It seems that the American election might have been able to unveil the fracture that has arisen between the people and the elites. In actual fact, up until now we had no idea that “the elites” constituted a social class. On the other hand, it is well known that our opinion makers—right from the universities on top, down to the lowest level of the medias, in other words advertising—was broadcasting, for any philosophy, that one has to enjoy, regardless of religious, moral, sexual, family conditions, et cetera, in short, by raising the restrictions which are ordinarily constitutive of spiritual identity. Wouldn’t the best means of guaranteeing social peace be an equal jouissance for all?

The height of this enterprise is occupied by behaviourism which puts to music the fact that the organism would be the same in the animal as in the human, that there is no rupture in the species.

In its own way the American people has let us know, contrary to all appearances, that we do not live from bread alone. Social assistance is not able to satisfy the citizen’ s dignity. It will certainly seem regrettable that the spirit, on this occasion, had only found refuge in nationalist and xenophobic means of expression, means of defending the honour of belonging through competition, which routinely ends up killing this spirit. Despite our modesty, we emphasise that this serious mistake is the price paid by a community that our opinion makers have left in the misrecognition, or méconnaissance, elaborated by Freud and Lacan. Without being able to hope for as much, thus, let their works be a rampart against Barbarianism, which, once again, is lying in wait.

Charles Melman

12 November 2016

Translation : Michael Plastow