Quote of the Day: Arthur Miller
The deep moral uneasiness among us, the vast sense of being only tenuously joined to the rest of our fellows, is caused, in my view, by the fact that the person has value as he fits into the pattern of efficiency, and for that alone. The reason Death of a Salesman, for instance, left such a strong impression was that it set forth unremittingly the picture of a man who was not even especially "good" but whose situation made clear that at bottom we are alone, valueless, without even the elements of a human person, when once we fail to fit the patterns of efficiency. Under the black shadow of that gigantic necessity, even the drift of some psychoanalytic practice is toward the fitting-in, the training of the individual whose soul has revolted, so that he may once again "take his place" in society — that is, do his "work," "function," in other words, accommodate himself to a scheme of things that is not at all ancient but very new in the world. In short, the absolute value of the individual human being is believed in only as a secondary value; it stands well below the needs of efficient production. We have finally come to serve the machine. The machine must not be stopped, marred, left dirty or outmoded. Only men can be left marred, stopped, dirty, and alone. Our pity for the victim is mixed, I think. It is mixed with an air of self-preserving superiority — we, thank God, know how to fit in, therefore this victim, however pitiful, has himself to thank for his fate. We believe, in other words, that to fit into the patterns of efficiency is the ultimate good, and at the same time we know in our bones that a crueler concept is not easy to arrive at.
From Arthur Miller, "On Social Plays," The Theater Essays of Arthur Miller
From Arthur Miller, "On Social Plays," The Theater Essays of Arthur Miller
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Comments (4)
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No clearer, terser metaphor exists for what Miller says, than the re-kenning of the company "Personnel" Department to "Human Resources."
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June 29, 2009
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This is not 100% relevant, but significantly relevant still:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zziCwHlxwY8
This video was also a part of "The Century of the Self" - Episode 2,(The Engineering of Consent). I strongly recommend seeing the whole thing. It's freely available online.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zziCwHlxwY8
This video was also a part of "The Century of the Self" - Episode 2,(The Engineering of Consent). I strongly recommend seeing the whole thing. It's freely available online.
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July 02, 2009
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oh
I remembered that Arthur Miller is also featured in it by the way... In relation to Marilyn Monroe's suicide. He comments on the "powermad ideology" of the age and the nature of psychoanalysis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Auq2uNwJwI0
,
July 02, 2009
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