A slave begins by demanding justice and ends by wanting to wear a crownin
the masses against the classes:
'We love the winter / It brings us closer together / A slave begins by demanding justice and ends by wanting to wear a crown'
quote of
albert camus, taken from 'l'homme revolte' (
the rebel). the original quote is:
'[...] LA RéVOLTé DéFIE PLUS QU'IL NE NIE. PRIMITIVEMENT, AU MOINS, IL NE SUPPRIME PAS DIE, IL LUI PARLE SIMPLEMENT D'éGAL Ã éGAL. MAIL IL NE S'AGIT PAS D'UN DIALOGUE COURTOIS. IL S'AGIT D'UNE POLéMIQUE QU'ANIME LE DéSIR DE VAINCRE. L'ESCLAVE COMMENCE PAR RéCLAMER JUSTICE ET FINIT PAR VOULOIR LA ROYAUTé. IL LUI FAUT DOMINER Ã SON TOUR. [...]'.
in
the rebel, camus explains there are two kinds of revolutions: metaphysical revolutions (declaring that god is dead, see
friedrich nietzsche) and historical revolutions (political). according to camus, after the metaphysical revolution people need to cling to something to give their life sense. people do this by demanding a heaven on earth, which means that everyone who is against achieving this kingdom may die, as we can see in all revolutions: opponents are eliminated. cAMUS THEREFORE CONDEMNS EVERY FORM OF POLITICAL RADICALISM, AS HE CONDEMNS THE 'THE AIM JUSTIFIES THE MEANS' KIND OF THINKING.
THE QUOTE IS TAKEN FROM THE CHAPTER ON METAPHYSICAL REVOLT. BY THIS QUOTE CAMUS EXPLAINS THAT WHEN A 'SLAVE' REVOLTS AGAINST GOD, THIS REVOLT IS CAUSED BY A HUNGER TO DOMINATE HIS OWN LIFE AND TO BE THE CREATOR OF HIS OWN KINGDOM. IN THE BEGINNING THE SLAVE DOES NOT DENY GOD; HE ACTUALLY FIGHTS HIM, AND his (the slave's) OWN LACK OF POWER.
