despots.
Dignity
in
previous
to this regard - except perhaps that the
not even deserve our blushes’, the state
of ‘admiration’, the reserve of the ‘dimwit’
a delusion. These three dimensions are
The news of this unspeakable brutality
Indian police officials have a tendency of
itself is ‘a chaotic rubbish-heap...where
who is more interested in what he knows to
intertwined. Respect for the self. Respect for others. Respect for the environment.
Second, ‘human dignity’ appears to
shook the Indian capital, not because
being too explicit about their feelings: last
thought has died out’ and the nation as a
be respectable than an actual engagement
have entered the contemporary lexicon
such an occurrence was unheard of but
April two Tehelka reporters spoke with
place where all one sees is ‘a gigantic heap
with a work of art.
I go to my room and pack, come into
of human rights under the less-than-
precisely because it was becoming so
dozen of senior cops in the Delhi-National
of alarming physiognomic refuse’.
How different, really, is this type of art
the cult of economic growth has to be
the kitchen and say, ‘I’ll drive my bags
auspicious banner of Catholic conservatives
common. Demonstrations and marches
Capital Region and caught them on
As this little salvo shows, Bernhard had
appreciation from the social critique that
challenged. It is obvious that unlimited
Respect for the biosphere means that
‘because I have been wronged’) that I think
down to the hotel, bring the car up and
in the 1930s. The phrase, according to the
filled the centre of New Delhi and other
hidden camera saying that in most sexual
no trouble finding terrible things to say
one finds in the works of both Bernhard
economic uses up – destroys - a finite
Why should we respect these people,
myself entitled to steal, lie, extort, kill. But
walk back down.’ Now I am leaving, I feel
historian Samuel Moyn, first showed up in
Indian cities: women and men, young and
assaults ‘she asked for it’, that ‘they’ll
about his country, and it did not stop there.
and Jelinek?
planet, yet politicians, business leaders
then? The principle seems to be along the
why should I, among all these others with
a surge of release, a fifty-year-old weight
the preamble of the Irish Constitution of
old, many students but also people from
drink with men and have sex but then say
Such complaints are but finite elements,
Just as Reger in Old Masters decides
lines of To him who hath, more shall be
whom I am equal, be somehow exempted
off my brain. I can live and love.
1937. Part of the reason the Irish set about
different backgrounds. They wanted the
it was rape’, ‘it’s all about money’, and
strung together into tirades, which were,
that the only option, given the sheer
given, for all the lollipop ladies and lifeboat
from what I expect them to do?
and
policymakers
appear
unable
to
comprehend this simple fact.
He tells me, tugging on his blue pyjamas,
enshrining the term was that it seemed to be
culprits to be imprisoned. Some wanted
so on. In some cases senior policemen
most impressively of all, latched onto one
ridiculousness of all experience, is to
volunteers who are given the so-called
The other is not someone whose emotions,
that I am over-reacting. He offers to spend
bulwark against the perceived inhumanity
more police in the streets. Many asked
have revealed the identity of rape victims,
another to create highly readable novels.
‘turn the world into a caricature’, one
We need to learn from nature that linear
‘people’s medal’ (means: condescending
when I detect these, are liable to affect me
the day with me. The others are going to a
of leftwing totalitarianism and the moral
for stricter laws and fast track courts
showing no respect for the women (nor for
Admittedly, one must get used to the rhythm
could respond to the sheer bleakness of
Natural life-forms move in cycles. There
trinket), the British Empire Medal. Alan
(and with any luck prompt me to help), but
museum. What comes into my mind is this:
degradation of liberal secularism. For
for rapists. Some suggested to castrate
the laws they should enforce).
of Bernhard’s writing before one can really
the political and social sphere depicted
is growth, decay and renewal. But in
economic growth is unsustainable.
the bloody Mitfords around for tea and
The recent BBC2 series, Servants: The
in the past? We might ask the same
Sugar has his millions; yet that baronetcy of
someone who necessarily stands as a solid
the Minotaur uses my toothbrush without
them, the phrase human dignity’ signalled
them. Some shouted ‘hang the rapists’.
