skandalon

It is not good for him who makes the laws to execute them, or for the body of the people to turn its attention away from a general standpoint and devote it to particular objects. Nothing is more dangerous than the influence of private interests in public affairs, and the abuse of the laws by the government is a less evil than the corruption of the legislator, which is the inevitable sequel to a particular standpoint. In such a case, the State being altered in substance, all reformation becomes impossible, A people that would never misuse governmental powers would never misuse independence; a people that would always govern well would not need to be governed.

If we take the term in the strict sense, there never has been a real democracy, and there never will be.

✖ Via The Social Contract, Or Principles of Political Right by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, tr. by G. D. H. Cole, public domain (original publication : Amesterdam, 1792), Book III, chap 4.

Here’s the original French text:

Il n’est pas bon que celui qui fait les lois les exécute, ni que le corps du peuple détourne son attention des vues générales pour les donner aux objets particuliers. Rien n’est plus dangereux que l’influence des intérêts privés dans les affaires publiques, et l’abus des lois par le gouvernement est un mal moindre que la corruption du législateur, suite infaillible des vues particulières. Alors, l’État étant altéré dans sa substance, toute réforme devient impossible. Un peuple qui n’abuserait jamais du gouvernement n’abuserait pas non plus de l’indépendance; un peuple qui gouvernerait toujours bien n’aurait pas besoin d’être gouverné.

A prendre le terme dans la rigueur de l’acception, il n’a jamais existé de véritable démocratie, et il n’en existera jamais. (Du contrat social ou Principes du droit politique, Livre III, chap. 4)

↳Share Jul 29 link notes politic author book society community contract government law democracy Rousseau state power

art communication illustration illustrator design poster cover book author novel state power politic community hobbes violence auster freedom terror terrorism loser united_states

✖ Via

David Vivó photostream on Flickr: personal project, Paul Auster’s “Leviathan” book cover / 120x185 mm

↳Share Jul 11 link notes art communication illustration illustrator design poster cover book author novel state power politic community Hobbes violence Auster freedom terror terrorism loser United-States

People are not alone in waging war. Their closest living cousins, chimpanzees, also slaughter their own kind—in brutal attacks that primatologists increasingly view as strategic, co-ordinated assaults rather than random acts of violence. But however tempting it is to see these battles through the lens of human warfare, the motives for chimp-on-chimp violence are poorly understood. In particular, researchers have long debated whether the apes fight for land, or for females.

✖ Via The Economist: “Killer instincts”, June 24th, 2010

↳Share Jul 02 link notes communication war land power violence killing death animal chimpanzee human behavior instinct culture nature

communication journalism power critic liberty autonomy humor illustration comic caricature artist art corruption news information

✖ Via Harper’s Magazine: “Nose For Trouble” by Mr. Fish, July 1st, 2010

About Mr. Fish:

Mr. Fish (mrfish@clowncrack.com) lives in Los Angeles, California. He never asked to be born. Occasionally, he laughs his head off. His mother has no idea what he’s up to. She cries easily. For more information, date him. (source)

Previously on Skandalon : Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal

↳Share link notes communication journalism power critic liberty autonomy humor illustration comic caricature artist art corruption news information

Everyman knows that he is stronger then certain of his fellows and weaker than others; that, living alone in a state of complete anarchy, he would be the scourge of the weaker and the victim of the stronger, and would live in perpetual fear. That is why in every society, even the crudest, the majority of men give up terrorizing the weaker so as to be less afraid of the stronger―such is the universal formula of social order.

✖ Via The Principles of Power: The Great Political Crises of History by Guglielmo Ferrero, trans. by Theodore R. Jaeckel, New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1942, p. 32 (read a review of it on JSTOR)

As quoted in Communitas. The Origin and Destiny of Community by Roberto Esposito, trans. by Thimothy Campbell, Standford: Stanford University Press, [1998]2010, p. 24

↳Share Jul 01 link notes communication community society social order fear power History weak strong Esposito

communication technology terrorism destruction celebrity fame glorification history power lost loser

✖ Via Emblemas morales by Don Sebastian de Couarrubias Orozco, centuria II, emblem 55 (155), 1610

Herostratos torching the temple of Artemis. Learn more on Wikipedia and by reading Albert Borowitz’s essay Terrorism for Self-Glorification. The Herostratos Syndrome. More on that later.

