2 - Cultural America and the Globalization of (Im)perfection

Summary

THE GLOBALIZATION OF (IM)PERFECTION

Foucault was concerned with authoritarianism in Western cultures and societies. He criticized the embedded structures of authoritarian politics serving the wealthiest minorities. His criticisms made him unpopular among politicians and conservative critics. With the exception of the Academy, Foucault was demonized by the establishment both in many European and U.S. cities and became the target of homophobia and xenophobia.

The deification of Foucault or demonization of his work is only part of the picture of his philosophy. Foucault was as imperfect a man as he was diabolically precise as a cultural historian and an intellectual. In 1996, Reid asked whether Foucault was even concerned about “willingly spreading HIV” in his desire for sado-masochism among his partners of the underground sex clubs that he visited. Foucault's visits to America are a reminder of human imperfections, regardless of social and economic status, regardless of intellect. Attendance at the best universities, whatever that might mean, does not make the student a better person.

Humanity desires perfection as it portrays imperfection. If our perfections are celebrated in our conjoint successes as human beings, then there is much reason to celebrate. Some of humanity's achievements can be summarized in: Locke's Two Treatises on Government (1689) and the right to overthrow rogue governments; the declaration of the first Ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution as the Bill of Rights (1789); Wilberforce's maiden parliamentary speech against the slave trade (1789); Jean Barnard Foucault's invention of the rotation of the earth in 1851 and Jean Leon Foucault's invention of the gyroscope in 1852; Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792); the founding of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (the Martin Act of 1822); Dicey's popular Law of the Constitution (1895); Einstein's discoveries from 1905 till his death in 1955 in Princeton, NJ; the Wright brothers’ activities in the early 1900s; the discovery of airconditioning in the 1920s;