When I asked for her comment, Kalpana
enjoy the work, but once accustomed to the
in Bernhard’s writing by focusing upon
industrial economy we don’t respect this
letting it be known that I don’t think
True Story of Life Below Stairs, tracked
question in relation to those who do the
his trumps his former knighthood. I doubt,
presence in the passageway of whatever I do.
asking. If I sleep after lunch, within minutes
a kind of illiberal corporatism with obvious
The government was caught off guard,
Sharma pointed out that rape is everywhere,
pace, one finds oneself moving from attacks
injustice rather than on ways of changing
basic law of nature.
Germany really fancies a war.
the rise and fall of Britain’s servant class.
domestic work today. Some of this work is
for instance, I could have any more respect
I should, says Kant, always treat the other
he wakes me. There is nothing of mine that
metaphysical commitments that set it apart
the police tear-gassed the marchers, and
that 80 to 90% of cases of reported sexual
on the Austrian education system (‘teachers
it. If the rites and pomp of Catholic ritual
The spectre of debt, deficit, recession and
And so, in a single morning, I had been
At its height, service employed more
creative and fulfilling and can involve Cath
for George Martin than I already do, and
‘never merely as a means, but always at the
is not his, not gobbled up, metabolised into
from other ideologies. In the postwar era,
the opposition jumped on the bandwagon
violence in India are committed by men
ruin their pupils...and Austrian teachers in
and Renaissance painting can be seen as
unemployment now hovers over much of the
called by my first name by a young man
people than any other single industry.
Kidston accessories. Much of it is dirty and
calling him ‘Sir George Martin’ is a small
same time as an end in himself.’ So I can use
him. He is a bull, yes, a sullen king, a wine-
‘human dignity’ was salvaged as an ideal
accusing the government. Meanwhile,
known to the victim - relatives, neighbours,
particular’), to the abysmal state of Vienna’s
ridiculous caricatures, what’s to prevent
Western world. Respect for nature is seen
in a shop, whom I had never met, and
In the early twentieth century, over
thankless: cleaning, sweeping, scrubbing,
price to pay for the pleasure he has given
a taxi-driver, with her agreement, as a means
sodden baby. He is an old man on a stick
by Christian democrats of a decidedly
deeply enraged, thousands continued to
colleagues, with a high proportion of family
public toilets (‘Vienna is one great lavatory
our own society from being seen as such?
as a luxury to be heeded only in the good
addressed as a Lord by my housekeeper.
1.5 million people worked as domestic
washing, wiping. It is also work that is never
me, and countless millions, since producing
to get to Heathrow Airport – that, given her
unable to wait, unable to stand or sit for
conservative, if no longer illiberal, cast.
fill the streets of central New Delhi for
members - not the unknown man assaulting
scandal’) and on to everything else (‘we may
This is both the strength and the danger in
times. For the moment, concern for nature
Nobody seems to understand how to greet
servants. Yet in the decades that followed,
done but must be repeated day in, day out.
‘Love Me Do’. But it does not make the
livelihood, will serve her purposes too – but
pride and I am his son. Set free.
each other anymore.
the trappings and rituals of traditional
It’s the stuff of life, the bedrock of intimate
Beatles’ music any better. Nor will his
if she has a heart-attack on the way I can’t
domestic
the
care and comfort. Yet few societies value
knighthood make Bradley Wiggins any faster
just hop out of her taxi in pursuit of my own
Professor Hudson - a man, incidentally,
1950s, the uniforms and bells had all but
it or those that do the bulk of it. Today,
on a bicycle. It may, indeed, even slow him
means and hail another one. Pursuing her
without a first name of any kind, as far
disappeared. As the series presenter, I was
the domestic service sector in Britain
down. So let us instead respect those who
ends, I have to ensure she gets to hospital. I
as we knew. He once tried to recruit me
intrigued to understand why.
My old linguistics tutor at Cambridge,
service
collapsed.
