>Hmm, I can't see how RWE's "I am nothing" is "all about the
>disappearance of the *rest* of humanity"; how it translates into
>"some fanatasy of self-sufficiency"; or how it points the way to the
>America, Fuck Yeah! fever that grips us now.
Here's the passage again:
>Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight, under a
>clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special
>good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration.I am glad to the
>brink of fear. In the woods too, a man casts off his years, as the
>snake his slough , and at what period soever of life, is always a
>child. In the woods, is perpetual youth. Within these plantations
>of God, a decorum and sanctity reign, a perennial festival is
>dressed, and the guest sees not how he should tire of them in a
>thousand years. In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I
>feel that nothing can befall me in life, -- no disgrace, no
>calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair.
>Standing on the bare ground, -- my head bathed by the blithe air,
>and uplifted into infinite space, -- all mean egotism vanishes. I
>become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents
>of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle
>of God. The name of the nearest friend sounds then foreign and
>accidental: to be brothers, to be acquaintances, -- master or
>servant, is then a trifle and a disturbance. I am the lover of
>uncontained and immortal beauty.In the wilderness, I find something
>more dear and connate than in streets or villages. In the tranquil
>landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man
>beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature.
He's "in the woods." There's no one around. The name of "the nearest friend sounds...foreign and accidental" - society is nothing but "a trifle and a disturbance." Can it be much clearer than that?
"I am nothing" is followed by an identification with nothing less than the universe - a nice instance of the narcissistic personality, with feelings of emptiness defended against by grandiosity. At the end, nature becomes a projection of "man" - or in this case, Representative Ralph.
Here's a checklist <http://www.mentalhealth.com/dis1/p21-pe07.html>. Ralph exhibits more than a handful.
>Narcissistic Personality Disorder
>Diagnostic Criteria
>
>A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need
>for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood
>and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more)
>of the following:
>
>1. has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates
>achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior
>without commensurate achievements)
>2. is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power,
>brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
>3. believes that he or she is "special" and unique and can only be
>understood by, or should associate with, other special or
>high-status people (or institutions)
>4. requires excessive admiration
>5. has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of
>especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or
>her expectations
>6. is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of
>others to achieve his or her own ends
>7. lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the
>feelings and needs of others
>8. is often envious of others or believes that others are envious
>of him or her
>9. shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes