there is what I call 'systemic' violence, or the often catastrophic consequences of the smooth functioning of our economic and political systems.
there is a 'symbolic' violence embodied in language and its forms, what Heidegger would call ‘our house of being' [...] there is a more fundamental form of violence still that pertains to language as such, to its imposition of a certain universe of meaning
But we should learn to step back, to disentangle ourselves from the fascinating lure of this directly visible 'subjective' violence, violence performed by a clearly identifiable agent.
Is jazz, then, the meaning of life? Not exactly. The goal would be to construct this kind of community on a wider scale, which is a problem of politics. It is, to be sure, a utopian aspiration, but it is none the worse for that. The point of such aspirations is to indicate a direction, however lame…
There is achievement, but it is not a question of self-aggrandizing success.