By
The third problem with ‘dignity’ is that
conservation is considered an impediment
I say, ‘I am going now so as not to lash
it does not have the equalizing effect that
to economic growth. The environmental
out.’ But I do not leave. I sit at the end of
many think it should. ‘Human dignity’ has
agenda has been sacrificed. Politicians,
the table in the shade and listen to his talk
often been a kind of smokescreen to hide
industrialists and business leaders are
of Lyndon Johnson’s White House and book
behind. Take the 1990 Cairo Declaration
desperate to restore business as usual and,
is dominated by low-paid migrant and
do not choose to accept honours, who refuse
feel far more upset about missing my plane
contracts and the Sunday Times and when
on Human Rights in Islam, whose article
despite empty rhetoric, see sustainability as
for MI5, a fate I only narrowly avoided
A major reason was that later generations
part-time workers, most of them women.
to bow down before the monarch that others
and my important project abroad than about
I can take no more I walk Rilke’s letters
6, in contrast to the Universal Declaration
an awkward and unnecessary detour.
by pleading heterosexuality - used to call
of young workers had more choice and were
Domestic workers’ search for respect still
may bow down before them. Let’s look at
the illness of a stranger, but I respect her as
down the grey, flagstone path through
of Human Rights, asserts that women share
This presents a great challenge to the
them ‘honorifics’ (at least, before he fell
keen to exercise it. Young women in particular
has a long way to go. (PC)
them again. Type ‘list of people who have
someone whose ends are as important to her
the village, past the spring beneath the
equal dignity’ with men but conspicuously
environmental movements. Our task has to
victim to a shameful putsch by a rabid
– my own grandmother among them - were
refused honours’ into your search engine
as mine are to me, and different.
cabal of Chomskyites): titles bestowed
no longer prepared to follow their mothers
on one’s fellow man for the purposes of
and aunts into service, despite the fact that
civilised interaction.
the demand for servants remained high.
COMMENTARY Honours’ Lists
swooping plane, down along into the shade
drops any mention of ‘equal rights.’ Among
be to show that ecology and true economy
of choice and you will turn something up.
Respect and equality, rather than fickle,
of a carob, out through the bright sheep
Western governments, the mention of
need not be in contradiction with each other.
The extraordinary thing is the number
biased feeling, are what Kant’s moral system
wire that keeps the goats from the village,
‘dignity’ either seems to cover for political
What will we do when we have covered
of non-famous people who have declined
depends on. His starched Prussian thought-
up to the point of the road vertically above
inaction or none-too-subtle permission to
all our land with concrete, all our fields
The point of an honorific is to address
Some of them were asked to explain why to
You might have thought it was easy to sidle
this official mark of respect. In their very
experiment is arguably more conducive to
the tower, whence I stare out over a steep,
engage in upholding dignity. Last year when
and farms with industrial parks and
people as they might wish to be addressed:
a parliamentary enquiry into the ‘servant
up to the concept of respect and inspect it.
modesty resides that which we should
equality, justice and respect than Hume’s
parched valley, that, but for the sea, would
François Hollande promised to ‘commit
shopping centres and when we have
to do this correctly, one needs to pay them
problem’ in 1923: ‘We just don’t want to be
For example, just look at what I did there:
respect the most. (NL)
stringed-instrument metaphors and fluent
be Anatolia or dry Alp or the mountains of
[himself] to upholding human dignity
cleared all our forests to make way for
the respect of understanding a little of who
treated as skivvies’, they reported. At the
put ‘respect’ and ‘inspect’ very close to each
emotional twangings, however appealing. It
North Africa. Instead, because of the sea,
wherever it’s violated’ during a visit to the
buildings, airports, and motorways that
they are. This should not be some ghastly
heart of this major social shift was a search
other, so we can peer at the Latin roots.
also gives a more accurate representation
the peaks are Greek islands, dotted with
House of Slaves museum off the coast of
do not respect the natural order, that
relic of the class system - codified deference,
not just for better prospects but a heartfelt
Inspect, to look into something; respect,
He was a fashionably dressed little man
of our moral intuitions (Kant meant it to
white houses and fig trees and mulberries
Senegal, he seemed to be implicitly asking
waste energy and exude CO 2.
in other words - nor should it be the one-
search for respect.