↳Share May 27 link notes communication technology terrorism destruction celebrity fame glorification history power lost loser

art science technology atom nuclear diagram illustration education visualization comic vintage power retro

✖ Via Comic Book Cartography: “Adventures Inside the Atom: The Story of Nuclear Power”, General Electric Company, Public Relations, Dept. 2-119, 1948

“Comic Book Cartography’s dad would have been 12 when he acquired the copy we scanned, possibly at school. The comic wrestles atom splitting away from the bomb and slots it into the post-war parade of progress and prosperity. A black and white scan of the entire 16-page comic is available on the U.S. Department of Energy Website”

Comic Book Cartograhy is curated by Half Man|Half Static. He simply describes himself as “the curator of lost items”.

↳Share May 10 link notes art science technology atom nuclear diagram illustration education visualization comic vintage power retro

The boundless sea rang terribly around, and the earth crashed loudly: wide Heaven was shaken and groaned, and high Olympus reeled from its foundation under the charge of the undying gods, and a heavy quaking reached dim Tartarus and the deep sound of their feet in the fearful onset and of their hard missiles. So, then, they launched their grievous shafts upon one another, and the cry of both armies as they shouted reached to starry heaven; and they met together with a great battle-cry. […] Astounding heat seized Chaos: and to see with eyes and to hear the sound with ears it seemed even as if Earth and wide Heaven above came together; for such a mighty crash would have arisen if Earth were being hurled to ruin, and Heaven from on high were hurling her down; so great a crash was there while the gods were meeting together in strife. Also the winds brought rumbling earthquake and duststorm, thunder and lightning and the lurid thunderbolt, which are the shafts of great Zeus, and carried the clangour and the warcry into the midst of the two hosts. An horrible uproar of terrible strife arose: mighty deeds were shown and the battle inclined. But until then, they kept at one another and fought continually in cruel war.

✖ Via Theogony by Hesiod (tr. by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, 1914)

When the Gods fought the Titans, Earth was not an hopistable place for the mortals.

↳Share May 09 link notes art communication chaos genesis creation order world mythology violence war representation Gods Titans nature power

✖ Via Various sources : Mecanopolis, Le Jura Libertaire, biphop’s photostream, Epanastasi, Missolonghi.

Past and coming insurrections.

↳Share Mar 25 notes history war independance Greece insurrection power resistance

art technology photo photographer bw electricity energy power abstract

✖ Via PDN Photo of the Day: Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Lightning Fields 128, 2009.

Artist statement:

“The word electricity is thought to derive from the ancient Greek elektron, meaning “amber.” When subject to friction, materials such as amber and fur produce an effect that we now know as static electricity. Related phenomena were studied in the eighteenth century, most notably by Benjamin Franklin. To test his theory that lightning is electricity, in 1752 Franklin flew a kite in a thunderstorm. He conducted the experiment at great danger to himself; in fact, other researchers were electrocuted while conducting similar experiments. He not only proved his hypothesis, but also that electricity has positive and negative charges. In 1831, Michael Faraday’s formulation of the law of electromagnetic induction led to the invention of electric generators and transformers, which dramatically changed the quality of human life. Far less well-known is that Faraday’s colleague, William Fox Talbot, was the father of calotype photography. Fox Talbot’s momentous discovery of the photosensitive properties of silver alloys led to the development of positive-negative photographic imaging. The idea of observing the effects of electrical discharges on photographic dry plates reflects my desire to re-create the major discoveries of these scientific pioneers in the darkroom and verify them with my own eyes.” (artist’s official website)

About PDN :

“PDN Photo of the Day displays photographs selected by the editors of Photo District News, a publication for photo professionals.” (read more).

Previously on Skandalon

↳Share Feb 09 link notes art technology photo photographer BW electricity energy power abstract