October 1st, 2020
[I turned on some Erhu music on YouTube to get into the mood.]
K: Oh, please. That's terrible.
T: Hey, Youtube says, these are real evergreens.
K: Since when are those things, that the masses like most, truly exquisite? The Erhu was made to play sad songs, not this kind of nonsense. But some principles seem to stay the same over millennia:
What is average, most people enjoy. What is good, few people enjoy. And what is truly ingenious is often not even written down out of fear.
T: That's pretty cynical, Master. Pretty cynical.
K: Call it life experience. And also: What did you expect? I trained you to have such a loose mouth. This is why you have it in this life!
T: ?!
K: I always trained my students not to hold back their emotions, because there they really won't be any good to anyone. Anger I can dissolve. Uncertainty I can wipe away. A different opinion I can stand. But reading minds? That I could sadly never do!
T: I read somewhere that it was "somewhat okay" for Japanese women in the 13th century. They were allowed to pursue some arts and gain a name this way. Better than nothing, I guess. But Jormungandr [see "BALANCE"] said the both of us lived together in elevenhundredandsomething?
K: Two things:
1) Yes, we lived before those times when women were allowed SOME things. Because
2) lots of sacrifices had to be made to get to that point.
T: I get a serious knot in my throat when I think about this. Am I right then to count me to the people who sacrificed some or all parts of themselves? Jormungandr had hinted at this months ago already.
K: Do you know, how dangerous women are? How dangerous they've always been? "Gaston" from the Disney universe said it best: »When a woman starts reading, then soon she gets ideas. And starts thinking!!"
Because a woman who reads thinks about how her situation could change for the better. About numbers and traditions and mechanisms of oppression. Who reads also begins to be part of the general discourse - and finds a lot of people who are likewise unhappy with their situation.
To say it from a man's perspective: the woman who's able to wake 50 percent of the citizens from their slumber and put their topics on the agenda, is unbelievably dangerous. The woman who does all of this with a lot of verve, a sharp tongue, and the better arguments is public enemy number one! That was you. A thinking, fighting, influential woman. And those - up to this day - are reprimanded in the most terrible ways for their involvement. A true shame for every thinking, self-assured society.
If you liked this first little preview of the month of KNOWLEDGE, then stay tuned by subscribing to my newsletter. I'll keep you posted when the material for that month comes online!