PHILOSOPHY
to look at it again, to give something a
(5 foot 2), of regular habits, who never
describe, as well as prescribe, what we do and
and bougainvillea. And I stare back up at
for a carte blanche for French actions in
Without respect for the environment a
instilled
The old ideal of service had been built
second glance, to pay attention to it, not to
ventured more than two miles beyond his
expect when behaving morally). Of course
the terrace above, where a seventy-five
Africa. Yet when Hollande visited Algeria in
saturation point will come very soon. If we
in its workers by a mammoth, cult-like
upon servants’ respect for their masters
insult by overlooking it; to give something
home-town of Königsberg, loved military
Kant is less loveable than Hume, of course
year-old schoolboy waits, not wanting to
December and the Algerians demanded an
continue to pollute, damage and destroy
corporation. Rather, it is politeness. If you
and mistresses. In return, the masters and
its due. As an example of the casual way
marches, was obsessed with his bowels and
he was hidebound by his character and
know how joy and love are a dangerous
apology for French colonialism ‘in the name
our environment, we will end up causing
snap your fingers in La Coupole and shout
mistresses had a duty and a responsibility
in which respect can be denied someone,
bodily ailments, held up his stockings by
prejudices -- he gave money but not time or
blood that runs in the veins of our species,
of Algerian dignity,’ he made clear that he
an economic crisis on a scale we cannot
‘Garçon!’ at a waiter in his 60s, he will find
to meet the needs of those lower down the
I allude to an episode that occurred
means of bands running up his inside leg
affection to his working-class siblings; Jews
like language and colour and the irrational
had not come ‘to apologise.’
even imagine. Respect for the environment
it rude; more to the point, you may have a
social scale. As the Servants series showed,
between me, the editor, and an accountant
into his pocket where they were attached to
he described as dirty swindlers – and he
ability to reason, and I think I cannot walk
Defenders to the concept of ‘human
is more than an economic imperative. It is
long wait for your steak frîtes. Show him
in practice this ideal placed both sides under
of a magazine I occasionally write for. I’d
springs, and almost certainly had no sexual
didn’t live out his equalising principles. But
down the hill seven kilometres into town in
dignity’ still have several decent arguments
also a moral imperative. We, the present
respect by calling him ‘Monsieur’, on the
enormous emotional strain. Employers were
asked her anxiously for a payment due
experience whatsoever. These anecdotes
we should respect his moral philosophy.
the sun, he will be wanting his lunch.
in their arsenal. Among the most common
generation, have no right to take the
other hand, and he will be mastic in your
harried by ‘insolent’ and ‘incompetent’
me, she asked the accountant, a few times,
about
philosopher
And love it. Respect can, admittedly,
I open the tall, white, sheet-steel door and
is that if dignity is what separates men from
forests, fields and fisheries from future
hands; although, it must be said, I have not
servants, while servants lived their lives on
when this was going to take place, and the
Immanuel Kant might seem to epitomise his
be seen as just a fail-safe option to
go to the table where he sits holding a GCSE
animals then it is critical that this difference
generations. Human wellbeing, social
yet discovered an honorific to melt the heart
standby, waiting for a bell that might ring
accountant, perhaps mistakenly, perhaps
moral philosophy as well as his character.
be adopted when sympathy fails, but,
textbook of Ancient Greek history and say,
be respected. The reason, we are told, much
cohesion and environmental sustainability
of a Parisian taxi driver.
are all interdependent. (SK)
size-fits-all
fake
friendliness
the
18th
century
at any time of the day or night. Resentment
not, had included me as a recipient of his
His dictum ‘Act as if the maxim of your action
properly practiced, it can lead us through
‘I’ll make lunch.’ I cut tomatoes, onions,
of the savagery of the great systematic
I have been called Knott-san in Tokyo,
of the lack of simple personal freedoms –
reply to her: ‘I cant just drop everything to
were to become through your will a universal
behaviour to attitude to a feeling stronger
cheese, basil; fetch cool water, a tin of squid
massacres of the 20th century could be
Bill-ji in Delhi, and Mr Bill by the chap who
freedoms that were beginning to be won by
make payments.’ Although, at first sight, it
law of nature’ might sound like a legalistic
than sympathy. The meaning of ‘respect’
in ink and beer. And afterwards I say, ‘Do
perpetrated with such easeful impunity is
makes my breakfast in Sri Lanka. None was
other workers - fuelled servants’ demands
is rather breathtaking how an accountant
version of the schoolmarmish ‘how would
covers all three. Respecting someone can
you want to talk about what’s happened?’
