| After learning that Yoko Ono had given Nike the permission to use John Lennon's image for a new shoe model, a Politiquébec forum member reacted by sarcastically suggesting that Nike adopt "make money, not war" as a slogan. I believe that, without necessarily doing it on purpose, he put the finger on a fundamental difference between the Left and the Right.
Whereas the Left, with slogans like "make love, not war", believes in the possibility of forging a new man that would have been liberated of all destructive pulsions and of all negative sentiments and that would be a model of kindness, goodwill and love, the Right is more skeptical about the possibility of changing human nature and prefers that this human nature, with its good sides as well as with its less good sides, be accepted for what it is and be harnessed to more constructive ends. Francis Fukuyama explains that ambition and the desire for recognition, which used to be satisfied through warring struggles, have been harnessed by modern capitalism to rather support the creation of wealth. "Make money, not war" is not a sexy slogan, but it works: | En apprenant que Yoko Ono avait donné à Nike la permission d'utiliser l'image de John Lennon pour un nouveau modèle de chaussures, un intervenant de Politiquébec a réagi sarcastiquement en suggérant à Nike d'adopter le slogan "make money, not war". Je crois qu'il a sans nécessairement le vouloir mis le doigt sur une différence fondamentale entre la gauche et la droite.
Alors que la gauche, par des slogans comme "make love, not war", croit à la possibilité de forger un homme nouveau qui aurait été libéré de toute pulsion destructrice ou de tout sentiment négatif et qui serait un modèle de bonté, de bienveillance et d'amour, la droite est plus sceptique quant à la possibilité de changer la nature humaine et préfère que cette nature humaine, autant dans ce qu'elle a de bon que dans ce qu'elle a de moins bon, soit acceptée pour ce qu'elle est et soit canalisée à des fins constructives. Francis Fukuyama explique que l'ambition et la recherche de la gloire, qui trouvaient autrefois leur satisfaction dans des luttes guerrières, ont pu être canalisés par le capitalisme moderne pour plutôt favoriser la création de la richesse. "Make money, not war" n'est pas un slogan sexy, mais ça fonctionne: |
Prior to modern liberal democracy, the struggle for recognition was carried on by ambitious princes who sought primacy over each other through war and conquest. Indeed, Hegel's account of the human historical process began with a primordial "bloody battle" in which two combatants sought to be recognized by the other, leading one ultimately to enslave the other. Conflicts based on religious or nationalist passion are much more intelligible if understood as manifestations of the desire for recognition rather than rational desire or "utility maximization." Modern liberal democracy seeks to satisfy this desire for recognition by basing the political order on the principle of universal and equal recognition. But in practice, liberal democracy works because the struggle for recognition that formerly had been carried out on a military, religious, or nationalist plane is now pursued on an economic one. Where formerly princes sought to vanquish each other by risking their lives in bloody battles, they now risk their capital through the building of industrial empires. The underlying psychological need is the same, only the desire for recognition is satisfied through the production of wealth rather than the destruction of material values. | |