Driss, reading. Signs of a disintegrating civilization. This should be good. Abandon – reckless and self seeking hedonism.
– Us on a bender, basically, Io says.
Truancy, sense of drift …, Driss continues.
– Daydreaming in meetings, Barbarossa says. Woolgathering at awaydays.
Vulgarity and barbarism in manners, Driss reads. Vulgarity and barbarism in the arts. Vulgarity and barbarism in philosophy –
– That’s our department, Io says.
Archaism …, Driss reads.
Archaism? Io asks.
The veneration of old stuff, Barbarossa says. Like our love of Old Europe.
A soulless utilitarianism at once homogenising and vulgar, Driss continues.
Well, we all know what that’s about. Just give us the highlights, Driss.
Standardisation of life that levels and flattens, Driss reads, flipping the pages. Growing suicide, mental disease and crime … Weariness spreading through larger and larger numbers of the population … A disintegrating academic culture.
Work in Progress 