Is life absurd?
Not To Activists What I’m describing is absurdity, in the existentialist sense. Life is absurd in a world of violence and coercion. A radical disjunct is manifested between what we, as human beings, demand of life and what is delivered. Absurdity is that disjunct. It means we are alienated from life; we cannot identify with it or glory in it wholeheartedly, because it is a stranger to the human way of thinking, the beautiful way of thinking. An absurd life is scarcely worth living. Consider a man who is buffeted by forces beyond his control, who is compelled to adopt unfulfilling life-paths, who is beaten into conformity. It would seem that his life is not valuable. That man is everyman. We all remain subject to chance, to coercive social mechanisms, and the possibility is always real that our peace of mind will be shattered in an instant. That Lebanese man’s situation reminds us that we are not masters of our fate but instead are blown like willow down in the wind of societal forces.
