RE: SV: SV: Juenger quote

["Thomas Friese" <tfriese@intergate.bc.ca>]

> Maybe it would be more correct to
> say that EJ is a bourgeois anti-
> modernist and not use the left-right
> scale.

Sure, Juenger came from a bourgeois background and after retirement from
the Reichswehr was able to earn enough to live comfortable but I feel the
label "bourgeois anti-modernist" isn't quite right. What about "Der
Arbeiter"? That would seem to be a modernist anti-bourgeois piece to me -
as would much of the 20s stuff.

Even with the later work - I think one would do EJ an injustice to label
him bourgeois. Even if notions of the "Anarch" can be used to evade what
one might broadly label ethical responsibilty - and which would thus suit
those in an adequately leisured/well-off position (bourgeois) not prepared
to dirty their hands changing the world one way or the other - the
Anarch's non-committal to the world and refusal of instrumental
intervention in the world is radically un-bourgeois.

Exactly, Junger is primarily an anarch who by chance finds himself in the
not-undesirable position of the bourgeois. He finds no reason to object to a
role which is useful to his goals. The following paragraph from Eumeswil
seems to explain it best.

"The anarch differs from the anarchist in that he has a very pronounced
sense of the rules. Insofar as and to the extent that he observes them, he
feels exempt from thinking.
This is consistent with normal behavior: everyone who boards a train rolls
over bridges and through tunnels that engineers have devised for him and on
which a hundred thousand hands have labored. This does not darken the
passenger's mood; settling in comfortably, he buries himself in his
newspaper, has breakfast, or thinks about his business.
Likewise, the anarch - except that he always remains aware of that
relationship, never losing sight of his main theme, freedom, that which also
flies outside, past hill and dale. He can get away at any time, not just
from the train, but also from any demand made on him by state, society, or
church, and also from existence. He is free to donate existence to Being,
not for any pressing reason but just as he likes, whether out of exuberance
or out of boredom.
Why do so many people strive for the career of petty functionary? No doubt
because they have a sensible notion of happiness. They know the rules and
their taboos. Time flows by nonchalantly. You are already half-way to Tibet.
Plus the security. No state can do without minor officials, no matter how
high the waves may surge. Of course, you have to keep a low profile." Pg.
146-147

Thomas Friese
Association Eumeswil
Vancouver, Canada - Florence, Italy

"I am not an nonbeliever, but a man who demands something worth believing
in. On this point, I am like a bride in her chamber: she listens for the
softest step."
Ernst Juenger, Eumeswil