because the victims had been stripped of
given, or taken, as implying superiority: it
for a new kind of reciprocal respect.
merely oiled the cogs of civilised behaviour, building an atmosphere of mutual esteem.
might feel that of all the jobs he has to
you like it if everyone did that?’ Suppose (is
involve treating them with deference,
And for four hours we do. And though he
their dignity — that is, their very status
These demands took different forms. John
perform for a magazine, that of paying its
one of his examples) it would be convenient
regarding them as having dignity, or,
cannot bear to show he does not understand,
as fellow humans. Primo Levi gives the
Robinson’s public attack on his employer
contributors is the most demeaning, it is the
to lie in your present circumstances – would
ultimately, feeling admiration for them
I say what I must say, which is that he has
example of the old man at Auschwitz who
For the umpteenth time running, I
was rare. But countless others voted with
missing apostrophe in ‘cant’ which is the
you want everyone to be compelled to lie?
and their attributes. In a way respect is
not been a Dad. (PH)
took care appear well-dressed and fix his tie
thrashed young Adam at ping-pong the
their feet and simply switched jobs when the
cherry on top of this ice-cream sundae of
Surely that is precisely what you rely on
more loveable than love. (JO’G)
other day. ‘Nuff respect, Uncle!’ he panted,
work or conditions didn’t suit them. Then
disrespect: he couldn’t even be bothered to
them not doing. For, if lying were the rule,
as I administered the coup de grâce, a rather
as now, better employers retained good staff
punctuate properly. (Of course, by another
then there would be none of the trust that
fine top-spin smash. No, I thought, one
for longer. There were also several attempts
token, the amount of badgering this editor
is necessary for your lie to be believed. Your
really can never have enough respect. (BK)
to unionise servants in the early twentieth
has to do in order to get copy out of me
wish to lie is therefore self-contradictory.
century. None really succeeded because
might itself betoken a lack of respect on my
Yes, all right, but (as post-Romantics) we
Dry, mica shale in upright slabs, four-feet
although domestic servants were arguably
part – but no, that’s another matter entirely.
tend to be more in tune with the loveable
tall. Giant autumn crocuses: pale lilac in
the largest single group of workers, they
Ask any writer.) Slovenly use of language
David Hume, who lived just before Kant,
colour with sharp pointed petals. On each
were also arguably the most fragmented and
may usually be a matter of poor education
and said that it is fellow-feeling, not reason,
casualised, mostly employed in twos and
beyond the user’s control; it’s when well-
that guides us to moral action. Just as, ‘in
SOCIAL STUDIES
Servants’ Search for Respect
CRIMINOLOGY Respect, Tradition and Honour many days, as if in a cathartic exercise.
you in a street, as is commonly supposed.
look at whatever we please... we only look at
a disrespect as pure as Bernhard’s; it may,
The notion of respect has always been
in order to be treated with more respect —
It certainly was the first time an incident
What happened in Delhi awoke the urban
malice and infamy and at betrayal and lies
in its unwaveringly negative depiction of the
linked to that of authority. Think of
and more soup — by the guards. But even
of rape provoked such a wide reaction in
public to the insecurity that women
and hypocrisy and... absolute baseness’) as
world, encourage a nihilistic defeatism in
traditional patriarchal authority, which is
this more instrumental understanding of
India, well beyond the women’s groups
experience in big cities, but rape occurs in
if carried along a giant, unstoppable wave
some, but its ability to force people into a
rooted in the provision of recurrent and
dignity — that, if we drink deep enough
who had long campaigned on the issue; the
small town and villages as well; it is endemic
of revulsion, fusing the political, the artistic
new perspective and to stimulate debate -
routinised necessities of everyday life.
