Isn't It a Good Idea?

The great and the noble are suspect from the outset. They must be torn from their pedestals so that one can see through them. Morality counts as hypocrisy and joy as self deception. Any one who simply puts trust in the beautiful and the good is either inexcusably in ingenuous or acting with evil intent. The truly moral attitude is suspicion, and its greatest success is in exposing criticism of society is obligatory. It is impossible to find words lurid and brutal enough to describe the dangers that threaten us. There exists, at the same time, an obligation to be optimistic. And the failure to serve this obligation does not go unpunished....