From: "daniel haines" <daniel-AT-machine75.freeserve.co.uk>
Subject: betrayal & deception ...!
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000 00:09:53 +0100


hi chris,

_way_ too busy to be posting but i liked this post very much... :-)

for me the interesting thing about betrayal is - i see it as implying a
relationship between equals rather than of mastery/servitude.... both sides
have to have invested for there to be a real betrayal.  otherwise its just
that someone lied.  but someone lying to you is distinguished from them
betraying you by the assumption of equality, of equal stakes.  lying, on the
other hand,  presupposes a certain inequality, even if it is only the
inequality _between_ the truth and the lie!   in fact, being in a hierarchy
_requires_ you lie to both your superior and your subordinate.  and they lie
to you.  the possibility of absolute betrayal is a condition of freedom; the
necessity of generalised deception a condition of enslavement.

betrayal proceeds from not knowing what is true, from never knowing.
whereas you can't deceive without _knowing otherwise_; you betray as a
dicethrow, as pure fate and chance. you can only _be_ betrayed if you take a
similar chance to begin with, if you throw the dice... deception is always
guilty, furtive, or, worse still, merely routine.  morality deals with
truths and lies, it rests on inequality; ethics rests on the possibility of
betrayal, that even your own actions might betray you.... it demands you be
equal to yourself at the same time as it demands you be ready to exceed
yourself. to lose yourself.   in morality, you are never your own to begin
with.....

ah. wait.

yes, yes, yes... i think i see now where you're coming from??

deception does not _hurt_ us like betrayal.  the lie exists with its own
reserve: a lie always holds something in reserve (the truth), and the loss
of a lie is balanced by the recovery of a truth.  but truth is only ever
mundane. servile. it only disappoints us, in the end.  lies are pathetic.
even the biggest lies are laughable.  who could _respect_ a lie?

the deceiver is afraid to show themselves! they hide.
the traitor openly walks away, abandons.

whereas betrayal demands respect.... betrayal is without reserve.....  it
can destroy us. which is _why_ we respect it.  if you can laugh at a
betrayal then it wasn't a betrayal, you do not feel betrayed.  betrayal is
audacious.profligate. it  is  a squandering.... when you betray it is with
abandon, you abandon (the reserve). it is absolute loss.  whatever was
invested is catastrophically converted into pure loss, without remainder...
it wounds us, it can be fatal....

a betrayal is a moment of total sovereignty....
...but the deception always has its little utility!

- nice!

maybe you can find that example of pure expenditure that escapes capitals
pincer's  you're looking for after all, chris!?! there in the
autobiographies of quadruple agents and espionage agents?! to invest
absolutely and then betray absolutely...

or in the betrayals of government when it comes to its war machine?  the
soldiers returning home (or not returning) absolutely betrayed? an economy
of betrayal, of total loss, operating amongst the other economies of arms
and politics which always hold onto a reserve?

still, not the greatest prospect...  ;-)

cheers,
dan
------
"A great problem, deserving acute attention.
 I solved it by turning out the lights and going
to bed."                 - John Fante, Ask The Dust