We agree that human dignity is to
of the dignity discourse, we will become
first time that a debate on sexual violence
in areas of conflict; it is a daily experience
and the petty into one long, provocative and
welcome or not - by dint of that very same
Respect, in this case, relates to the socio-
be respected, but this hardly helps us
immune to evil — is unsatisfactory. Not
reached mainstream India. Rape is no
for dalit or adivasi (‘tribal’) women, who
frequently hilarious whole.
intensity makes this kind of disrespect a risk
economic sphere, from which the patriarch
understand what dignity means. The phrase
to mention the notion that human dignity
more a ‘women’s problem’ - indeed it has
are actually comprise the greatest number
It is clear that Bernhard’s disrespect does
worth taking. (NC)
derives his function of ‘natural leader’ and
‘human dignity’ has burrowed itself into the
has to come at the expense of anything —
never been, argued well known journalist
of victims. It often occurs in police stations
not function only in a political sense, and
petal a rectangular labyrinth in darker
heart of our legal documents, but this only
including animals.
Kalpana Sharma (‘What’s wrong with
– such as was the case with Soni Sori who
neither are his works political critiques as
purple, like a circuit-board diagram. I pick
makes the work of retrieving its meaning
The strangest thing about dignity is that,
Indian men’, The Hindu).
was sexually tortured in police custody, as
we traditionally understand them. There is
related in The Spanner a year ago.
no alternative put forward to the state of
DIARY Honour Thy Father…
OPINION The Price of Dignity
Respecting People and Nature
threes in small middle class households.
taught people can’t be arsed to put in the
strings equally wound up,’ the plucking
two. Beside the chapel, a small graveyard,
harder. We have lodged so many ideals on
on a cultural level, it appears universally
In 1894, there was very public spat
Servant unions’ demands were modest
right punctuation mark that I feel, on behalf
of one string sets the others vibrating, so
not more than a dozen graves through a
the concept’s shoulders that it threatens to
inescapable.
everyone
The Indian Interior minister promised
‘Indian society is in transition’ summarised
affairs that he so vociferously attacks, and
between a well-known socialite, Lady Violet
but telling. A 1913 Doctrine of Discontent
of the English language, insulted. It is the
emotion (said Hume) is readily conveyed
locked gate, each with its separate cross.
become nonsense. And yet we know dignity
everywhere treats their dead with respect.
‘exemplary punishment’ (homicide carries a
Sharma. ‘Young women are more and more
serious points, such as Austria’s failure
Greville, and her butler, Mr John Robinson.
issued by Glasgow maids lead by 17 year old
equivalent of scratching your arse in public:
from one person to another. To see someone
Three times, I have come to Greece, each
when we see it. The celebrity patient who
Why do we do this? Why, when our humanity
death penalty in India). But those protests
in the public sphere, in education, at work,
to engage with its own role in National
Respect for nature is lacking in our
Lady Greville had complained in a newspaper
Jessie Stephens included a call for higher
sheer bad manners.
crying (or laughing) is inevitably to feel, if
time with my father. On the northern coast
demands some dignity from the paparazzi
is at its lowest ebb — has just vanished
raised deeper questions than just ‘hang the
leading independent lives - but a male
Socialism, are strung alongside and linked
society. Rather than treasuring her as a
column about the quality of Britain’s
pay, a shorter working day (but only down
to a lesser extent, the grief (or hilarity) she
of Crete, in the seventies, my twelve year-
photographing her as she enters the
—— does our instinct for respect increase?
rapists’. In New Delhi young women waved
dominated society failed to take notice,
into arguably petty complaints, such as the
thing of beauty and intrinsic value, we use
This is more than just prissiness about
For
instance,
What will remain of this surge of protests?
ECOLOGY
provider of various forms of patronage, seeing it as grounds for other forms of respect and authority that invoke tradition. For example, the supposedly legitimate authority of husbands, fathers and seniors may be based on a system of sacred norms whose infraction results in magical or religious punishment. Traditional
authority
is
irrational,