James Gillray: Election Candidates
(published May 20, 1807 by Hannah Humphrey)

ABOUT THIS ARTWORK
Despite its jovial hand coloring, James Gillray’s response to the 1807 parliamentary election in the district of Westminster caricatures real candidates with ruthlessness. Here, Gillray implied that the winner, the radical Sir Francis Burdett, had extra help. Burdett becomes the goose atop the pole, supported by a demonic figure with a pitchfork, while the agitated constituency below degenerates into a mob.

" … can't see how this latest experiment in degenerative Democracy can go any way but sideways."

The first of The Stupidities I introduced in yesterday's missive deserved to be Certainty; for Certainly, Certainty must be the primary difficulty of our age. Every age preceding us complained about the complexity of their situation, and should have. Each successive generation could rightfully complain about their age's complexity, which might mean that our world has become increasingly complex. Suppose the purpose of civilization was ever to somehow tame this native context each generation faces. In that case, civilization has utterly failed because it seems that it has managed only to amplify complexity rather than attenuate it.

Perhaps because of this, the urge for simple solutions seems to grow with each successive generation.

Tags: #NextWorld #Pure