hey elliot,
i think i see what you mean, but i'm not sure if it matters.
you are right when you say that society sometimes legislates/enforces these
rights, but they wouldn't have come about at all if it wasn't for intellect.
and one day we may not need to legislate or enforce these rights.
in any case we are left short when it comes to human rights as we stand now.
society - the social level - sees to that. it generally *opposes* 'human
rights':
-i have limited freedoms regarding what i do or put into my body/ how i can
express or occupy myself publicly (graffiti/posters/skateboarding - all
victimless crimes in many places)/
-do i have a choice about supporting a government that kills innocent people
all over the globe, indirectly or directly, with my taxes - no.
-i have limited rights at work. i must do as i am told by the boss or i am
fired. soemtimes i am fired for no reason anyway.
with these examples i am trying to show how the social level *generally*
opposes human rights - the development, maturation or evolution of the
individual. the social level tries to keep us in our place - immature,
diverted, isolated.
to be an individual - a citizen - is to live authentically: free to choose
and totally responsible for your actions. presently only a minority of
adults in the west are individuals, most are still adolescents taking their
cues from their superiors, fashion, friends etc.
to me the intellectual level is about *growing up* and realizing that you
are painfully constrained and controlled by the social machinery around you:
you see your 'adult' life as qualitatively no different from that you
endured in the quasi-penal atmosphere of school. the instruments of social
hegemony are seen for what they are: nearly all illegimate and often simply
absurd. from here it is your responsibility - to yourself and the world -
not to shy from this knowledge, though it can make life a lot more difficult
at times. to regress into a comfortable life is utmost bad faith. the
intellectual must stand - alone if need be - and expose the lies and
stupidity that we are immersed in daily.
to be an intellectual today means to advocate revolution. i cannot put it
more simply than that.
cheers
gav
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